My dear visitors, I continue blogging at http://www.personaldevelopment4you.com

My dear visitors, 

I also blogging at http://www.personaldevelopment4you.com To go there please click the link below

http://www.personaldevelopment4you.com

7 Things You Should Know to Make a Great Impression

http://persdevmadeeasy.com Get to know these seven tips you should be aware of to make a Superb First Impression

Assertiveness in 7 minutes - by Chris Croft

An overview of the main points of assertiveness, by Chris Croft, management trainer. If you do what he tells you on this video it will change your life.

How to help build, boost, and develop self-confidence and assertiveness

Building self-confidence and assertiveness is probably a lot easier than you think. 'Non-assertive' people (in other words 'normal people') do not generally want to transform into being excessively dominant people. When most people talk about wanting to be more assertive, what they usually really mean is:

• 'How can I become more able to resist the pressure and dominance of excessively dominant people?'
• 'How can I stand up to bullies (or one bully in particular)?'
• And also, 'How can I exert a little more control in situations that are important to me?'

Pure assertiveness - dominance for the sake of being dominant - is not a natural behaviour for most people. Most people are not naturally assertive. Most people tend to be passive by nature. The assertive behaviour of highly dominant people tends to be driven by their personality (and often some insecurity). It is not something that has been 'trained'.

For anyone seeking to increase their own assertiveness it is helpful to understand the typical personality and motivation of excessively dominant people, who incidentally cause the most worry to non-assertive people.

It's helpful also at this point to explain the difference between leadership with dominance: Good leadership is inclusive, developmental, and a force for what is right. Good leadership does not 'dominate' non-assertive people, it includes them and involves them. Dominance as a management style is not good in any circumstances. It is based on short-term rewards and results, mostly for the benefit of the dominant, and it fails completely to make effective use of team-members' abilities and potential.

The fact is that most excessively dominant people are usually bullies. Bullies are deep-down very insecure people. They dominate because they are too insecure to allow other people to have responsibility and influence, and this behaviour is generally conditioned from childhood for one reason or another. The dominant bullying behaviour is effectively reinforced by the response given by 'secure' and 'non-assertive' people to bullying. The bully gets his or her own way. The bullying dominant behaviour is rewarded, and so it persists.

Dominant, bullying people, usually from a very young age, become positively conditioned to bullying behaviour, because in their own terms it works. Their own terms are generally concerned with satisfying their ego and selfish drives to get their own way, to control, to achieve status (often implanted by insecure ambitious parents), to manipulate, make decisions, build empires, to collect material signs of achievement, monetary wealth, and particularly to establish protective mechanisms, such as 'yes-men' followers ('body-guards'), immunity from challenge and interference, scrutiny, judgement, etc. Early childhood experiences play an important part in creating bullies. Bullies are victims as well as aggressors. And although it's a tough challenge for anyone on the receiving end of their behaviour they actually deserve sympathy.

N.B. Sympathy is not proposed here to be a sole or significant tactic in countering bullying. Rather, sympathy is advocated as a more constructive, stronger, alternative feeling to being fearful or intimidated.

Non-assertive people do not normally actually aspire to being excessively dominant people, and they certainly don't normally want to become bullies. When most people talk about wanting to be more assertive, what they really mean is 'I'd like to be more able to resist the pressure and dominance of excessively dominant people.' Doing this is not really so hard, and using simple techniques it can even be quite enjoyable and fulfilling.

Importantly, the non-assertive person should understand where they really are - a true starting point: non-assertive behaviour is a sign of strength usually, not weakness, and often it is the most appropriate behaviour for most situations - don't be fooled into thinking that you always have to be more assertive.

Understand where you want to be: what level of assertiveness do you want? Probably to defend yourself, and to control your own choices and destiny (which are relatively easy using the techniques below), not to control others.

