What Role Status Symbols Play In Negotiations

By Dr. Jim Anderson

When it comes to sitting around the negotiating table, we're all equal, right? In a perfect world, the answer would be yes. We don't live in a perfect world and so the answer is a very solid "no". So what does this mean for us - do some negotiators deserve to get more?

Where Negotiating Status Comes From

Where does this status thing come from? It seems to play a role in our negotiation styles and negotiating techniques. I'm pretty sure that we're all very aware of the role that social status used to play in European society back in the day. You had your upper class folks and then the rest of humanity. If an upper class negotiator sat down to negotiate with a lower class person, then they would be starting with a huge advantage simply because of their social status. This would undoubtedly affect the final deal that was negotiated.

Those days are long gone - or are they? In Europe, as well as in places like India, although officially the social classes have been removed, traces still linger. When two negotiators from two very different backgrounds sit down to negotiate, the ghosts of their family's backgrounds can at times haunt the room.

Additionally, a new type of social status symbol has arrived on the scene. A person's success in life as represented by all of the "bling" that comes with success - money, power, acclaim, etc. can elevate their social status. If you don't believe me, then just imagine how you would feel if you were sitting across from Donald Trump trying to negotiate a deal with him!

How You Can Deal With Status At The Negotiating Table

I'd like to be able to tell you to just ignore status when you are conducting your next negotiation. Focus on the deal that you're trying to create and ignore who the person that you are negotiating with is or where they come from.

That's easy for me to say and very hard for you to do! It's never going to be easy for you to overlook the other side of the table's status - it's going to affect your negotiation process. Instead, I'm going to suggest that you do something else that will help you to work through this issue.

In order to retain your composure when you are negotiating with someone who has more status than you, you need to boost your status. The easiest way to go about doing this is to do additional work preparing for the negotiations. I have found that people with status often assume that their status is going to help them to reach a deal and so they will often not do as much preparation for a negotiation as they should have. Do your homework and you'll be better prepared than they are and their status won't matter as much.

What All Of This Means For You

We do not live in a perfect world - we are not all equal. Instead, status and status symbols play a role in every negotiation - this is almost a part of the negotiation definition.

What this means for you as a negotiator is that you need to realize that status can play a role in how you both view and treat the other side of the negotiating table even when you are conducting a principled negotiation. You need to work to overcome any status advantage that they may have by working extra hard to prepare for the negotiation - you need to be the best prepared person at the table.

Status as something that makes people different is something that we'll always have to live with. As long as you know that this is an issue, then you can take steps to deal with it and make sure that it does not influence the deals that you make.

Dr. Jim Anderson
http://www.blueelephantconsulting.com/

If you want to follow Dr. Anderson on Twitter, he can be found at: http://twitter.com/drjimanderson

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Set SMART Goals for Investing

By Ronald Nawrocki

Did you take some time during the Holidays to put together your New Year's resolutions? Most people go through the motions, but few write them down, and even fewer achieve them. Not surprisingly, the ones who write them down are the most likely to achieve them. In addition to the typical weight loss and exercise goals, your resolutions should include investment goals for the New Year. And simply saying earning "just a little more" is not a smart resolution.

Before we get too far, let's define what a goal is. My favorite definition - goal is a dream with a deadline. When we were kids we dreamed a lot, and somehow the adult world convinced us we need to "get realistic". We now don't dream often enough - dreams are a great. Disney World would not exist if Walt Disney did not dream. Michael Dell, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates might never become billionaires if they did not dream about a breakthrough personal computer. Henry Ford said it well "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right". Don't just dream about becoming wealthy, losing weight, or finding a better job - set a deadline. Without a deadline you are - just dreaming!

I propose setting a long-term goal for your wealth based on your dreams, and then some interim goals or milestones. Your resolution will be what you will achieve this year to reach your long-term goal, and will test if you're on track. For both the long-term and interim goals I suggest setting SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, make you Reach, with a Time-frame.

Most New Years resolutions like losing weight, exercising, earning more money, or taking a nice family vacation - fail on most of the SMART criteria. Take losing weight - it's not Specific and doesn't even say who will lose weight! Clearly, weight is easily Measurable but the resolution does not say how much, so it's easily Achievable by just taking your shoes off. Does it make you Reach? Without an amount you plan to lose it clearly does not. Finally, does it have a Time-frame? No, we can only assume it means by year-end 20__.

