Competition and the Art of Winning

There is nothing wrong with wanting to win. What's wrong is accepting and being content with never winning. Competition is a wonderful thing. It keeps our spirit hungry and motivated to achieve that which we desire. Is it wrong to want to be good or great at something? Remember that we have the opportunity to either get involved in life or be a spectator; the choice is ours to make. If you chose to be a spectator then don’t complain about the success of others. I believe that there are three types of people in the world. Those who make things happen, those who wish things would happen and those who wonder about what just happened. So begin by asking yourself, which one of these three types am I? Once you have identified that you can make the necessary changes to be the person you wish to be. Again remember that if you remain on the sidelines and only observe then that is your choice. So don’t be critical of the success of others. We now seem to live in a world where winning is frowned upon. We have taken away our children’s will to do better by taking away any motivation they had to achieve. We do this by rewarding little or no effort. We even find excuses for failure rather than solutions to success. This then carries over into adulthood. Rather than working harder to get ahead we simple blame our failures on others or circumstance. Those who are successful in life never blame outside sources for failure but rather look internally for solutions to improve. Failure in anything is never failure if something is learned, improvements are made, and you continue on. Failure can only be claimed if you just give up. Understand that competition shows us weakness and lets us know where improvement is required and needed. Without failure or competition we never have the opportunity to reach our full potential, because we never have the opportunity see flaws and correct them. I know that losing is never fun or easy but it is essential for improvement. So the next time you are confronted with failure look within and ask what could I have done better and then tell yourself what you will do next time to achieve the outcome you desire. Embrace competition and learn from failure it will make your life better in more ways than you could imagine.

Creating Jobs in the United States

I wonder who the President is talking to and listening to when he believes that spending money on needless things will create jobs in this country. Recently the President proposed a tax break on making your home more energy efficient. People cannot spend money they do not have on making their homes more energy efficient. Would you spend hundreds of dollars to save a few dollars or spend it on things like food, clothing and shelter? The government is under the impression that spending money on these so called green jobs (who by the way employ very few people) and worthless projects will create jobs. The fact is these programs will only keep some people employed but will not create any new jobs. Here’s an idea bring back the jobs that have been lost to other countries. Bring manufacturing back to the United States. We keep losing jobs to countries that produce products or provide services at a lower cost. What’s wrong with this picture? Soon there will be less and less people in America who will be able to afford the products being imported. You cannot sell products or services to people who don’t have any money. I think it’s time to bring people to the white house who actually have their finger on the pulse of the American people, not just a bunch of multi millionaires who are out of touch with reality. It’s time to start encouraging companies to stay or come to the United States with their businesses rather than leave for higher profits. Through my program Corporation You I encourage people to eliminate needless spending in their lives in order to grow financial strength; the government needs to take a hard look at its needless spending and fix the problems this nation faces. Unemployment is the problem not people with excess money looking to spend it.

Tiger Woods

What we need to keep in perspective is that Tiger Woods is human and no matter how much money he has he will face many of the same challenges as the rest of us. He must now try to rebuild his relationship with his wife and family. This is no different than anyone else who is in the same situation. Money doesn't separate you from the challenges in life. All money does is make it possible to have things and buy stuff. I believe that this is a lesson in the reality about the price of fame. When we chose a public life we give up the rights to a private life. This is a fact that many people who seek fame fail to understand. As a public figure who has build an image of perfection Tiger was setting himself up for failure. We look at Tiger Woods and expect perfection in everything he does. When we are confronted with the fact that the image does not reflect the reality then we are confused and demand answers. After all we gave him the lifestyle he enjoys, didn't we? Understand that this is a very difficult time for him and his family. He should be granted the time to get through this. I'm sure that he will still be a great golfer after all is said and done. The message we need to take away from this and any other celebrity incident is don't place people to high on a pedestal because sooner or later they will fall. How far they fall depends on how high up they are...

Patriots VS Colts on Sunday night Football

Let’s talk about the Patriots call to go for it on 4th down against the Colts in Indianapolis. If you want to call it a crazy call then that’s your opinion, but what makes him a great coach and great leader is the ability to make calls or decisions where he is not afraid to fail. If they make the yard he is a hero and brilliant. People say that he had no confidence in his defense, but if you look at it he had confidence in both his defense and his offense. He felt his offense could get the yard and if they did not get the yardage he felt his defense could stop the Colts or at least hold them only to a field goal. What separates the average coach from the great ones is the ability to risk more then your opponent. Do you sometimes fail? Yes but the victory is greater when the risk is higher. I believe that Bill Belichick will learn from this and move his team forward like he always does. You cannot argue that he is a fantastic coach and knows what he is doing and the results that he gets. Well you could argue if you one of the few coaches with more superbowl rings then Belichick has or a better career win record. I’m not a Patriots fan, but I am a student of great leaders and Bill Belichick is certainly that. So ask yourself do you live safely or do you take the chances that very successful people do?