For people who are not naturally assertive, it is possible to achieve a perfectly suitable level of assertiveness through certain simple methods and techniques, rather than trying to adopt a generally more assertive personal style (which could be counter-productive and stressful, because it would not be natural). People seeking to be more assertive can dramatically increase their effective influence and strength by using just one or two of these four behaviours prior to, or when confronted by a more dominant character or influence, or prior to and when dealing with a situation in which they would like to exert more control. Here are some simple techniques and methods for developing self-confidence and more assertive behaviour.

assertiveness and self-confidence methods and techniques

1. Know the facts relating to the situation and have the details to hand.
2. Be ready for - anticipate - other people's behaviour and prepare your responses.
3. Prepare and use good open questions.
4. Re-condition and practice your own new reactions to aggression (posters can help you think and become how you want to be - display positive writings where you will read them often - it's a proven successful technique).
5. Have faith that your own abilities and style will ultimately work if you let them.
6. Feel sympathy for bullies - they actually need it.
7. Read inspirational things that reinforce your faith in proper values and all the good things in your own natural style and self, for example, Ruiz's The Four Agreements, Kipling's If, Desiderata, Cherie Carter-Scott's 'rules of life',Wimbrow's The Guy In The Glass, etc.

know the facts and have them to hand

Ensure you know all the facts in advance - do some research, and have it on hand ready to produce (and give out copies if necessary). Bullies usually fail to prepare their facts; they dominate through bluster, force and reputation. If you know and can produce facts to support or defend your position it is unlikely that the aggressor will have anything prepared in response. When you know that a situation is going to arise, over which you'd like to have some influence, prepare your facts, do your research, do the sums, get the facts and figures, solicit opinion and views, be able to quote sources; then you will be able to make a firm case, and also dramatically improve your reputation for being someone who is organised and firm.

anticipate other people's behaviour and prepare your responses

Anticipate other people's behaviour and prepare your own responses. Role-play in your mind how things are likely to happen. Prepare your responses according to the different scenarios that you think could unfold. Prepare other people to support and defend you. Being well prepared will increase your self-confidence and enable you to be assertive about what's important to you.

prepare and use good open questions

Prepare and use good questions to expose flaws in other people's arguments. Asking good questions is the most reliable way of gaining the initiative, and taking the wind out of someone's sails, in any situation. Questions that bullies dislike most are deep, constructive, incisive and probing, especially if the question exposes a lack of thought, preparation, consideration, consultation on their part. For example:

• 'What is your evidence (for what you have said or claimed)?'
• 'Who have you consulted about this?'
• 'How did you go about looking for alternative solutions?'
• 'How have you measured (whatever you say is a problem)?'
• 'How will you measure the true effectiveness of your solution if you implement it?'
• 'What can you say about different solutions that have worked in other situations?'

And don't be fobbed off. Stick to your guns. If the question is avoided or ignored return to it, or re-phrase it (which you can prepare as well).

re-condition and practice your own new reactions to aggression

Re-conditioning your own reaction to dominant people, particularly building your own 'triggered reactions', giving yourself 'thinking time' to prevent yourself being bulldozed, and 'making like a brick wall' in the face of someone else's attempt to dominate you without justification. Try visualising yourself behaving in a firmer manner, saying firmer things, asking firm clear, probing questions, and presenting well-prepared facts and evidence. Practice in your mind saying 'Hold on a minute - I need to consider what you have just said.' Also practice saying 'I'm not sure about that. It's too important to make a snap decision now.' Also 'I can't agree to that at such short notice. Tell me when you really need to know, and I'll get back to you.' There are other ways to help resist bulldozing and bullying. Practice and condition new reactions in yourself to resist, rather than cave in, for fear that someone might shout at you or have a tantrum. If you are worried about your response to being shouted at then practice being shouted at until you realise it really doesn't hurt - it just makes the person doing the shouting look daft. Practice with your most scary friend shouting right in your face for you to 'do as you are told', time after time, and in between each time say calmly (and believe it because it's true) 'You don't frighten me.' Practice it until you can control your response to being shouted at.

have faith that your own abilities will ultimately work if you use them

Non-assertive people have different styles and methods compared to dominant, aggressive people and bullies. Non-assertive people are often extremely strong in areas of process, detail, dependability, reliability, finishing things (that others have started), checking, monitoring, communicating, interpreting and understanding, and working cooperatively with others. These capabilities all have the potential to undo a bully who has no proper justification. Find out what your strengths and style are and use them to defend and support your position. The biggest tantrum is no match for a well organised defence.

feel sympathy rather than fear towards bullies

Re-discover the belief that non-assertive behaviour is actually okay - it's the bullies who are the ones with the problems. Feeling sympathy for someone who threatens you - thereby resisting succumbing to fearful or intimidated feelings - can help to move you psychologically into the ascendancy, or at least to a position where you can see weaknesses in the bully.

