Saturday, October 16, 2010

Think Big




Think Big

UPDATE: Learn how to Think Big like Donald Trump with a free 20 minute consultation.
Don't limit yourself. In other words, think BIG. Thinking small when you can be thinking big is definitely limiting your potential. People are capable of doing great things, but not if they don't envision great things being done. You don't have to waste time working your way up to the top when you can start there in your mind.
I remember the old saying "It's lonely at the top." I don't agree. It was probably said by someone who didn't want any competition. I'm secure enough in my success to welcome competition, so I don't mind telling you that being at the top is a great feeling. Thinking big can get you there.
Here's how. We all start with small steps. The point is to get us up to the big steps we're all capable of taking. Would you be satisfied taking baby steps throughout your childhood? Would you be thrilled to be crawling when everyone else is already walking? I don't think so. We start small, but we move on. People like challenges. It's our nature. Keep in sync with that basic premise and you will begin moving forward with the momentum necessary for great achievement. Know that it is a natural progression, not some wild scheme from out of nowhere.
We have to learn to walk before we can start sprinting. But that's no reason not to contemplate sprinting even from day one. Apply that to your thoughts, and understand how your mind reveals the future to you. Do you have big plans or small plans? If all you can see on your agenda are small plans, ask yourself why. Then begin to expand your horizons. Sometimes we have to recognize our own smallness of mind before we can do anything about it.
Another way to move forward in a big way is to concentrate on managing your future, not your past. I've seen a lot of people waste a lot of time by dwelling on the past. Learn from the past, but don't stay there. You have to keep the momentum going; keep moving forward, not backwards. Don't focus on the problem when you should be looking at the solution.
Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. Easy for him to say, you might think. What he meant, though, was that without imagination and the ability to visualize possibilities, what would be the point of great knowledge? Knowledge is power, unless you choose not to use it. Knowledge is also the foundation of many great enterprises. Put imagination and knowledge together and in no time you'll have something plenty big in your think big tank.
Take the time to think, but don't risk wasting your time. Think Big.

How to Think Big Every Day

"Think big" towers above most other advice you will hear on how to succeed. In just two words, it lays out a plan for achieving your highest goals.
The greatest challenge is to find ways to think big today, not someday. Here's how to make sure that happens.
Think Big Secret ##1: Seize opportunities you don't think you can handle. When people in authority ask you to take on a challenge you don't think you can manage, say yes. It means they see abilities in you that you have missed. You will prove yourself and make a big impression - fast.
Example: The late Katharine Graham, probably the most powerful woman ever in American media, started life as an upper-class girl who wanted a society life. She married the editor of the Washington Post and her prospects seemed set. But then her husband killed himself in 1963, and the Post board asked her to take over the paper. Her first response was, "Who, me?" But she threw herself into it, built the Post into a world-class paper, acquired Newsweek, and even won a Pulitzer Prize over the course of a long career. The message? When opportunity knocks, answer the door.
Think Big Secret ##2: Put yourself in situations that make you nervous. Seek out high-stakes circumstances that challenge you because they promise the greatest growth.
Example: Terrie Williams, who founded her own public relations firm, represents giants of sport and entertainment. She started her company by walking up to Miles Davis and saying she wanted to represent him. He became her first client, and the next one was Eddie Murphy. She says that if she feels butterflies in her stomach before negotiating with powerful people, she knows she is in the right place, not coasting.
Think Big Secret ##3: Stay alert all day long for opportunities. About 99 percent of the things that happen every day might be repetitive busywork. But there is another one percent that is different because it brings significant opportunities. Stay alert for this one percent throughout the day, and don't let it escape you.
Example: Like many people, I get hundreds of e-mails and phone calls every day. But when a chance came to use my journalistic experience to write for The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, I saw at once that I had been offered something significant, if I could make it happen. Unless you screen all incoming events for their "think big" potential, some important ones might slip away.
And One More Think Big Secret . . .
Constantly try to envision the significant places that your abilities and enthusiasms can take you in the world. Remember:
  • "Good with numbers" is not a career goal, but "CFO of a Fortune 500 Company" is.
  • "Excellent people skills" is not a career goal, but "head of my own HR consulting firm" is.
If you find it hard to link your abilities to big enough dreams, consider having a session or two with a qualified career counselor who can help you see the big opportunities that lie hidden in your unique gifts. An objective outsider can sometimes see your future triumphs more clearly than you can and help you plan how to achieve them.

