Don’t give in to the temptation to take a tax refund and spend it frivolously!
Here’s a great article from MSN that gives some very practical and smart advice on how to spend that tax refund windfall:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/Advice/GrowYourTaxRefund.aspx
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
I’ve blogged before about the importance of first impressions in business. How you present yourself – everything from your clothes, your hair, and your briefcase... to your demeanor on the phone, your promptness, and your handshake – can be the critical factor that unlocks the door to success.
The other day I had an interesting experience that highlighted this whole notion and brought to light the need to recognize some “not to dos,” as well.
This is what happened: I was at a meeting with a group of very professional and accomplished business people. One young man immediately caught my attention. He wore a nicely-tailored suit, his body language was confident, and he smiled and talked easily with everyone in the room. This individual had a commanding presence, and gave off an air of self-assurance and poise. He was polished down to the last detail.
I thought to myself, “That young man is going places.”
Then something amazing happened that changed everything: He blew a bubble with gum.
Suddenly, all of my good feelings and positive impressions vanished and I thought to myself, “Well... maybe not.”
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not against chewing gum (in fact, the sugar-free variety can help keep your teeth clean). What I’m saying is that there’s a time and place for all things, and true professionals always keep this in mind.
So, what are some “not to dos” that can create a negative impression (first or otherwise) and will only serve to sabotage your success? Here’s what I think are best to avoid:
Remember that for many people, just one small negative thing they perceive can erase many positive attributes about you in their minds. Make sure nobody gets the wrong impression about you and your business.
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
What is it that we’re all
really after?
Success? Sure. Financial
freedom and security? You bet. Accolades and approval? Of course.
But what I believe most of
us are really after – what truly drives us as human beings – is
something less tangible than the things I listed above.
For me, the thing that I
really want is peace of mind. And that’s what I am hoping to help you achieve
as well.
Creating monetary wealth
definitely can help create peace of mind. But there’s more to it than that. Peace
of mind is a place of inner calm and tranquility. It is a sense of freedom – when
worries, strain or fear aren’t on your mind, and your head, heart and body are
content. It is a feeling of wholeness.
As we all know, achieving real
peace of mind in our hectic and often overwhelming lives can be very difficult
to achieve.
Different people find peace
of mind in a variety of ways: meditating, exercising, going to church,
gardening, or creating art like painting or poetry. I encourage you to find and
nurture the activities and people in your life that help you in your personal quest
for inner calm and wellness.
Here are some tips that I hope will be helpful to you in achieving everyday peace of mind:
· Take the time to
breathe, reflect and relax. Even a few minutes a day will make a change in your
life. Meditate, take a walk, take a run, call a friend or parent…whatever
activity that helps you clear your mind and get clarity and perspective.
· If situations
out of your control – such as the typical daily reports on the evening TV news –
upset you and cause negative feelings, direct your attention on things in your
life where you CAN effect positive change.
· Cleanse you
heart: Don't hold grudges. Learn to forgive and forget. Nurturing ill feelings
and grievances hurts you and causes internal stress. There is no benefit to
dwelling on unpleasant memories or past injustices.
· Weed your
garden: Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people.
· Tame the “green
eyed monster”: Don't waste energy being jealous of others and the things and
lives you think they have. Look at
your life as the beautiful, whole and unique gift that it is.
· Don’t sweat the
small stuff: Every day we are faced with countless little annoyances and
irritations: traffic jams, a long and slow-moving line at the “express checkout,”
your computer crashing. If you can take action to avoid these daily
inconveniences, that's great, but otherwise, try to accept them cheerfully. A
bad attitude won’t help anything! By focusing on what you can change, what you
do have control over, you will feel empowered and an inner strength that is the
basis for peace of mind.
· Practice patience and tolerance with people and events.
These ideas and strategies are not
necessarily easy to do, nor have I mastered them myself. But by striving to
achieve inner peace every day, we will ultimately create more happiness in all
aspects of our personal world.
And by creating peace in our personal worlds,
we automatically bring it into the external world, which means helping
ourselves helps others as well.
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
Did you know that the average American household spends 15 percent of their total income on food and drinks?
And, did you know that the most basic foods - the staples like eggs, bread and milk - have had a double-digit percentage price increase during the last year? On average, eggs cost 38% more now!
It's no wonder that just going food shopping is often a stressful experience. But what's the answer? We all have to eat, right?