The first step to setting your financial goals is dreaming. Take Henry Ford's advice and open your mind to achieving financial independence, and decide what you want to accomplish? Would you like to have sufficient assets during retirement to spend $150,000 per year while your portfolio keeps growing 5% annually? Or would $100,000 be sufficient, and have your assets last until you are 112 years old? Once you do some dreaming, a financial calculator, a spreadsheet or a financial advisor can help you calculate what you need to accumulate and how much your assets need to grow each year.

I recently failed at achieving one of my long-term goals, which was to have income generating assets (IGA) of $5 million by my 55th birthday. I set that goal 30 years earlier and tracked my progress twice annually. Some years it looked like I would easily exceed that goal. In other years I realized it would be difficult after some setbacks. Was I devastated by that failure? I was disappointed, and yet realized I was far better off than most other Baby Boomers. I was far ahead of where I would have been had I not developed the discipline to invest and tracking of my IGA's and growth rate every six months.

I was able to forecast a shortfall several years before my deadline, so I took time in 2007 to decide what I want to do when I grow up. I realized I would need to start another business to allow me to grow my assets for a longer time. Taking a job wasn't even on the radar screen. I wanted a business that would allow me to live where I want (warmer and sunnier), take time to stay fit, smell the roses and travel (tax deductible), and most importantly help others to gain from my experience. I firmly believe Henry Ford was right, so I was able to create a new career with all the elements I wanted. It fits so well with my skills and hobbies that I don't feel like I'm working, even during the many 16 hour days. I reset my goals far higher with key milestones in the year 2025, 2035 (maybe I can put them to music and have a hit song), and my 112th birthday.

Others faced with a similar "failure" may decide to work longer, find a new job, or scale back their expenses. The good news regardless of how you solve a shortfall is that you dreamed, and you were smart. In the process you achieved, you learned, and realized that you can repeat the process over and over again.

Ronald M. Nawrocki (The Ronald), Fund Manager of B.I.Solutions Corp. a Phoenix based residential real estate fund. Brought us the 10 Commandments of Investing, author of Wealth DNA, and Investor Insights column in Hungary and Poland. Dedicating his time to help others Live the American Dream... regardless of where they live. http://www.TheRonald.us

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Leadership Coaching: The Golden Rule In Excellent Leadership

By Mike KrutzaCo-Author: Jodi Wiff

Treat others in the same way that you want to be treated.

Where did the Golden Rule come from? Nobody can really tell. However, you will find that every belief system and religion advocates the credo. In the Bible, it is stated as "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". The Hindu Mahabarata affirms it as "Do not do to others what ye do not wish do to yourself". The Talmud says the rule as "what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor". To the Muslim Hadith, it means "No one of you is a believer until you desire for another, that which you desire for yourself".

Obama cherishes marriage as an institution, just as millions of people do, and it is in a civil partnership wherein much of the legal and formal benefits of marriage are available. An inner question he must have wrestled with is that "if you deem marriage as an institution of value, why deny it to other people"? This is where the evolution of his perspective became understandable.

The Golden Rule, Right and Left

In gay marriage and across a wide range of policy issues, such as health care and the tax policy, Obama asked the same question. If low cost healthcare was afforded to Congress, it should be made available to low incomes, too. Then there's the Buffet rule which says that a CEO should be on the same tax rate as a lower paid worker which resonates the Golden Rule as well.

The Golden Rule applied in policies are neither taken by right or left issues exclusively, too. The benefits of a policy founded on the "rule" clearly help those in need, but it ought to be wary of fostering dependence. The same rule has to thus be taken into consideration- you don't want dependency for yourself, so therefore avoid it for others.

Why People Trust A Leader

The gist of the Golden Rule is empathy wherein you put yourself in the other person's shoes. It's a hallmark of emotional intelligence wherein one is able to connect with other people's feelings and sufferings. This ability and quality in a politician manifests in his sincerity and authenticity which people esteem and ultimately trust. The Golden Rule holds true in life as it does in politics.

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If so, download your FREE ebook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

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Success Is Enjoying Life - 3 Steps to Help You on Your Way

By Angela R Brisbane

Often when I ask people what success means to them they will rattle off the things they want in life, they think they will have success when they get this or that. There's nothing wrong with wanting things that you will get pleasure from, but that is secondary. If you are enjoying life then you are successful.