Aggressors and bullies were commonly children who were not loved, or children forced to live out the aspirations of their parents. In many ways all bullies are still children, and as far as your situation permits, seeing them as children can help you find greater strength and resistance. Transactional Analysis theory, and especially the modern TA concepts, are helpful for some people in understanding how this sort of childhood emotional damage affects people, and how specific communications can be planned and used in response to excessive dominance, bullying, temper tantrums, and other threatening behaviours.

N.B. The point above about feeling sympathy for bullies should not be seen as approval or justification for bullying. Neither is sympathy proposed here to be a sole or significant tactic in countering bullying. Rather, sympathy is advocated as a more constructive, stronger, alternative feeling to being fearful or intimidated. People responsible for bullying are the bullies, not the victims. So if you are a bully: get some feedback, get some help, and grow up.

Several tactics are explained above to tackle bullying head-on, as is often very necessary. Additionally in most western world countries, and many others besides, there are now serious laws and processes to protect people from bullying, and these protections should be invoked whenever bullying becomes a problem.

Picture is courtesy of FreeDIgitalPhotos.net

http://www.businessballs.com/self-confidence-assertiveness.htm

8 Ways to Improve Your Attitude

A positive attitude make success easy; a negative one makes success pointless.

If you truly want to be successful, your number one task should be to create and maintain a positive attitude. When you've got an attitude of optimism, expectancy and enthusiasm, opportunities grow, and problems shrink.

If you're a leader, a positive attitude draws people to your side and encourages them to do their best work. A leader with a negative attitude, however, can only compel others to take action through fear.

More importantly, what would be point of being successful if you're always feeling lousy?  With that in mind, here's how to ensure your attitude stays upbeat:

1. Always act with a purpose.

Before you take any action, decide how it will serve your greater goals.  If the connection is weak or non-existent, take that action off your to-do list. Aimless activity wastes time and energy.

2. Stretch yourself past your limits every day.

Doing the same-old, same-old is depressing, even if your same-old has been successful in the past. Success is like athletics; if you don't stretch yourself every day, you gradually become slow and brittle.

3. Take action without expecting results.

While you naturally must make decisions and take action based upon the results you'd like to achieve, it's a big mistake to expect those results and then be disappointed when you don't get them.  Take your best shot but don't obsess about the target.

4. Use setbacks to improve your skills.

Rather than feeling bad if you fail or get rejected, look back at your actions and see what you can do (if anything) to improve your performances.  Remember: the results you receiveare the signposts for the results you want to achieve.

5. Seek out those who share your positive attitude.

It's a scientific fact your brain automatically imitates the behaviors of the people around you.  (It's because of something called a mirror neuron).  Therefore, you should surround yourself with positive thinkers and shun those who are excessively negative.

6. Don't take yourself so seriously.

If you want to be happier and make those around you feel more comfortable, cultivate the ability to laugh at yourself.  If you don't (or can't) laugh at yourself, I guarantee you that the people you work with are laughing behind your back!

7. Forgive the limitations of others.

High standards are important, but humans are, well, human. It's crazy to make yourself miserable because other people can't do a job as well as you think you could, or when people don't share your vision with the same passion that you feel.

8. Say "thank you" more frequently.

Achieving an "attitude of gratitude" requires more than simply being aware of what's wonderful in your life.  You must, and should, thank other people for their gifts to you, even if that gift is something as simple as a smile.

iMAGE: ANDY PETERS/FLICKR

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-ways-to-improve-your-attitude.html

Zig Ziglar - Attitude Makes All The Difference

Zig Ziglar teaches people all over the world the fundamentals of sales and success. Here he tells a story of a woman with a negative attitude who hated her job, shifted her attitude and changed her life.

Personality Doesn't Determine Leadership Ability

Introvert? Extrovert? Doesn't matter. The good news is, neither personality type really matters when it comes to managing people.

I've learned a lot about leadership lately. Back in my heyday as a middle manager in corporate America, and before that as a manager for a small start-up, I found my introverted personality worked against me most of the time.

Back then, I'd rather sit and read a book in a coffeeshop than kick back with employees after work. I shunned the spotlight and chose introspection instead.

Introversion as the Enemy

I once had a pivotal meeting with an employee. She was a project manager on my team (I had somehow worked up to a director position). Long story short: she told me I was the worst boss ever and she hated my guts. She asked how I ever got into this role. She wanted to quit, but I talked her off the ledge--mostly by apologizing to her.