I just saw this great clip from Good Morning America that has some helpful tips on how to save at the grocery store.
I especially like the advice to "shop smart"... going armed with a list of the essentials... so that you avoid making a bunch of unnecessary impulse purchases. There's plenty of times I end up in the checkout line, buying stuff I don't really need!
And, the tip to set a weekly spending limit - and sticking to it - is spot on. Budgeting is a key tool to manage your finances and expenses in general.
Take a look:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=4672020
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
I’ve been thinking about brick walls. You know, the ones that seem to stand in our way of getting where we want to be.
I’ve been thinking that maybe we’ve been looking at them all wrong.
Most people think of a brick wall as a barrier to our dreams... a solid obstruction that is intimidating and fearsome.
But here’s what I’ve decided: if we look at brick walls in a different way, maybe they can be assets, not obstacles.
Maybe brick walls are difficult to overcome simply to make us work harder for what we want and to help us appreciate our triumphs.
Maybe they are there to keep out those that really don’t want to climb them in the first place.
Or how about this: brick walls - as strong and permanent as they are - are really there to keep us from EVER going back to where we were before. And that the taller and steeper these walls are, the more inspiring the view from the top is.
Maybe once you're PAST a brick wall, it's actually there to support you... to prevent you from "backsliding." And the taller that wall behind you is, the easier you'll be able to look over your shoulder and still see it, and draw strength from that sight, even when you're way beyond it.
Just food for thought... a little shift in perspective that could give you support and encouragement in everything you do.
What do you think?
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
Seems like no matter where I go these days, all I see are people talking on cell phones, on their lap tops, wearing their Bluetooth headsets, or surfing the net on their iPhones. Everyone seems to be communicating all the time, in all manner of places… in their cars, walking down the street, in meetings, or at the gym.
Emails, text messaging, IMs, Skype… the number of high-tech communication methods has simply exploded. We can’t seem to get enough of it, and the more “techy” and the faster the better. Seems like even regular old phone calls have become passé!
Don’t get me wrong – it’s great that we have all of these modern communication channels available to us. But, I think it’s incredibly important to remember an important fact: nothing replaces one-on-one, face-to-face, direct communication… this is true in your personal life and in business.
Why? Because without face-to-face interaction, vital communication cues are often lost along the way.
We’ve all been there: you sent an email that you thought was perfectly clear, but ended up being misinterpreted. And you probably remember instances when you thought you heard someone tell you something on the phone, and then learned later that you completely misheard the other party’s statements.
Or, even worse – you left an important voice mail or sent a time-sensitive email to a client, only to find out later that, due to some inexplicable technological glitch, it was never received.
So, while all of this technology has made our lives easier and has really opened up the world to us in ways that we never imagined would be possible, be aware that sometimes the old-fashioned way is really the best.
And, to my mind, all of this technology has had an unfortunate side effect. It’s caused a lot of us to lose touch with an important ingredient to successful business: the human element.
The success of your business is intrinsically connected to how well you communicate, how professionally you conduct yourself and the quality of your product. While you will certainly do a great deal of your business over the phone and through emails and other electronic media (especially for your marketing), don’t forget the importance of having “real life” interactions with your clients and customers.
Remember, in addition to being a more direct and “fool-proof” way to communicate important information, face-to-face meetings also afford your clients the opportunity to get to know you. Giving your customers the chance to quickly see what you’re all about as a person is very important, because in order for your clients to do business with you, they have to trust you first, which means they need to get a sense for who you are.
Bottom line: supplement your calls, emails and texts with in-person meetings with your customers – as often as you can.
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
Have you heard of someone named “Alferd Williams”?
If not, it’s okay… he’s not a famous world leader, educator, Hollywood actor, or athlete.
Even so, I have a lot of respect for Alferd.
Alferd Williams is a first grader at Edison Elementary School in St. Joseph, Missouri. He sits in circle-time, does his schoolwork dutifully, and enjoys a snack with the rest of his classmates.
But here’s the difference: Alferd Williams is 70 years old.
Why is Alferd going back to grade school? He is fulfilling a promise he made to his mother six decades ago: that he would learn to read. 
Alferd Williams grew up poor in Arkansas and was just 8 years old when he went to work in the fields to help his sharecropper father. He remembers how his family struggled and vowed that his life would be different.
His dedication and determination to not only make good on his promise to his mother but also to better himself is truly inspiring.
