Answers Reminder #45: Only Give What You Can Afford To Give

We’ve had a previous posting about becoming a gift giver. This one has a different theme aimed at those addicted to giving. This is a note for those people who either feel the need or feel needy, and will spend there last dime to cheer a person up or bail a person out. What good does getting strikes against your credit in the name of cementing a questionable relationship?

THIS WEEK’S TIP: Check your bank statement and then keep your wallet in check. Love, despite what the commercials tell you, is not presents. It is presence. Your presence with the ones you care about is all they really want from you.

Answers Reminder #44: Its Either Add & Subtract Or Modify

To get more positive things in your life, you have to find a way to get more negative things out of your life. There is only so much time or space one person can manage and occupy before they begin to feel the stress begin to mount. So to expect to gain more without giving something up in the process is a pretty foolish notion.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: To add new things to your life and routine, you must give up something. Or you must modify an activity so that it allows for most of the good of the new activity. One example: if you’re out of shape you must exercise more. You can handle this by adding a routine jog around the neighborhood and eliminating some of the time you’ve spent in the past snacking while watching soap opera. Or you can get your fix in by joining a gym with lots of TVs near the tread mills.

Answer Reminder #43: Manage What Information You Have Coming In

Have you noticed that you read the same information multiple times in multiple forms? Do you obtain so much research on a project that it’s now harder to make a decision? Do you speak a language of acronyms and buzzwords? Do you know what any of them mean?

THIS WEEK’S TIP: don’t let information overload be the source of your burnout. Learn to manage the inputs and their sources before they become a burden on you. Learn how your email program filters incoming mail and set up folders to help your prioritize. Save yourself brain drain and some money by dropping subscriptions to magazines and periodicals that you know you don’t have time or interest for anymore. Get some assistance sifting through the basic data, and let someone present you a palatable summary. The magic of the abundance of information available today can quickly become a jinx from having too much to process physically & mentally.

Answer Reminder #42: Be Angry Enough To Do Something About It

You’ve tried counting to ten and thinking happy thoughts, but that issue that’s been nagging you is winning the battle of your nerves. And as it prepares to get on your last one, you’re afraid of losing your cool. But what are you really afraid of? Being angry, or letting others see your impression of the Incredible Hulk? You’re problem isn’t your anger. In fact, your anger is one of the greatest tools you have in your mental tool shed.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: Get angry. Find an opportunity to curse in private if you feel up to it. But don’t just stay angry without coming up with a real reason to be angry and a plan to do something to fix it. The fact that you were bothered enough to get angry shows you care about whatever it is. So use your anger as a sign of personal passion for the issue, and begin the task of figuring out what you are going to do personally to help fix the situation. Then, write it out on paper, post it someplace where you will see it frequently, and then do it.

Answers Reminder #41: Money Is Not A Bad Thing

Many people see money as the ultimate scoring system for life. The more you have, the better you rank among the players. Many people see money as the root of all evil, as they think it says in the bible. The actual quoted verse is, “For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains” from 1 Timothy 6:10. In the end, it’s not the money, it’s what you choose to do with the money that becomes a problem.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: You’ve got to change your attitude about money. Money should be seen as is a tool used to exchange for goods and services. Don’t let how other use or abuse money effect your ability to send your hard earned wages wisely. Money has no power in itself, unless your currency is made of paper, and then you can burn it for heat or light. Otherwise, its worth in the exchange of goods is not inherently a bad thing. It’s all in how you spend those bills.

Answers Reminder #40: You Need More Than A Better Mousetrap

Someone is quoted as saying, “If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.” Whomever it was could have used a better publicist, or I might have remembered there name. Who cares what revolutionary product or service you have? You haven’t told them what it is!

THIS WEEK’S TIP: It takes more than superior product to have superior sales and response. You’ve got to tell somebody about it. You’ve got to tell the right people who will tell more of the right people. The world will only beat a path to your door if you tell them what you’ve go . . . and if it is exactly what they want.

Answers Reminder #39: Inspiration Isn’t Going To A Happen Every Day

Has it been a while since you’ve had a phenomenal idea? Have you been pining for the days full of endless examples of exceptional achievement? Have you really had *days* full of endless examples of exceptional achievement? Let take a moment to return from dreamland and step back into the real world and your real life. Some days are spent slogging through the boring and mundane. Actually, most days are spent slogging through the boring and mundane.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: You can’t expect a constant stream of profound knowledge to come spouting from your head on a daily basis. Even a genius needs some downtime to process his ideas, with odds being that most of them aren’t very good, and then plenty of hard at work refining his ideas into something he can actually present to the world. Expect to go through some throw away ideas and some not-so stellar work days between the dream days.

Answers Reminder #38: Every Thing In Your Life Has Lead Up To This Moment

Every thing in your life has lead up to this moment. Whether you’re on the foul line in the biggest basketball game of your life or trying to maneuver your shopping basket through a crowded supermarket, some chain of not so random events since your birth has lead you to the place where you are standing at this very moment. It might not seem that glamorous when this moment is taking out the trash, washing the dog, or standing in line at the DMV, but its life.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: Deal with the right here and now right now, while it is here. Learn to live in the moment, and make the best of what is happening in your world right now. Yesterday has past and tomorrow is something you can prepare for, but you can’t be stuck fretting over it.

Answers Reminder #37: There Is Always Tomorrow

Don’t give up. Don’t give in. You may be about to spend what seems like your last ounce of will and drive in a fruitless endeavor, but it is not your last ounce. With eight hours of sleep, you will be recharged and refreshed and ready to face the world and your fruitless endeavor again. Is it a fruitless endeavor? Evaluate and determine whether you should shift your focus elsewhere. Is it worthy? Don’t let the fatigue of the day get you down. There is always tomorrow.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: You always have tomorrow to try again. It doesn’t matter how many times you failed today, tomorrow brings a whole new 24-hours of possibility. Rest up tonight and get ready to do whatever it takes to succeed first thing in the morning. Evaluate you projects or problems with a fresh mind and see if you need to adjust or scrap your current plan. But don’t stop working toward your goals. And if you run out of time again . . . there is always another tomorrow.

Answers Reminder #36: Your Life Is The Most Important Job You Will Ever Have

Think of all the time you spend trying to do a good job at your job. Things like double checking status reports before they are released, gauging the morale of your team members, and doing scheduled maintenance on your critical equipment may come to mind. You do these things to keep operations running smoothly. If everything came to a screeching halt, no work would get done. No advancements could be made, and nobody gets paid. This is how you go about your 9 to 5 job that puts a roof over your head and food on the table. Now, think about having that passion and attention to detail to make sure you are living your life in the same manner.

THIS WEEK’S TIP: Try thinking of your life as a second full time job. It’s not hard to do when you think about housework, the kids, keeping your spouse happy and keeping your self healthy. Okay, try thinking of your life as your primary full time job. Without your health, you’ve got nothing. Without family and friends, you’ve got no support system. And no salary amount in the world can make up for a miserable existence once you pull out of the company parking lot. Take the time to put in the proper planning and maintenance of your mind, body, and soul.