At the time, I viewed this exchange as mostly my fault. I was just not social enough; I didn't check in with her often enough to see how things were going. Sure, I had budgets to manage and meetings to attend. But my introverted personality got the best of me.

I'm not alone. After writing my story about carving out a management career as an introvert, I received dozens and dozens of supportive messages. It was in influx of people who have felt my pain. In most cases, the message was--"I'm also an introvert who struggles with managing people."

The good news is, your personality may not dictate how well you manage people as much as you think. Both extroverts and introverts can do it. The skills can be learned, adjusted, tweaked, and augmented.

A Learned Skill

This study is a useful tool for understanding how your specific personality can help you lead in a small business, and that leadership is a skill, not a talent. To get a summary, I spoke with Jim Kouzes, the co-author of the report. Kouzes and Barry Posner wrote "The Leadership Challenge" book and conduct the Leadership Practices Inventory.

"Leadership is a set of skills and abilities that are learnable by anyone who has the desire to improve and the willingness to practice," Kouzes says. "That's true for extroverts and introverts alike. They each have particular preferences for how they energize themselves, take in information, make decisions, and organize themselves, but both are equally capable of providing exemplary leadership."

Kouzes told me every personality type has to lead by example. This hit home for me: I used to think I had to be big and blustery with team members when talking about my vision. In reality, I could have accomplished the same goal in my own way. I didn't need to try and be animated or social--I needed to improve my skills. The reason that employee thought I was a terrible boss was mostly due to my lack of communication, which didn't have to be blustery at all--it just had to be consistent.

"Extroverts tend to express their passion about principles with great vigor, while introverts would be more likely to engage in quiet conversation about expectations," explained Kouzes. For me, that would have meant more in-person mentoring with employees, learning about their needs and desires--something I've become very good at subsequently as a journalist over the past 12 years interviewing people.

Interestingly, I was exceptionally good at "visioneering" in the workplace. When I started in one corporate job with three people, it grew to almost 50 in only five years. We took on projects in every part of the organization, and I was good at selling our services. Many of these meetings involved one-on-ones with higher-level executives.

Kouzes says any personality type can learn the skill of communicating vision.

"Extroverts tend to demonstrate this practice by brainstorming opportunities or directly appealing to the desires of others," he says. "Introverts, on the other hand, are more inclined to imagine what could be in their minds or exchanging ideas in one-on-one conversations. Extroverts have to work a bit harder at giving space to others to share their hopes, dreams and aspirations, while introverts are very mindful of the need to be inclusive," he says.

It's still a journey for me.

What's your story? Post in the comments if you've been able to figure out your own successes and failures, and how your personality type hindered or helped.

IMAGE: GETTY 

http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/introvert-extrovert-personality-type-leadership.html

How to Become a Leader

A short video from Brian Tracy Total Business Mastery seminar on the importance of leadership. Learn how to be a leader, the best leadership styles, and the shared qualities of the best leaders.

7 Leadership Lies You Need to Stop Believing

Image credit: berkley.patch.com

We live in an age that seeks quick fixes and easy answers. Sometimes leaders abdicate their thinking to others and accept "prevailing wisdom," which is often an oxymoron.

I grew up, like most, accepting many things at face value. It wasn't until I started giving important issues like leadership a second and third thought that I realized I'd been believing what turned out to be some serious leadership myths.

Here are seven leadership lies and why they simply aren't true:

1. "All managers are leaders." Truth: some managers can lead and others don't or cannot. Management is a subset of leadership, not its equivalent.

Managers are good at setting up, monitoring and maintaining systems and processes. They hire people. But if they can't bring out better performance in people and take the organization beyond where it is, they aren't leading.

Leadership always involves change, improvement and growth.

2. "Some are born leaders." Truth: even someone with a predisposition to lead must learn the skills of leadership.

A young person who is 6'6" might have the predisposition to play basketball, but he or she still needs to learn the skills before they can play successfully.

Leadership might be more latent in some than others -- and you can't always tell -- so focus on what is developing someone's behaviors, not their biological background.

3. "Leaders always have the right answers." Truth: leaders ask the right questions and know where to find the best answers.