He is living his dream, following through with what he’s promised someone, and pursuing a life-long goal. Even at 70, his mind is open to the possibilities and his world is still expanding and evolving… and he’s not worried about what others may think, because he’s focused on what he’s trying to achieve. This man is the embodiment of everything I believe in.
And, Alferd’s story gets better: this man is not only dedicated to improving his own life, but he is also serving to inspire others. “I tell the kids they can have anything they want in life,” he says.
To watch a short video about his touching story, click here:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/msnbc-us--missouri--70-year-old-first-grade/3470800059
Bravo Alferd! And thank you for your example.
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
P.S. Most of us take basic reading skills are taken for granted. But according to National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 30 million adults in the United States today can’t read.
The most common causes include undiagnosed learning disabilities, inadequate schools and parents who are poor readers. The consequences are devastating: low literacy has been linked to unemployment and poverty.
But, there is help. There are community-based adult-education programs across America, and national organizations like ProLiteracy Worldwide – a non-profit advocacy group – and the National Institute for Literacy offer assistance to adults who want to better their lives by learning to read.
"It's important to have specific dreams."
- Dr. Randy Pausch
Mark your calendar for tomorrow: This Wednesday night, April 9, the ABC TV network is airing an interview with Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, about his “Last Lecture.”
Maybe some of you have read about Pausch’s book by the same name, or heard about his fight with pancreatic cancer... and his drive, commitment and unyielding passion to leave his family – and really all of us – his legacy of positive thinking, love, and determination.
Here’s the link to ABC’s promo for the show. I highly recommend tuning in. It might just be the best TV you watch all year.
http://abcnews.go.com/gma/lastlecture
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
There are certain things you need to be able to succeed: drive, commitment, vision, support… and energy.
Going after your dream and putting a stake in the ground as an independent entrepreneur is definitely rewarding, but it isn’t always easy! There’s definitely some effort involved, and the rest of your life is still going to require attention too.
So how do you maintain your energy level when it seems like there are things that actually latch onto you, pulling and draining the crucial energy that you need?
Here’s some advice that I hope you find helpful:
1. Keep to a regular sleep schedule. You might think it’s great to get that extra three or four hours of sleep on the weekends, but actually, researchers have found that changing your bedtime or waking time by two hours or more upsets your circadian rhythms – the crucial regulators of your sleep cycle.
Shifting your sleep patterns on Friday and Saturday nights can actually make it harder to fall asleep Sunday night and cause you to wake up feeling tired Monday morning, and affect how you feel for days afterward. So, while it’s fine to sleep-in a bit on Saturday and Sunday, experts recommend keeping it within a 60-minute window.
2. Watch your posture. Did you know that slouching can make you feel tired? Dr. Carolyn Dean, a holistic physician in New York, has this helpful tip for restoring your pep: imagine a string pulling you up from the top of your head and aligning your vertebrae. Relax your shoulders, chest, and abdomen, and slightly tilt your pelvis forward. Hold yourself this way as often as you can while sitting, driving, and walking. If you strive to be conscious about maintaining good posture, it should become automatic within about a month.
3. Make sure you have the right lighting in your home office. A lack of natural sunlight can drain your energy. The fluorescent and incandescent lights in most offices can actually depress your mood, sap your energy and impact productivity. If nothing else, make sure to get a least 20 minutes of direct sunlight every day (even a cloudy day has its benefits!).
4. Make smart choices with diet and exercise. Be aware of the foods and eating habits that might make you feel lethargic. Take in food in smaller amounts more often; don’t have a big lunch or dinner after being hungry for hours. Make sure to get some exercise or activity into your schedule every day in order to maintain your energy levels.
5. Breathe, take breaks. Just taking a quick moment to close your eyes, breathe deeply and clear your head can be re-energizing. I always recommend incorporating short breaks throughout your day; even if it’s a quick 10-minute walk around the block, it will help your energy level immensely!
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
For all you parents out there, here’s a great article from
The Today Show’s website that talks about kids and their diets. Did you know that
45 percent of this country’s youth are overweight or obese, and the number of
children burdened with diabetes has nearly quadrupled in the past 30
years? I didn't.
Thankfully, there's some great ideas about how to swap out the bad
stuff for the good in this article (click the sidebar links for suggestions for every meal... from breakfast to dinner and the snacks in-between):
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23503078/
Enjoy!
With gratitude,
Russ
Founder of Winning in the Cash Flow Business
Dalbey Education Institute
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