Thinking Big: Your Vehicle to Success

Reach for the stars, go for it, man!
- Sammy Davis, Jr.
America is a big country and bigness is essential to the American Way. It's everywhere you look: big money, big portions, big ideas. In a place with so much of everything, there's a lot of smallness, too, like millions of people of modest means, whose lives just don't play out on the grand scale of everything around them. They can turn on a TV anytime or visit a multiplex and see a world that dwarfs their own. Some react with indifference, while others seethe with jealously and frustration. Then there are those who are emboldened by this grand landscape. It helps fuel their ambition to reach their outsized vision. These people think, "I may be little now, but not for long."
When you truly think big, you never feel small. Your vision elevates you above your surroundings. Your vision protects you, too, by providing a bulwark against bitterness and resignation, afflictions common to the smalltime and small-minded.
Your vision of the future may be at odds with the facts of today. Now, this moment, might hold only failure and doubt, but to succumb to the moment before your dream takes shape is to veer toward surrender. Thinking big is what carries you past the moment.
Business, art, or any creative endeavor isn't just a few "eureka" moments. It's hard work, and it's not always fun. Ideas of any complexity advance by increments and require a certain combination of broad strokes and big-picture thinking (the fun stuff), and intense concentration on details (the real work). To do it right and to see it through you need time and energy, but above all, you need discipline. Thinking big is a discipline, a means of getting past the minutiae. You can say to yourself, "Right now is a chore, but just imagine the final outcome!" That's thinking big. It's not a passing thought: it's a mindset.
If you think big, you will have at least the engine of genius. The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative can help add the rest. Knowledge is a vehicle, and our online courses and other learning products are fully compatible with any model of success, whether it's advancing your career, starting a business, or creating wealth through investment. The biggest thoughts need a corresponding strategy to harness them. Marketing yourself and your ideas is key. Our course, Build a Powerful Marketing Strategy will give you practical experience developing a marketing plan for your product or service.

Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover



It's a very popular idiom that I'm sure you've heard before. Its meaning is virtually self explanatory and advises us not to determine the worth of something based on its appearance. It's probably the most common expression when we are referring to physical appearances and vanity. A great example would be Susan Boyle whose rather frumpy appearance belies her exquisite voice.
Often in life we judge someone or something based on outward appearances. To a certain extent this is human nature. Sometimes the meeting with another is brief and we don't have the opportunity to get beyond physical appearance. We make a quick decision based on these openly visible, but incomplete and often inaccurate first impressions. Our subsequent actions or inaction as the case may be, are often influenced by these simplistic observations.

Unfortunately, society tends to benefit people who are physically attractive and can disadvantage or discriminate against those who aren't. We often make sub-conscious judgments about people we see based on their hairstyle or the clothes they are wearing. However, we don't stop to consider that people alter their appearance to fit into their workplace, personal relationships and society in general. For all these changes, their personality and character traits remain the same.
This seemingly instinctive way of thinking can have other consequences on our daily lives. As consumers, it often means we miss a great offer. Our ability to make an informed decision is clouded by initial prejudice that is very often an instinctive reaction more than anything. The key to getting beyond this is being objective and having an open mind.

Marketers use many clever ploys these days to create a very attractive 'cover' for the 'book' they are selling. As consumers, it's our obligation to look beyond the cover, open the book and read a few pages. That way we can be truly familiar with what we are considering. When the 'noise' of the sales pitch can be replaced by useful and factual information, we can then make a fully informed decision.
Let's examine this in practical terms. If it's a brochure or newspaper advertisement you're reading, take a few moments to look past the large headlines that grabbed your attention. The expression "the devil is in the detail" refers to the mysterious element hidden in the smaller print. We commonly refer to this as the 'catch' and it's something we need to be well aware of before we make a commitment to anything.

The tactics used in internet marketing can be even more effective because it's an interactive medium. So of course we need to be wary but, once again, there is no reason to make premature evaluations. If you are considering an opportunity online, the website is your book 'cover'. You read the colorful home page and click around the different links that you find but how do you actually read the 'book'?
An excellent way to know what a book says is simply to ask other people who have read it. Whether it's an internet product, service or wealth creation opportunity, you do exactly the same thing. Doing a Google search is not the best option though because it will bring up a lot of biased information and advertising placed there by marketers. Seeking information through discussion forums and networking sites is much better because it will provide more objective and honest opinions.