One of the ways in which you can become more successful in life, that is to enjoy life is to find your purpose in life. I don't mean this in a metaphysical sense, I mean doing what you love and loving what you do and making a living out of this. Your purpose becomes your job, your profession. If you love your work then it doesn't feel like work at all.

There is no one else in the world exactly like you. No one with the same personality and characteristics, with the same outlook on life, no one can explain things the way you do. You are unique and you have a gift to share with the world, this is your purpose, to be your authentic self.

I believe when we come into this world we know who we are, we know what we want to have and what we want to do. We know what our purpose is. We believed in ourselves and we trusted ourselves. Then the process of social conditioning started, social conditioning is "a sociological process of training individuals in a society to act or respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society."

Instead of developing our unique abilities and aspirations we began to do what other people expected of us, we started doing what other people wanted us to do and being what other people wanted us to be. We have an inner war going on, a conflict between what we really want and what we think we have to do because it is more practical, or because we have been told we can't do what we want to do.

Isn't it time we started to honour our true self. The way towards success is to rediscover your true self, consciously choose the life you want to live. Decide for yourself what is important in your life, what you value and start setting goals and taking steps towards living your life with purpose, enjoying your life. Follow your heart, follow your dreams. Stop listening to other people, it's your life and all that matters is what is going to make you happy. Your aim is to do what fulfills you.

A good place to start is to look at your values. The next 3 steps will help you on your way to becoming your authentic self, enjoying your life and becoming successful.

1. Go through the list, writing down what you value.

For many people this will be the first time that they have actually sat down and really thought about what they value. Up until now it hasn't been clear to them at all.

2. Narrow the list down to your top 5-10 most important values.

These will be what you feel most passionate about. You will get a rush of excitement or a feeling of peace or you may feel relief that you have discovered this. Almost always there will be some kind of emotional response when you discover what you think is truly important to have in your life.

3. Then under each value write down why this value is important to you.

Ask yourself why is this important to me? What does this mean to me? Often people will find themselves writing things like 'my father said I should.....', 'society expects this of me', 'all my friends do this'. You discover that you have based your life's decisions on something you don't care for.

You now have the ability to consciously choose what it is you value in life and start planning your new life, your new direction, your new goals around your true values. Be the successful person you were meant to be, enjoy life by discovering your true self and living authentically.

Comprehensive list of values

http://amojolife.wordpress.com/resources/values-list/

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Must Read - Robin Sharma - What I Learned from Richard Branson…

What I Learned from Richard Branson…

Robin Sharma

Original Post here...

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/05/what-i-learned-from-richard-branson/ 

I hope you’re great! Just finished an event with Richard Branson in Bucharest (a city known as the “Paris of The East”) and wanted to share my takeaways with you to help you take your career and life to its next level of wow.

Richard was polite and larger than life. A pleasure to share time with. And a man who clearly adores all he does. I encourage you to read his autobiography “Losing My Virginity” as well as his book “Business Stripped Bare” if you haven’t gone through them yet. Uber-inspiring. For people who want to become Remarkable Entrepreneurs – and express their absolute best.

Anyway, I’ll get right into some of my observations as well as the ideas we discussed. Please don’t underestimate the power of these simple ideas – superbly executed, they yield brilliant results.

1. Politeness Matters. As mentioned, Richard Branson was unfailingly polite. He mentioned to me that when he was a kid, if he criticized someone, his mother would make him stand in front of the mirror at home and say, “what you’re seeing in others is really what you’re seeing in yourself. So look in the mirror.” This educated him on the key leadership habit of looking for – and then encouraging – the gifts and talents within other people.

2. Be Massively Independent. When Richard was just four years old, his mother stopped her car and instructed him to find his own way home, over many miles. When he was about 12, she told him to cycle 100 miles to Bournemouth alone, to visit a relative. He expressed to me that these childhood experiences were his mother’s way of growing his self-reliance. And building the invincible inner core that has served him so well as an entrepreneur.

3. Screw It – Just Do It. What makes a great company (and great life) isn’t so much the inspiring idea as the flawless execution around the big idea. As Edison once said: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Richard shared that much of his success came from his philosophy to disregard the naysayers and those telling him his dream was impossible and just get the dream done. (Please remember: the impossible is generally just the untried). This is a man with a giant bias towards action.