If your people always come to you for answers, you're stunting their ability to think. And if everyone in your company keeps asking the same questions, I assure you, you're not that innovative.

Without questioning and curiosity, leaders simply manage by using familiar answers long after the marketplace has started asking different questions. It isn't about knowing the answers as much as it is about knowing who to ask and where to look.

4. "You need a title to lead." Truth: to lead you only need to know when it is appropriate to do so and how to do it.

When I stay at a hotel, the majority of people I encounter -- from the front desk to housekeeping to foodservice -- have no formal title or power over people, yet they are responsible for creating my experience there -- good or bad. Good staff willing to take the lead are as important (and probably more) than the official leaders at the top.

Leadership is about making things better, and the best organizations teach everyone to take responsibility for leading.

5. "Leaders are focused." Truth: Leaders create a shared focus.

If your team isn't focused, it doesn't matter how focused you are on doing what matters. A manager is usually focused, but a leader creates shared focus and doesn't waste resources by allowing team members to do work that doesn't matter.

Being focused is about self-responsibility and discipline. Creating shared focus is about engaging others in the leadership agenda and making it specific to their jobs.

6. "Leadership is about ambition." Truth: leadership is about the greater good.

There's nothing wrong with ambition, but it primarily serves the ambitious. If what you're doing serves only you, you almost certainly aren't leading.

When others are served better as well -- customers, colleagues, vendors, the community -- that is the sign of effective leadership.

7. "Anyone can lead." Truth: Nobody can lead if they lack the desire to do so.

You can't make people lead any more than you can make a horse drink once you've led it to water. Desire is the sine qua non of effective leadership.

And you, Mr. or Ms. Leader, cannot become better without the same desire. I've observed that nobody improves by accident. Getting better is about getting past the common thinking, lies and misconceptions and digging for wisdom. Once you know the truth, it can set you free and make you a better leader.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228109

How to Stay Focused and Reach Your Goals

In this video, Alex Anderlessa talks about how you can stay committed and focused on reaching your goals.

8 Tips for Finding Focus and Nixing Distractions

Do you find yourself getting to the end of the day and wondering where the time went? Maybe you started out prepared to accomplish some very specific tasks, but somehow you just didn't get to them. Putting out fires and dealing with lesser issues can pull people away from longer-term goals. But if that happens every day, chances are you won't be in business much longer.

Here are eight ways to prevent letting distractions damage your productivity:

1. Make and post a list: There's no point in making a list if it ends up under all of your unopened mail at the end of the day. Post it right where you will see it every time you look up, answer the phone or turn to your computer. By keeping it within your field of sight you can also keep it top-of-mind.

2. Shut your door: I know this seems like the opposite of good management practice. Aren't you supposed to be available to employees when they have a problem? Well, if you aren't focusing on your business they will definitely have a problem -- finding another job. Right now as an entrepreneur it's company first, employees second. And maybe if they can't reach you they will take some initiative and solve their own problems.

3. Stand up when someone comes into your office: This means that your visitor can't sit down and most people will get tired of standing and leave when their business with you is done. If someone is particularly long-winded despite standing, come around your desk and walk them out the door and down the hall. Then excuse yourself and head back to your office.

4. Limit outside attention grabbers: How often do you check email, Facebook, your cellphone? Do you take your own calls or leave that to a front-office person? Can potential suppliers get instant access to you when they walk in your office door? Every one of these is pulling you away from your main business. Schedule specific times to address these outside issues so that you have uninterrupted time to do your real job.

5. Get to the bottom of procrastination: Putting something critical off may be a matter of emotion rather than distractions. Are you afraid that you don't have the skills to accomplish something important to your business? Do you feel that you don't have enough information to do a good job? Are you nervous about the next step after your current project? Really spend time with a pencil and paper looking at the reasons why you aren't tackling something and then figure out how to fix them.

6. Take small bites: This is anti-procrastination advice but it's true whenever you have a hectic work day and don't seem to get to those large projects. If you get started, you can accomplish more than you think with an extra 15-20 minutes every now and then throughout the day. Don't wait for large blocks of time to get started or you may never get to it.

7. Clear your desk: if you're ready to dive into a large project, clear your work area of other smaller duties. It's so easy to catch sight of something that will only take a couple of minutes and stop working on the big stuff to address the little things. Don't let visual distractions cost you important focused time.