The key to using this strategy is to ensure that you have sufficient information. With just about everything, people will have a unique opinion based on their personal experience. These will range from good to bad and everything in between. You need to collate enough individual opinions to form a collective one. Of course, that doesn't necessarily determine your final decision but it gives you a very sound basis on which to actually make it.
It's always good to keep in mind that, for whatever reason, the 'book' may have a plain, unattractive colour that doesn't truly reflect its quality. Once again, it's an important reminder not to make premature judgements about anything. With some simple research that doesn't take a lot of time, you can get an accurate feel for the quality of the product, reliability of the service or the potential of the marketing scheme you are considering.

Every day people make assumptions basely on the appearance of something. We instinctively choose things that have a perfect external appearance because we imagine that if the outside is flawless, the rest must be also. Of course this just isn't true and we need to change our superficial mentality if we are to benefit ourselves and others. Look at and admire the cover but don't forget to actually open the book and read a few pages. You'll never know what you missed otherwise.
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How to Think Big and Become Big


Do you sometimes think that there is more to your life than just this? Are you sick of the same old things everyday? Do you want to live the life you desire, or the life somebody else mapped out for you?
If you want to change your current situation you need to know how to think big. This isn't just about coming up with wacky ideas or outrageous solutions, but thinking about your life as something that is bigger than what it is right now.
Every choice you've made has led you to where you are now; every choice you make now will create your future. Your choices come from your thoughts and how you perceive your place in the world. By thinking big you will rise above your current situation and begin to create the future of your choosing. Here is how you can think big and become big:
Dream big dreams:
Allow yourself to use your imagination to dream about the life you really want to live. There are absolutely no limits to what you can dream about in your imagination. Visualise yourself achieving great things in the future, going to places that seem improbable to reach, and see yourself as the person you want to be.
Some of the greatest human accomplishments started with a dream; John F. Kennedy dreamt of sending people to the moon, and they did, even though most thought it was not possible. We all know Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and his dream has allowed us to make significant strides over the last century. He certainly didn't just say, "I have an idea!" It just wouldn't have the same meaning would it?
Visualise your days in advance:
Before you go to bed, sit in a quiet place and visualise what you will do tomorrow. See yourself waking up at the time you want, feeling good, and go through the day seeing yourself accomplishing each task that you are faced with.
Those who accomplish big things can see them in their minds before anybody can see it in reality. By visualising what you want your days to look like you know what you are aiming for, and that makes a huge difference.
Ask big questions:
If you want to learn how to think big, ask yourself big questions. Ask yourself questions that make you think about your situation and how you can change certain things. Don't ask questions like "why does this have to happen to me?" Instead, ask yourself, "how can I change this?" Or, what can I learn from this? What is the opportunity in this?
If you ask questions like, "Why does this always have to happen to me?" you will be forced to answer and it will only make you feel like more of a victim to the situation. By asking yourself constructive questions like "What do I need to do to change this?" you are forcing yourself to come up with answers that make you think bigger than the actual situation.
Solve big problems:
To determine how big a person is, just take a look at the size of the problems they are trying to solve. If your main concerns everyday are about how bad the traffic is, or how annoying the person sitting next to you is, or how bad the weather is, then you are not thinking big. To think big you need to tackle bigger problems, such as what you can do now to move yourself closer to your goals, or how you can improve your productivity, or how you can help somebody in need.
How big you are is determined by how big the problems you focus on are.
In order to think big you need to be able to see through your current situation. You need to be able to focus on things that will make you expand your perspective on your life.
Simon Lim is a motivational writer and the creator of Rubama.com, where you can find more free articles and courses that will inspire you and motivate you to think big and to to achieve your goals. Visit http://www.rubama.com to sign-up now for the free and exclusive 7-day course, 'Unleash The Greatness Within.'