4. Lavish Praise on People. I know you know this: the bigger the dream, the more important the team. Having worked with many of the best entrepreneurs in the world, I’ve learned that every single one of them gets that you can’t do it alone. Beautiful to have a brave vision. But the real key is finding the genius-level talent to get that vision delivered into reality. And if all you know how to surround yourself with is mediocre people, you’re destined to experience mediocre results. Richard is brilliant at finding the right people that bring his targets of opportunity to life. And he confirmed that once they are on his team, “I lavish them with praise.” Our takeaway: relentlessly celebrate+develop+inspire your people.

5. Be a Radical Innovator. When he was a young entrepreneur with nothing more than the little college newspaper THE STUDENT, he still showed a lust for disregarding all the rules. He challenged the status quo. And disrupted what was considered normal. An example: he somehow was able to get John Lennon to do an original piece of music for him. He then put the song on a special disc and packaged it into the newspaper, right next to the interview he’d done on the rock ‘n roll legend. At Virgin Records, he recruited the Sex Pistols and reinvented a whole category of music. At Virgin Atlantic, he gave passengers massages on airplanes and dropped them home in limos. And with Virgin Galactic, he’s taking people into space. Very cool. Fantastically bold.

At the Bucharest meeting, he told the 2500+ people in the concert hall that “sometime in your lifetime, every one of you will have visited other parts of the universe.” And I believe it.

6. Build Your Brand. Richard Branson gets branding. He knows what he – and the Virgin name – stands for. Fun. Good Value. Strong customer service. And so at every possible opportunity, he evangelizes all it stands for. Oh, and he’s also clearly a master of getting attention. From hot air balloon adventures that made global news to showing up at a press conference nearly naked to promote Virgin mobile, this Remarkable Entrepreneur gets the value of owning a share of our brain cells.

7. Find Your Necker Island. Get this: Branson paid roughly $300,000 for his beloved Necker Island. He and his then girlfriend Joan were visiting the Caribbean on a getaway. They fell in love with Necker – but it was about $4,000,000. But he wouldn’t give up (let’s never discount the power of a ridiculous amount of persistence around your most closely loved goals). A few months later, the owner needed cash. Branson made his deeply discounted offer. It has served as his retreat away from the world for many years. Here’s the real point: in the world of so much noise and complexity, find your personal retreat (even if it’s an aged wooded bench in a public garden) where you can withdraw to think+create+renew+rest.

8. Lucky Wins. We make luck. Enough said.

9. Don’t Do It If It’s Not Fun. Branson wears a smile pretty much all the time. He laughs naturally. And radiates happiness. Zero doubt: he loves his life – and all that’s in it (George Clooney said he’d swap his life for Richard Branson’s – much to the delight of Richard’s wife). The lesson for us: life’s just too short to be doing work that destroys your soul. This is the best time in the history of the world to become an entrepreneur. Find work you adore. And get busy changing with world with it.

10. With Gifts Come Responsibilities. OK, so Richard Branson’s one of the richest people on the planet. But he gets that being good trumps shiny toys. He mentioned to me that, “with great wealth comes great responsibility.” And so he’s spending a lot of his days evangelizing Virgin Unite, his foundation that helps kids in need. Reminds me of what my amazing father taught me – using the words of the great poet Tagore – growing up: “Robin, when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Son, live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice.”

So there you go. What the iconic Richard Branson shared with me on a sunny Wednesday in Bucharest. I hope the lessons also serve you well.

Stopping Stress Before It Stops You

By Adam Keene

Much like cholesterol, there are types of stress that are beneficial and there are those that can kill you.

When bad types of stress build up, it can keep you from concentrating, make you lose focus and can have you desperately trying to put out many different fires at once. This never works.

Worse though, negative stress can cause breakdowns, exhaustion, illness and worse, much worse.

Good stress is putting yourself under pressure to get a piece of work done well, or an impending achievable deadline. The occasional adrenaline response exerted by the body is no bad thing, but a constant release of this due to unnecessary stress is really detrimental. I will cover 'good stress' in a future post, but for now; we need to get rid of the bad stuff before it gets rid of us.

The first thing to do is recognise this negative stress, what causes it and why. Only once you have done this can you separate the good from the bad and tackle the situation before it gets out of hand.

Once you can see what the situation is, you can put together a strategy. The strategy starts with...