8. Just do it: Close your door, turn off your phone, clear your desk and get started. Put a sign outside your office door with something like, "If it's not bleeding, burning or quitting, tell me tomorrow." If you remove all excuses and distractions, you may actually accomplish some of your main business goals even sooner than you expect.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223812

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from?

With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling Everything Bad Is Good for You and the dazzling erudition of The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air to address an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward.

Beginning with Charles Darwin's first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyperproductivity of modern megacities and to the instant success of YouTube, Johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, What kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? His answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as Johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines.

Most exhilarating is Johnson's conclusion that with today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. Where Good Ideas Come From is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow's great ideas.

Metaphorical Thinking

Using Comparisons to Express Ideas and Solve Problems

---

© iStockphoto/alexs

"Time is money." How often have heard that statement? Probably many times and in various contexts. By thinking about time as money, you can create some powerful images. Time wasted is money down the drain. Time well spent is an investment. The seconds are ticking away.

A direct comparison between two unrelated or indirectly linked things is called a metaphor. And as we see in the example of "time is money", metaphors can create strong images that can be used to great effect in everyday communications and thinking. The manager who stands up in front of his team and says, "We need to finish this work quickly", creates considerably less impact that the manager who opens his comments using the metaphor: "As we all know, time is money."

The English language is littered with metaphors, and this is testimony to the their power.

So metaphors can be used to improve communications: They can add impact or can help you explain a difficult concept by association with a more familiar one. Metaphorical thinking can also be used to help solve problems: Use and extend metaphors to generate new ideas for solutions.

Metaphor tips 
The simple metaphor format is "A is B", as in "time is money". Metaphors can also be indirect or implicit: "That's a half-baked idea". This metaphor compares ideas with part-cooked food – without mentioning the food!

And, by the way, metaphors sometimes get mistaken for "similes". A simile makes a comparison too, but uses the word 'like', as in "time is like money"; "the idea is like half-baked food". Similes often sound more powerful than metaphors, even if the idea is the same.

Explaining Complex Ideas

By associating an unfamiliar idea with one that is commonplace, you can spark better understanding of complex ideas. Let's say you want to explain the concept of the business cycle. You could use lots of words, definitions, and drone on for five or ten minutes leaving the audience bored and confused. Then you could use graphs and diagrams, to help improve understanding and interest.

Or, you could explain using a metaphor: The business cycle is a pendulum, swinging back and forth from peaks of prosperity, down through economic troughs, and back up again.

The metaphor captures the essence of the business cycle – the listener immediately relates to the continuous back and forth movement. The vivid image helps people understand and also remember the idea. So, simply and in just a few words, everyone suddenly "gets it": To use another metaphor, the light bulb suddenly goes on.

Creating Impact

Metaphors are great for creating impact and making something memorable. So making use of them is a technique often used in marketing and advertising. But it's just as effective for making impact in your presentations, speeches and even in everyday discussions.

With metaphors, you help people get the idea quickly and efficiently. Here's a marketing example: In a pitch to sell a vacuum cleaner, you could go on and on about how great the new cleaner is and why people should buy it. But, see how much more impact can you create with metaphors: "This vacuum cleaner is so powerful, it can suck the light out of a black hole". The vivid image helps your product and pitch stand out, and so can help you make that sale.

Tip:
Make sure your metaphors are understandable to your audience. If there's any risk that your metaphors will sound like jargon, think again. The secret is to use a metaphor that instantly rings true with your audience.

Communication

1. Identify what you are trying to communicate.
2. Determine the essence of the message.
3. Think of other instances in life where that same characteristic, idea, emotion, state, etc. applies.
4. There may be many metaphors for the situation you are describing – choose the one that will best relate to your audience.

Thinking Outside the Box

When you use a metaphor to link two ideas together, you are combining elements that have little or no logical connection. By breaking the rules of logic in this way, metaphors can open up the creative side of the brain – the part that is stimulated by images, ideas, and concepts. So metaphorical thinking can help you with creative problem solving: To use another famous metaphor, it helps you "think outside the box".

Take the problem of how to cut production costs. You could attack the problem logically, and research new technologies or analyze inefficiencies in the production process. You might come up with some cost saving, but will you hit the jackpot?

