THIS POST CELEBRATES ALL MEN EVERYWHERE
What does being a parent, a role model, a daddy, uncle, brother, son, husband, boyfriend, or man mean to you?
Three Key Steps For Productive Communication
Simple yet brilliant, we sometimes overlook the most valuable basic steps to being our most savvy and productive selves when it comes to our communication strategies. As busy professionals, when juggling all sorts of balls, things do go awry. The fallout can be far greater and the loss more expensive than the actual time required to perfect our communications!
I know that you work really hard and sometimes one more thing tips the scale and it becomes a burden. I am here to say that it is exactly those things that lead to more success and less work in the end. Also keep in mind that sometimes we are going to be called upon to take care of our business communications in a way that seems to take care of the other guy more, and in the long run, we are really really really taking care of ourselves.
I am going to share what I know to be three of the most important strategies that go a long way in helping us be be productive, successful and accomplished. They are oh-so-simple and obvious:
1. When you are answering an email, it is OK to answer the questions in the body of the original email. For instance, go line by line making sure you have addressed someone’s concerns, ideas etc. Highlight your answers so the person you are communicating with knows that you take their message seriously. This helps you both keep up with the info going back and forth, from email to email and helps you keep track of what is actually being asked. It also prevents the necessity of writing an additional email because you forgot something. This really saves endless time and frustrations. When you look back over the email as the conversation sometimes continues, you will quickly be reminded of the correspondence.
2. Do your best to only keep one set list of your notes or to do’s. It is so much easier to cross them off one list and to know where the item is and which list. If you keep it straight, you won’t have things fall through the cracks.
3. When you are out and about networking and find yourself in an event with lots of people, when working the room a great piece of advice is to work what you can handle. Don’t try to connect with everyone. Make a great connection or two or even three. How many people can you really follow up with after the event, really? Make each connection worthwhile and make it matter. Gobbling up as many business cards as you can hold won’t do you any good. People won’t know you. I have found that when I keep this philosophy in mind and follow up with a few people, even if there is no response back, the opportunity to reconnect at another event is far greater because we did connect the first time. They will know and remember me whenever we meet again and if they don’t I can remind them in a nice way. It is so worth it. Not everyone is great at responding and following back up. You be at your best and you will stand out as a serious business person. You will be remembered and your time will be well spent. It is the quality not the quantity.
In Just One Afternoon
In his song, Imagine, John Lennon says, “And the world will be as one.” The point made is that when we understand each other and put our differences aside, rid ourselves of judgment and greed, we will live as one. What are the chances of that you may ask! Here’s a perfect step!
Let’s start with the steps we can take in just one afternoon! What difference can you make in just one afternoon? Just think about it for a moment. The possibilities are staggering and endless. Here is how powerful one afternoon is: a baby is born, a friend extends their hand, peace is made, an invention rocks the world and in just one afternoon life changes forever. It ONLY takes a small part of our lives to listen deeply to understand how someone feels, a moment in time to appreciate, to forgive someone, to smile or hug and to get to know someone intimately. In just one afternoon, we can stand up for ourselves, sharing who we are while at the same time making a difference in someone else’s life because we payed attention to them.
Through listening, I got/heard the idea to write a series of books that, to tell you the truth, I saw as brilliant. I am not taking credit for the brilliance or the idea. This series is called In Just One Afternoon. The magnificence of this idea blew me away. A series of books that would shine a spotlight on real and authentic life stories that would make a difference not only for the person sharing but also for those who read the words. As Marianne Williamson says, “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” That would be the experience offered by these books. Many of these stories took extreme courage to share but the contributors knew that it was cathartic for them and would make a difference for the reader. Many of these stories are being shared for the first time.
So here is where it gets really interesting. Again through listening, I also received/heard/listened for the subheading which will distinguish the different subject matters that each book will focus on and the particular group of people we get the privilege to get to know. The first book, now available on amazon – In Just One Afternoon, Listening Into The Hearts Of Men – is a compilation of intimate stories shared by men about their emotional and creative life journeys.
These are beautiful, real, raw, and heart-throbbing stories. In these interviews, the men really open up and share special parts of their lives. Go to Amazon to get your copy now. (E-book or paperback book is available)
On tap to come out in the spring is In Just One Afternoon, Listening Into The Hearts Of Twins. How much do you know of the depth of these relationships and the uncanny events that make twins unique? How can we use their relationships as models for our own lives? When you read the stories that I have heard, you too will get chills and sometimes even a chuckle. 
The third book in the series (and there is no stopping this idea) is In Just One Afternoon Listening Into The Hearts Of Millennials. Again this book will share with you who millennials are really down to their core, their fears, their struggles, and their goals. The list of book subjects goes on and on from there.
Through a lens into these stories, we will see a beautiful picture inside the feelings, lifestyle, and essence of humanity.
The future book cover for the next book about twins!
Thank You For Turning Green
I looked down at my watch and it was 6:41 AM. I promised to be there at 7AM, I was feeling weird. Am I going to make it? I stay on schedule all the time for the most part and I am anal with my time and methodical with how I plan it. I don’t like things falling through the cracks. I definitely don’t like being late.
Do you sometimes notice that time seems to stand still and it gives you back what you need when you really need some extra seconds, minutes and even hours? 
I am sure that many of you have had similar situations in the busy, rich, full world you live and work in.
As I drove down the road hoping that time would stand still, something incredible happened. Imagine this: Not liking to be late at all, straight ahead a red light and a car in front of me. The red light was really just a car and a little space away. I’m thinking: “I am really going to be late!” As I approached the car in front, closing in the gap, visualizing being late, the car moved to the right lane which made room for me! I giggled. Then the light turned immediately green, clearing my way. It really was the shortest red light in history.
I more than giggled and found myself yet again being reminded that the car moving and the light turning green was a metaphor for the THE FREEDOM STEPS that take us inch-by-inch, step-by- step to our goals. Noticing these steps whenever and wherever they appear is a gift we give ourselves. Making good use of these steps is imperative in staying a course, not giving up and staying true to our choices.
Listening is key to seeing the steps for what they are and connecting all their dots. We see how we fit into the process. When we listen, we see the amusement.
Oh, by the way, I got to where I needed to go in more than enough time.
How To Understand Your Ego
Can you sense when we are in our ego? How do you find your heart in those moments?
Here I share a short video about the ego and how to shift. It is short and sweet and to the point.