Go for a walk

You heard. Get up, step away from the scene of the emergency and take a walk. Around the block, the office or wherever. The purpose of this is to take you away from the chaos so you can assess the situation. This should help you feel better. Once you have taken a good 5-10 minutes to yourself, it is time to head back to the eye of the storm.

Take a deep breath

Get some oxygen in your lungs. This has its own proven benefits as getting oxygen to the brain in the right amounts will reduce tension.

Prioritise

Do this whilst remembering that you are only one human! If you can delegate smaller tasks, or push back on colleagues to get things off your desk, do this first, this should reduce the overall workload.

This should leave you with a to-do list. Now be really ruthless and go through this one last time to ensure that you are handling only the relevant. I have spent numerous hours worrying about things I needn't have even done that would have had no bearing on my day or my job. Just double-check to make sure these red herrings aren't keeping you down.

Say No

I will tell you to do this a lot, as frankly it is one off the most powerful words in productivity. If something on your to-do list isn't relevant and is stressful, say no to it, explain why in the most polite way and crack on with the important things.

Set buffer deadlines

This is more pre-emptive than anything, but this tactic can certainly be employed in a tough situation if it is called for. Set a deadline for the external stressful force (client, boss, whomever) and then set your own deadline. Ensure the external deadline is generous enough that you have room to manoeuvre. Get this agreed and stick to your internal deadline. This ensures that if any issues crop up, you are covered. This in itself can be a huge stress-buster.

Accept that bad things happen

Not a nice thing to say, but knowing deep down that sometimes things go wrong and that this isn't necessarily your fault can be a huge weight off your shoulders. Keep your chin up and do all you can. This way, if something does go wrong, you know it was out of your control.

Ask for help

The hardest thing to do will often get the quickest and most significant win. Do not be afraid to do this. I have seen Account Directors with 10-15 years high level experience ask for help when it all gets too much. This level of honesty always goes down well and people appreciate this much more than you think. If the choice is either this, or keep quiet and let it all go down in flames; then get whatever courage is required and put your hand up.

That's it for now. I'd be keen to hear what you think and how you respond best to stress - so leave me a comment. 
You can see more from me at www.clevertimemanagement.com

My name is Adam Keene and I am a 27 year old project manager based in the UK. I work for a nationally recognised, award winning digital marketing agency handling a really varied array of accounts. We are always relentlessly busy and like anyone who has to manage their time effectively, there have been times when I have failed miserably and paid the price. Working early, working late, working all night or all weekend, I've been there.

Rising above this I have experimented with a huge number of different working methods and strategies, truly making myself a guinea pig to find a better way and now, finally I'm happy to report that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm talking about clever time management; a way of working that is simple to understand, apply and leaves my clients happy whilst leaving me with more free time to spend as I please.

Find out more at http://www.clevertimemanagement.com

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Do You Fall Into The Trap of Irrational Thinking?

By Judy Widener

I recently ran across a word I haven't heard for a while: irrational. Like so many terms coined by psychiatry, it's been misunderstood and misapplied. I used to think that someone who behaved irrationally was crazy. Not so.

A thought is irrational when it's illogical or unreasonable AND triggers emotional stress. This definition clicked for me.

I took it to mean that not only do you feel stress when you react with an automatic thought pattern that triggers fear, but you're also stressed when and BECAUSE your thoughts aren't logical or reasonable.

Wow. I never thought about it that way before. If this is true, then I can use logic and reasonableness as additional tools to identify and unplug the stress component of negative thoughts that roll around in my head.

This is great news for me, because I used to think that feeling scared or anxious was a sign of a weak character. While I don't believe that any more, it's still a big relief to know that most of my stress came from thoughts that were illogical or unreasonable. My character is just fine. All I need to do is employ more logic and reason.

What causes irrational thoughts? Think about your patterns of reacting. When you encounter a new or unexpected situation, is your first thought usually fearful?

Fear happens when your amygdala gets triggered. Your amygdala is all about big scary emotions, not logic.

And remember, fear isn't about facts. Fear happens when you put a negative spin on a situation. In other words, your interpretation of the event causes your anxiety. 
Take a moment to pinpoint your patterns of irrational thinking. Specifically, what habitual thoughts indicate that you've left logic and reason behind you?

Here are three types of irrational thinking that I often see with my clients.