Problem solving often starts with brainstorming and bouncing ideas back and forth with your team. Brainstorming is great for getting the creative juices flowing; it can open up a floodgate of ideas (. more metaphors!) However, people may still be constrained by the images they have of the current problem, or by their preconceived notions about the potential solutions.

When using metaphors for solving problems, you link the problem to something seemingly unrelated. Doing this allows your brain to see the issue from a completely different perspective – one that you may not even have known existed. If the problem is how to cut production costs, you could use the metaphor of someone wanting to lose weight. The next step is to generate solution to the problem of losing weight rather than the problem of shedding production costs. As you identify various solutions to the metaphorical problem, you can then relate these back to the real problem. Chances are, you will come up with something creative ideas for solutions.

Here are the steps for using metaphorical problem solving, using our product costs example:

1. First identify the metaphor for your problem or challenge.
2. There's no "right metaphor" – the ideas can be as unrelated as you like. If the problem involves increasing something, make sure the metaphor relates to an increase as well, otherwise it can become too difficult to visualize.
3. Increase sales > Build larger muscles
   Decrease recruitment costs > Lower the price of bread
   Attract more investors > Harvest more corn
4. So here's the metaphor of our example:
5. Problem: Cut production costs
   Metaphor: Lose weight
2. Now it's time to generate solution ideas for the metaphorical problem, in this case, losing weight. Brainstorming is a good way to facilitate this.
   
   • Count calories
   • Exercise
   • Monitor food intake
   • Limit intake of certain food categories
   • Fill up on low calorie foods
   • Drink lots of water
   • Join a slimming club
3. Then, the next step is to see how the solution ideas for the metaphorical problem might relate back to the real problem:

Solution ideas for the metaphorical problem	Solutions ideas relating back to the real problem
Count calories	Control expenditure on inputs
Exercise to burn calories	Use up all of their inputs (recycle, remanufacture, etc.)
Monitor food intake	Control inputs
Limit intake of certain food categories	Save costs by carefully choosing certain suppliers
Fill up on low calorie food	Find low cost substitutes
Drink lots of water	Flush out duplicate processes
Join a slimming club	Share ideas and support with other similar departments

Tip:
Don't get too hung up on how well the metaphorical solution ideas map back. Metaphors that map too well can stifle the creativity you are trying to generate! The whole idea is to generate solutions ideas that you may not have otherwise thought of, so just let the ideas flow without too much scrutiny.

4. Use the solution ideas you have generated for the metaphorical problem to find a workable solution to the real problem.

Key Points

Metaphors are powerful shortcuts to instant and memorable understanding. They evoke vivid images and allow us to "see" things from a new perspective, and so are useful tools for creative problem solving. Use metaphorical thinking to help explain complex ideas, create impact in your presentations, and think outside the box.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_93.htm

How to Have A Terrific Day - Motivational Positive Thinking Video

In this fast-paced positive attitude training video, top motivational speaker Ed Foreman recommends a series of easy to implement strategies for overcoming the daily bombardment of negativity surrounding us. You'll learn the basic habit patterns of winners, techniques for overcoming worry, how to help others to have a more positive attitude, and dozens of ideas to make sure that every day is a terrific day. Whether you are in sales, service, management, or any other capacity in business, maintaining a positive attitude is critical for success.

When it comes to motivating and teaching people how to have a consistent, positive attitude, Ed Foreman is one of America's best! Serving corporate America for more than 40 years, he has been a full time management consultant and motivational speaker in high demand. As a trainer, Ed Foreman regularly addresses corporations and associations across America conducting his highly acclaimed positive attitude training seminars. In addition, he has been positively featured on CBS 60 Minutes, and has been inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Through his down-to-earth, humorous style, and no-nonsense approach, audiences consistently give him rave reviews. At 71 years young, Ed Foreman is living proof of the benefits of living a positive lifestyle.

- HOW TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE EVEN WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH
- DEVELOPING NEW HABIT PATTERNS WHILE BREAKING THE OLD ONES
- CREATING MORE BALANCE, VITALITY, AND MEANING IN YOUR LIFE
- REMOVING NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT STOP YOU FROM ACHIEVING MORE
- HOW TO AVOID WORRY, LOWER STRESS, AND FEEL BETTER
- AND MUCH MORE...

Positive Attitude Keeps You Alive

Robert Kowalski on the relationship between attitude and heart health. A positive oulook can keep lower the stress level on the heart.