Why Create a Smarter Planet

Everyday we seem to be bombarded by adds from companies trying to create a smarter planet. What are these people thinking? We don't need a smarter planet! What we need are smarter people on the planet. Somewhere along the line we have taken up the cause to allow people to become more and more lazy and dumber. The problem with creating a smarter planet is that when something goes wrong we (the human race) well be to stupid and complacent to figure out what to do. When we create technology we hand over control to a select few people who create these monsters. I was at a gas station a few months ago and the clerk could not sell me a pack of gum and a bottle of water because the stores computer system had gone down. Why did someone not teach this person how to do simple math and sell products without the use of a computer. It seems to me that we are losing the fundamentals of what got us here to begin with. You don't even have to be a alive to drive the cars coming in the future. These cars will do everything for you drive, stop, adjust speed, park, and so on. How lazy do you truly have to be. I know people who can even write a check to pay a bill. That's sad. Stop giving control of your life to technology and take back your mind.

Customer Service

What ever happened to customer service? It seem as though many employees feel that the customer should be grateful that they are paying for a level of service that they are not getting. Since when is it the rule that the customer is wasting the time of the employee. If it were not for the customer the business would not exist. In these hard economic times I would think that more businesses would be doing whatever it took to keep the customers they already have. The greatest challenge in business is customer loyalty and employees and their attitudes are the key to this challenge.

Take Time to Set Goals

Have your goals or dreams changed? Why have they changed? When was the last time you sat down and did some goal setting? Has life gotten in the way of achievement? Or have your achievements been directed by your life or job? I know that often circumstances can dictate our direction or the path in life. But is that truly what you want? Are you truly happy with the direction you are moving toward? If the answer is NO, do something about it. Sit down and take the time to map out your life. Make a plan for your life. Chart a course to your destiny. It is very difficult to take a trip or to begin a journey without knowing where you are going and how to get there. You may have heard the saying "people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." Well goal setting is a plan for your life, the road map to destiny. But just having a goal is never enough you need to take steps to achieve them.

1. Write them down
2. Develop a plan on how to achieve them
3. Take action toward them
4. Review them often to check your progress toward reaching them

I hope you take the time to do some goal setting in your life. This is your opportunity to develop a road map to your destiny and plan for your future.

Diets and Losing Weight

I know that many people are on the weight loss train. I also know that many people fail in their weight loss programs and weight loss goals. Understand that there is no diet that will be the fix all in weight loss. Diets can allow you to lose some weight in a relatively short period of time but it tends to be short term loss and not sustainable. The secret to sustainable weight loss is a change in lifestyle and eating habits. More exercise, eating healthier, and portion control. The problem is, as in most things in life, people want a quick fix. A magic pill that will have a profound impact on their lives today. Something that requires no effort, energy, or change in lifestyle. Just take the magic pill and your worries are over. The weight loss business is a multi-billion dollar a year industry that makes people promises that are in reality empty. Are there programs that work? Yes, but these programs deal with changing your behavior and beliefs, not a magic pill.

Fixing the Economy

We have several problems facing us today. I believe that we can overcome some of these problems with this simple solution. Banks are sitting on toxic assets (bad loans made on houses that are now in foreclose and rotting away). We gave the banks bailout money to get rid of these toxic assets, right? So how about this.....

1.The banks use the money we gave them to fix up these houses so that people want them.
2. This puts local craftsmen to work.
3. Banks can then sell these houses and get them off the books for a small profit.
4. The real estate market starts to recover.
5. People are working and have money to spend in stores - bringing retail sales up.
6. when retail sales are up the markets recover.
7. When people buy products that creates demand for goods, so manufacturing companies start hiring people (again more people going to work and less losing their jobs).

and the cycle goes on and on.........

Beware of Predators

In this type of climate you need to be very aware of predators. Understand that this is the time where people are very vulnerable to scams of all kinds. People are out there preying on your security and your financial needs. What will get you into a lot of trouble is greed. Remember IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS. Scams of all kinds work when people get greedy. They promise you the world and you believe it, then one day you find that you have lost everything that you have worked so hard to build. The truth is NOTHING IS FREE and Everything has a price. I would strongly encourage you to do all your homework before investing in anything or getting involved in any financial rescue operations or plans. Predators are taking people houses and savings accounts every minute of everyday. Don't become a victim of greed. Remember how you got to where you are and the common sense you used to get there. There is a reason we call it building wealth the only ways to get rick quick are to steal it, win it or recieve it in a will.

What Business Need Right Now

If you are a business owner or manager of a business you have probably seen a decline in business over the last few months. Now is the time for creativity and innovations. This is the time to start introducing more value and services to your customer. Give people a reason to come to you. Give your customer more than they expect. In this market people are looking for more bang for their buck, so the question is "what are you doing to earn their business?" Your company and it's employees are the first place to look for creative ideas. If your not looking for improvement then your going to be looking for a new line of work. Remember that customers want a buying experience whether it's good, bad or Great is up to you. Three words for any business in any economy are Vision, Communication, and Implementation. See where it is that you wish to go, share you vision completely with your people, and then make it happen.

Weight loss tips from Coach John. No matter what diet you follow the key to weight loss is lowering calories you take in and increasing movement (exercise). The more you move the more calories you will burn. The fewer calories you take in the more weight you will loose. How do you cut calories? Its simple just cut the portions you normally eat in half. See you can eat whatever you want to eat just the secret to loosing weight is portion control. So quit looking for that magic diet and use portion control and movement to achieve your weight loss goals. Try it and change your life. Weight loss is a Multi Billion Dollar industry in these hard economic times you need to keep the money you have. Don't throw your money away on some expensive quick fix. Follow these simple steps you have nothing to loose but weight.