1) Overreacting with an exaggerated interpretation of your experience (a.k.a. borrowing trouble). For example, when your boss is grumpy, you jump to the illogical conclusion that it means you're going to get fired. Every leap in logic is a jump to a likely false conclusion.

Like Chicken Little clucking, "the sky is falling," you overreact to your interpretation of the situation, feeling upset before there's a valid reason to be. There could be dozens of other causes for your boss's foul mood, none of which has anything to do with you.

2) Exaggerating the importance of an experience. For instance, you'll feel anxious if you think: I can't bear being alone. This is an unreasonable exaggeration. 
What's true is this: you can bear loneliness. Sure, it's uncomfortable and frustrating, but you'll survive.

3) Presuming the worst isn't logical or reasonable because you waste energy (and lose power) when you get upset about a situation that hasn't happened yet-and might not ever happen.

This attitude is perpetuated in our society by two prominent beliefs. One, that it's smart to fear anything that's unknown or uncertain (we call it being cautious). And two, responsible adults worry about bad things that could happen to them.

Another reason you'll have irrational thoughts is when there's a gap in your reasoning. In this case, you'll think you're acting rationally when you're not. This often happens when you try to rationalize avoiding doing something you know needs to be done.

In relationships, it's when that subtle inertia takes over: I really don't want to date this person any more, but I won't tell them tonight because we have plans for a fun night out. Or because their dog just died. Or, it's raining.

Even the flimsiest excuse will enable you to duck doing the dirty deed. Your strong desire to avoid the discomfort you'll feel if they get upset trumps your reasonable desire for honesty.

There's no need to keep channeling Chicken Little. Follow the thread of logic. Identify the reasonable response.

How Adept At Adapting Are You?

You're familiar with the theory of evolution: survival hinges on the ability to adapt. This applies to every species on our planet.

The ones who are the most adaptable-the most able to quickly respond to changing conditions-are the most healthy and the most likely to thrive over the long term.

Have you connected this theory to the effect that your thoughts have on your ability to adapt? Fear-based irrational thinking makes adapting to your ever-changing world harder and more stressful.

So the more adaptable attitude you can have is to embrace-not resist-new situations. Facing new issues head-on is more adaptive and therefore more beneficial to you over the long term than running away from, minimizing, rationalizing, or ignoring them.

I wouldn't be your friendly neighborhood life coach if I didn't offer a few techniques for adopting adaptable attitudes.

Here are my top four strategies for developing your own style of adaptive thinking:

• Become aware that you create 100% of the anxiety and fear you feel, and that they're not just unnecessary, but are detrimental to your long-term well-being. As an alternative...

• Make the most of the potential for learning and growing offered by each new experience. Use this technique to re-program the old pattern of scaring yourself silly by agonizing over amygdala-driven scenarios of catastrophe, mayhem and doom.

• Focus on the good things that might happen as you become a master adapter: you'll take responsibility for creating your experiences. You'll learn to avoid frustration, improve your coping and communication skills, and create better relationships.

In other words, as others are thinking themselves sick (and unhappy), you'll be thriving.

• Recognize that the worst thing that could happen rarely does. Instead, what usually happens is that you subject yourself to tons of unnecessary stress. You're temporarily inconvenienced. You deprive yourself of pleasure while you're over-focused on overreacting to the issue.

When you're stuck in patterns of fear and doubt, the worst thing that often happens is that you experience yourself as ineffective, are temporarily rejected by others, and have to live with unwanted consequences-none of which are fates worse than death and all of which are transient.

How could you adjust your adaptive strategies to achieve greater success?

Judy Widener is a Certified Life Coach and author of Power For A Lifetime: Tools You Customize to Build Your Personal Power Every Day Of Your Life. You can sign up for Discovering Your Values, a 5-day e-course at no cost at http://www.myinnerfrontiers.com Her passion is assisting her clients to discover what is most important to them, then to create more balance and satisfaction in their lives. Empowerment Life Coaching is a comprehensive program that teaches clients simple ways to build their personal power and overcome obstacles to achieving their dreams. Judy has coached more than 600 people over the past 13 years. Her website is http://www.myinnerfrontiers.com

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Living Your Dream Life!

By Karin Volo

Are you living your dream life? Your dream life is a very personal thing. It means that those things you have always dreamed about are coming true in your life. It doesn't always have to mean the fancy cars, the nicest house, or all the material things that a lot of people will associate with a dream life. It's about living the life that is right for you.

