Global Success Coach

Happy As www.happyas.com

Birthdays! It’s ‘Uniquely’ all about You!

Without doubt one of the most important days of the year is your birthday! It's uniquely all about you!

In our family we have 5 extra statutory holidays each year, that's because we recognise how important birthdays are and we make sure we all take the day off for each family member's birthday! No one goes to school or work and we celebrate that person birthday in style.

As a sideline, that means over the next 20 years - I may end up having 100 more days off - than you?

But back to the topic, why are birthdays so special to forming relationships? Well it's because almost no one remembers birthdays? But when you do you get yourself right into a very special category of people! And if you remember someone birthday consistently you will form a very special bond in just a few years.

However to remember someone's birthday you have to first know when their birthday is? So how do you find out the birthdays of people you know?

My first technique is quite obvious and that is to just ask them. Now children love to tell you when their birthday is, the day, the month and the year, they are proud of their age and will even divide the year up into segments to tell you they are 7 and three quarters old right now.

Older people, especially after say about age 28, are far more reluctant to share the year they are born in, and that actually doesn't matter. Because to remember their birthday each year the only two facts you need to know are the day and the month.

So when you ask them ask just for that. Like "I was wondering when your birthday is, what day and month where you born in', you will be surprised how quickly they respond with the details. Everyone secretly likes to think they may receive an extra birthday wish, card or phone call on the day!

Other techniques are to ask someone else who knows them? Or if is a client or customer, you may make it part of a form that they fill in?

And of course pay attention, often people will tell you what they have been up to that week and often it will be a celebration of theirs or someone else's birthday.

I make a point of asking everyone I meet, not right up front but closer to the end of the conversation, and if they have given me their business card I will just take a quick note of the day and month and write it on the back as soon as I have left the meeting.

The most important thing is to have a system to remind you off the birthdays as they come up. I use Plaxo, it's a free service which keeps your address book up to date, and will give you a 7 day reminder of upcoming birthdays , which gives you plenty of time to arrange a gift or a card.

I also use Plaxo premium which will allow me to send an e-card to anyone in the world on the day of their birthday. A sure fire way to ensure no one is forgotten!

The other thing I love to do is call people on their birthday and sing them happy birthday over the phone! At any age everyone loves to hear that song, 'Happy Birthday to you'!

And of course the more Birthday greetings you send out the more you will surely receive in return! If you want to you can post a comment here with your name and birthday, and email address... I will send you a card next birthday, I promise!

The best things in life aren't things.....

You can't take everyone on the journey with you!

One of the greatest 'Mooring lines' holding you back from your true potential comes in the disguise of friends and family!

That's right - the nearest and dearest can have the most positive or the most negative influence on your future success!

As we grow up our friends and family play a part in shaping who we are!

But as we start to shape our own lives to follow a destiny path, these influences can start to have a very different impact on our ability to move outside of 'our formed' comfort zones.

Why is it that most people are 10% richer or poorer than their family? What limits the majority of people to this zone? It's about staying in the pack and not rocking the boat! Peer pressure perhaps? Strangely enough people who win the lottery often squander the money until they get rid of enough of it to put them right back into this very comfort zone.

At some time you need to realize that you can't take everyone with you on the journey, and to cut the Mooring Line doesn't mean you stop loving them or being their friends. It may mean though that it's time to Divorce them from a business or wealth creation perspective, or from sharing too many of your long term life goals with them. Keep loving them, they are friends and family!

But it's time to find new people who can travel with you on this next part of the journey!

People come into your life for a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime.

People come into your life for a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime.

When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realise is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a Season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Chocolates on the Pillow aren’t good enough!

Today people have such a much better understanding of what they are entitled too, as well as what they can expect with regards to 'service'.

It's all about Standards and Extras!

Standards are what we know we should get and what we expect.

Extras are things that surprise us; sometimes I refer to it as 'unexpected service'.

So how does it work, well it either falls into a Positive, Neutral or Negative experience. And what can affect the perception of the experience is the way it's been communicated to them?

Let's take the first time you take your car in for a service. As it's the 'first time', the car dealer decides to valet your car for you. You are really impressed, (positive) however the next time you take the car in, it doesn't get a valet (negative). Your expectation was that it was to be cleaned, simply because it wasn't communicated to you the first time that the valet was a bonus or an unexpected service.

To make sure you get value from your 'unexpected service' your clients need to clearly know what the standard service is first.

An Extra well communicated = Positive.

A Standard = Neutral

An Extra not performed = Neutral

A standard not performed = Negative

And in the case of the title of this article, if everyone puts a chocolate on your pillow, quite simply today, it's not enough!

And worse still, what happens if the chocolate isn't there?

Do you own a business or have you just bought yourself a job?

Most people think they own a business but in reality they just have a job, one that is often paid less than their employees and holds far greater risk as well.

Robert Kiyosaki, in his book 'The Cash Flow Quadrant' says that "To be defined as a business owner you should be able to go away for a year and when you come back the business is performing better than when you left"

If this is not the case, for you then you are probably stuck working in your business not on it, and that's a scary place to be.

A business is really just cash flow; it's what you do with the money that will make you truly wealthy. If your business has just created a 'job' for you then it's unlikely to be able to supply enough cash flow to invest in wealth creation. Worse still you will be so busy working in your business that you won't even have the time to 'invest if you did have the money.

For a plan to double or triple 'your' income go to here

Have it all! Just pay the price!

You can have what ever you like as long as you are prepared to pay the price! Everyone wants the ‘world’ but very few are prepared to pay the price.

And the price is not often in cash, most of the time it’s about paying for what you want by way of commitment, sacrifice, change, time or beliefs.

An investment property may require holding off on that next holiday or new car. Losing 5 kilos may require the discipline of choosing the right foods and exercise. Creating a better relationship may require committing time.

But most importantly none of this is possible is your belief structure is wrong. First you need to be able to believe all is possible, only then can you start the journey!

Take a Photo

One great way to measure how well your life is going is to see how often you pull out the camera and take a photo of an event which includes you with your family, friends or partner doing something special and memorable?

We usually only take photos of fun times, the moments we want to really treasure!

So if its been a while since you last took that photo, its time to look in the mirror and ask yourself how wonderful your life really is?

For more information on creating a truly wonderful life visit  my Life Coach website

Time Management - Time Theft

Another Life Coach Idea

Time management is something most of us struggle with. One of the best ways to become the most 'Dollar Productive', within the same 168 hour week we are all given, is to plan an ideal week. Organize a daily calendar with 15 minute intervals marked out and allocate specific tasks to specific times of the day. Know when to stop and when to move on to the next Dollar Productive Activity.

Avoid having others (or yourself) steal your productive time away. In particular work colleagues can be the worst offenders for onsite time theft. If they just want to socialize e.g. talk about the weekend, let them know you are interested in what they have to say and you would be happy to meet with them at the end of the work day, in their time, to hear all about it.

You will surprised how much time you can gather back up in the week.

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