Friday, October 15, 2010

Ways to Describe Personality

Ways to Describe Personality

Ways to Describe Personality

The following is adapted from Linda V. Berens and Dario Nardi, The 16 Personality Types: Descriptions for Self-Discovery (Telos Publications, 1999) *Used with permission.
The 16 Personality Types: Descriptions for Self-DiscoveryBuy Now at Interstrength.com
Descriptions for Self-DiscoveryTraits and Parts
Personality can be described in many ways. The most common approaches include observing and measuring traits like cheerfulness, anxiety, and outgoingness. Sometimes the traits are extremely relevant to a particular job performance, so there is value to this approach. However, even when there is an attempt to see a pattern to the traits, the result is usually a fragmented picture that gives little useful information.
Parts have meaning only
in reference to the whole.
Processes and Parts
Other times personality is described by looking at separate dynamic processes, such as how we gather information and make decisions. This is not purely a trait approach because no attempt is made to measure the degree of the trait, but the processes are often treated as separate parts that somehow combine with each other. Processes, however, have meaning only in reference to the whole context, so descriptions based only on this approach are often missing essential qualities.
Systems
Living systems are not concretely visible. Only in the last forty years have behavioral scientists really been learning to “see” systems, especially human systems.
Systems are patterns of
relationships that are organized.
Systems have “rules” that govern their behavior. The pattern of organization is not imposed from outside but “comes with” the system at the moment of creation. The system is organized around a deep operating principle.
Systems are “driven” to operate in certain ways. If we try to force a system to behave in ways inconsistent with its nature, we spend energy and encounter resistance. If we can understand the inherent operating principles and work with them, we can save energy. Personality descriptions using a systems approach try to portray the system as a whole.
Self-Descriptions
One systems approach to describing personality is to have people describe themselves. Unfortunately, people are influenced by the models they already have, as well as their self-esteem, traumas, stress and cultures, so they may describe themselves in a somewhat limited way. However, people and the inborn patterns existed before any theoretical models, so the expressions of self-esteem, traumas, stress, and culture will themselves be influenced by the push of that inborn pattern.
Since each type pattern is reflected in language, such an approach can use the language of the type, its syntax, vocabulary, rhythm, and so on. Descriptions developed this way can be very helpful in self-discovery, even if they do not comprehensively describe the theory.
Type Themes and Patterns
A second way of describing personality using a systems approach is to describe personality in terms of the themes of each type pattern and how they are organized. This approach portrays aspects not available any other way.
Each of the sixteen types is a
pattern of related themes.
It reveals the pattern of the various dynamics at play. Sometimes it is hard to sort out what is the essence of the theme and what is culture or the result of growth and development. Yet the pattern of themes is constant under varying conditions.
The themes describe processes that
fill a unique role for each type.
The following is adapted from Linda V. Berens and Dario Nardi, The 16 Personality Types: Descriptions for Self-Discovery (Telos Publications, 1999) *Used with permission.



Thursday, October 7, 2010

How to Make Your Dream Come True — Thought, Strategy, Action



How to Make Your Dream Come True — Thought, Strategy, Action

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:49 am
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You Decide

Personal Identity logo
Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? Do you have a dream waiting for someday? What are you doing to make it happen?
You decide whether your dream will happen.
You can wonder. You can wish. You can wait for help. Say that you will, or say that you can’t right now. The most important key to a dream come true is personal investment.
Dreams that come true need commitment and action.
Wonders, wishes, and waiting without commitment are a whole lot of nothing happening. Folks who might help us won’t show up for “what ifs” and “could bes.” Their lack of support can be a convenient excuse. That’s the wrong reaction. If we want a dream to come true, we have to be able to explain it how it can be turned from a dream into a reality. That takes thought, strategy, and action.

How to Make Your Dream Come True

A dream needs more than a wish. Wishes dissolve in the mist. To come true, a dream needs a foundation of concrete not sand. Wihen you offer a solid foundation, people listen. They pay attention because you’ve moved the dream into the realm of possibility.
Here’s how to get to a concrete foundation you need.
  1. Define the dream. Take the idea out of your head. Put it in front of you to look critically at it. How does the “dream come true” look? How does it work? Do you see a living example in the world? Describe it in the smallest details.
  2. Define where you sit. Is the dream a good fit to who you are, what you know, and what you can do? What seeds for the dream are in your life already? How might you nurture them?
  3. Plot your strategy. What’s the path from here to the “dream come true”? Start with the finished dream and work backwards until you’re where you sit.
  4. Detail your needs. What work have you already done? What can you do on your own? What sort of help and resources can you hire, borrow, or dig up? Sort them into three lists.
  5. Determine your commitment. What will it take to make the dream come true? Why this dream not another? What arguments will you face? How will you answer them? What will you be willing to give up and invest? Would you do it alone if you had to? Will you give yourself permission to go after the dream — even when the world says you should not?
  6. Enlist support and advocates. Who sees the same dream? Who wants your success? Who helps you think? Who can help you meet the needs you’ve outlines above?
  7. Write the story. Name the dream come true. Write one sentence about what the dream will do. Write three points that explain how other folks benefit from helping this dream become reality.
  8. Know how you’ll ask. Visualize yourself asking for help. Choose the words you will use. Write several kinds of requests based on benefits folks will get from helping the dream into reality.
  9. Define yourself by the dream. When people ask what you do, tell them about the dream you’re making come true. Think of your “day job” as support and supplemental to the dream. I’m an actor who works here now, not I’m a waiter who working to be an actor.
It’s willingness and determination to give ourselves over to our dreams that makes them happen. What’s the difference between me and the guy who got what I wanted when I didn’t? He wanted it enough to stick when it got difficult. I decided somewhere that something else was more important.
The dream is there. It’s not magic. It’s not the big break. It’s giving ourselves permission to pull out all stops. Surely you’ve known someone you would defend at any cost. Find a dream like that — one you’ll single-mindedly protect — and you’ll make that dream happen.
Got the dream? When will you make the investment?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mind Blowing Ideas