A lot of people allow external circumstances or people to define who they are, what they should be doing, or how they should be doing it. I believe that living your dream life starts on the inside with truly knowing what is important to you.

Each of us is given 24 hours is a day. That's it. No more, no less. What we do with that time is up to us. And once that day is gone, it's gone forever. So that means that in order to live your dream life, you really need to appreciate and value what you have and what you do in the allotted time we're all given. It is up to you-and only you!-to make the most of it!

What if you won a grand prize and had a choice of 1) a new car 2) the cash in hand or 3) an all expense paid trip of your choice for you and your family. Which would you take? To me, the answer would easily be the trip because of the experience and I know that the memories would last so much longer than a shiny new car or the cash in hand.

Living your dream life can, and should, be about the experiences you want to have in your life. When you start to define your dream life with what you'd like to experience, it makes it so much fun to obtain. One of the fastest ways to creating your dream life is by doing the things that you love, the things that bring you joy.

I remember when I was 18 writing down a list of 100 things I wanted to do in my lifetime. I've long since lost that list but I always recall when something comes true that was on that list. And many of those things have come true. Perhaps doing that exercise at that age was like writing the map for my life. Of course, the path hasn't been straight, but then when is it ever?

How can you create the life you truly desire? You deserve to have all that you desire in life. The key is learning to become a master at making it happen. This is why investing in yourself and in your personal growth is so valuable. So I ask you, what do you need to change in your life to start living your dream life? And what are you waiting for?

Karin Volo is an expert in career and personal development, she's known as a Tough Transition Specialist and a Dream Life Mentor. Karin is the transformational author of the Bringing Joy series and one of the best selling authors of Turning Points. Her passion is enhancing peoples lives by inspiring and teaching strategies to thrive through tough times, live joyfully, and create their dream lives. Join her Inspiring Lives publication, full of inspiring stories and resources at www.InspiringYourVeryBest.com

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Leadership Coaching: The Power Of Letting Go

By Mike Krutza Co-Author: Jodi Wiff

Expand Your Awareness

We all face conflict and confusion almost all the time, in varying degrees. But there are conflicts and confusion that are life- changing. According to Deepak Chopra, the key to resolving these perplexities in life is to expand our awareness. However, we can't expect the level of the problem to be the same level of the solution, according to him. Obstacles can be transformed into opportunities if we rise the level of solution in our own awareness.

A lot of people are stuck, filled with numbness and depressed. One has to move out of this stuckness and to wake up and take responsibility for their life. We have to step out of our patterns and be open to new perceptions. Change happens when we take on a fresh perspective. Chopra has so wisely said that we can only change what we are first able to see. You have to be willing to be aware of what you want to change.

Are You Really Seeing The Picture?

But this is tough for most of us because many of us are oblivious or in denial. We don't always want to see the real picture. Deepak pointed out that we wear our tinted glasses when seeing what we perceive as "true". The most dangerous enemy is the one we are blind to.

Perception matters, and life ought to be seen as a sequence of irregular weather. We have two choices to deal with it- struggle with it or carry the right gear. Anything can happen. Life, to be truly lived has to be lived awake, and its challenges viewed as creative opportunities. But it is not always easy. Change and transformation, as a process, is hardly ever entirely comfortable.

Feel And Emerge

Life's struggles arise when we tend to go unconscious. We therefore have to endeavor to bring ourselves back to a place of self- awareness. Sometimes, struggles can be a gift, rising to make us more aware of our life's purpose, Chopra points out. Nothing is random when life brings challenges. The question is, how are you going to meet these challenges? You can blame or numb out, or you can will to be conscious. To feel and emerge.

See life as something that constantly recycles itself and evolves at the same time. If we are brave enough to let go, our true selves becomes clearer in its path to evolve and transform. "Life is like a river flowing between the two banks of pain and suffering", Chopra says. We don't have to struggle or grab on to the banks of pain and suffering, but we can choose to float and consciously let go and be happy in the moment. You can then expand, transform and evolve, finding yourself in a place without struggle and your desires within your heart's reach.

By the way, do you want to learn more about leadership in your company? If so, download your FREE ebook here: Guide to Elegant Courage Leadership

Jodi and Mike specialize in executive coaching with individuals and teams. http://lighthouse-leadership.com

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