11 Tips for Maintaining your Positive Attitude

Maintaining your positive attitude is critical when you want to achieve anything… or just to improve the quality of your life. Most success literature will talk about the power of positive thinking and how important it is. It’s often easier said than done.

Today we’ll look at 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude no matter what’s going on in your life.

1. You Determine Your Reality

It’s important to realize that you determine your reality by the way you react to the outside world. When something happensyou get to choose whether it’s a positive or negative experience and react accordingly. Losing your job might be a disaster or it might be the opportunity for bigger and brighter things… you choose what it will mean to you.

2. Start Your Day Strong

Most of the population have to drag themselves out of bed and this sets a negative frame for their entire day. Positive people create a morning ritual that reinforces how great life is and how happy they are to be alive.

I used to wake up and immediately turn on Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life“ to get me into state. Now I start my day by reading or listening to something positive. Whether you have 1 minute, 15 minutes or an hour to dedicate to your ritual you can start the day in whatever state you prefer.

3. Exercise Is The Natural Feel Good Drug

Exercise is a great way to maintain your positive attitude because of all the positive chemicals it releases into the blood stream. I used to exercise in the morning (after Bon Jovi) and this is often recommended as a powerful way to start the day. Now I exercise by doing activities I love (kung fu and dancing) most evenings but even a walk around the block with inspiring audio will help.

4. Use Books, Audio And Videos To Overload Your Brain With Positivity

There are millions of amazing books, audios and videos for you to absorb from people who are inspiring and living the life of their dreams. Tap into their positive emotions and their experience by learning how they think and what they do to create the lives they want. You can do this in the morning or while exercising, eating, commuting, cooking, cleaning… there’s always time for positivity.

5. Your Language Shapes Your Thoughts

Little changes in your language can change the way you think and how you act. Whenever someone greets you and asks how you’re doing do you answer with “fine” or “not too bad?” Think about just what this language is communicating to others… and yourself.

I always answer with “great,” “fantastic,” or “amazing.” Not only does this remind me that life really is great but it usually surprises and lifts the state of the person I’m talking to as well.

6. Hang Out With Positive People

It is often said that you will have a similar level of health, income and lifestyle as the 5 people you spend the most time with. So if you want to be fit then starting hanging out with fit people… want to start a business then hang out with business owners. And if you want to be positive make sure you’re hanging out with positive people.

7. Show Your Appreciation For Others

By appreciating others for a job well done, their outfit or their smile you start to cause a positive chain reaction. Don’t you feel great when you receive a compliment from someone else? Well if you want to receive more then start giving them out and watch what happens to the people around you.

8. Garbage In, Garbage Out

This is an expression from programming where the result is only as good as the input. So if you’re feeding yourself with negativity all day long then it’s pretty obvious you’re going to be feeling negative as well. A lot of the media including news and TV thrive on negativity so put yourself on a negativity diet (including people) and watch how much easier it is to maintain your positive attitude.

9. Stop Negative Thoughts In Their Tracks

It’s hard to be a constantly positive person and negative thoughts are going to bubble up from time to time. These will be more frequent in the beginning but decrease as you practice the tips we’re talking about. When you start to notice negative thoughts you can use a pattern interrupt to stop them in their tracks.

The idea is to interrupt your current thought pattern and change your state. My most successful one is The Smurfs theme song. Whenever I start to feel frustrated, sad or angry I simply start humming the tune and pretty soon a big silly smile comes over my face.

10. Live With Gratitude

So many positive things happen during our day and we often ignore them while letting one negative comment or event ruin our mood. It can help to keep a gratitude journal where you jot down things you are grateful for each night or during the day. If you’re reading this then you probably live with a roof over your head and food in your belly which is a daily struggle for most of the world… so it should be easy to find tons of things you’re grateful for.

11. Recharge Your Batteries

A key to maintaining your positive attitude is taking the time to recharge your batteries. This might mean taking a few hours on the weekend to read a positive book or taking a few weeks for a holiday. If you’re not in the position to travel you can always have a Home Holiday where you simply switch off from the outside world and spend time doing things you love.

How To Use These 11 Tips

You now have 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude but they are no use to you unless you implement them into your life. So pick the easiest tip or the one that you really love and introduce it into your life starting right now. Then over time start implementing the other tips and watch your positivity soar.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/11-tips-for-maintaining-your-positive-attitude.html