Mind Blowing Ideas—every time you need one.
A global recession, the economy slowing, money getting harder to find. What a time to be in business!
The challenge is not only to be in business but to grow your business. There are opportunities to grow even in a market like today’s. The secret is to know where to look.
Most businesses do not look. They are too concerned with such things as cost cutting, risk minimisation and protecting their customer base.
All of which are good and need to be done.
Where do you look for opportunities to grow your business?
This workshop shows you where to look and how to look. It gives you an opportunity to look at your business in a new and different way. It shows you how to use the IDEA process , the 12 mind blowing techniques and Whole Brain® Thinking and helps everyday people have extraordinary ideas.

The IDEA Process™

A complete process of anticipating a need, grabbing an opportunity, having and developing ideas right through to successfully implementing them.

Initiating

Anticipating the future, being one step ahead of the market, solving small problems before they become big problems, creating new opportunities, out-thinking the competition, designing innovative products, being ahead of the game, being first, setting the pace, creating the future, vision and purpose.

Defining

Dealing with the right issue, at the right level, having many points of view, having lots of problems to work on, being spot on, dealing with the cause, setting yourself up for creative solutions, having many yet different descriptions of problems and opportunities, seeing problems positively.

Exploring

Having lots of ideas, solutions and perspectives, listening to intuition and insight, building ideas on ideas, selecting interesting ideas, keeping all your thoughts together, brain-storming, day dreaming and making connections.

Acting

Keeping the energy going, overcoming barriers, gaining commitment, implementing ideas, taking innovation to market, managing the idea to completion, making it happen.


The 12 mind blowing techniques™

This program teaches 12 mind blowing creative thinking techniques. Used in the correct sequence, these techniques build on each other, ensuring that the full power of the brain’s creative thinking skills are utilised when they are most needed.

The Initiating techniques

The Time Machine:
Finding ideas by thinking about the future
The Anticipator:
Second guessing the future, being proactive, being ahead of the game, anticipating events ... and being prepared

The Defining techniques

The Hammer:
Breaking things down into manageable chunks
The Generator:
Looking at and defining problems and opportunities from more than one perspective
The Climber:
Dealing with issues at the best level

The Exploring techniques

The Shaker:
Shaking things up and seeing what falls out
The Employer:
Using the way other people see things to generate ideas
The Creator:
Using check lists to make sure you have thought of everything

The Acting techniques

The Selector:
Going with the best ideas
The Improver:
Turning good ideas into great ones
The Planner:
Deciding what to do with your ideas
The Implementer:
Making sure things happen

Workshop Details 

Who should attend

Mind Blowing Ideas is for business managers and executives who need to:
  • create new opportunities
  • out-think the competition
  • get ahead in the new game.

Outcomes

At the end of the workshop, participants will:
  • know all about ideas, where to find them and how they behave
  • be highly skilled at ‘making connections’ and coming up with ‘mind blowing ideas’
  • be skilled at using all 4 stages of the IDEA Process™
  • be skilled at using any of the 12 mind blowing techniques™
  • know the different types of ‘thinking’ required to have important mind blowing ideas
  • know how to assemble and facilitate teams of people capable of having mind blowing ideas.

Take away materials

Everyone will leave the workshop with:
  • the comprehensive Mind Blowing Ideas participant manual
  • the 12 techniques to use back at work
  • The Idea Process™ template and techniques for ongoing use
  • at least one mind blowing idea thought through and ready to roll
  • their own HBDI Profile and reference package
  • their group or team thinking profile.