by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Jan 14, 2017 | Health
Is health more important than wealth? Or is wealth more important than health? If you had to choose which one would be a priority for you? Today the trend in America is for people to work more hours than ever, on Tuesday I had a coffee with a friend of mine, over the years we’ve lost touch with each other. It’s always nice to kick back and connect with a good friend. Talking about our families and how fast our kids have grown! seems like yesterday when they were born, sound familiar? Both of us have had challenges over the years however it’s those dark day’s that have made us both stronger. His kids have moved out as have mine, just him and the wife. Although both our stories are similar there is one element which is completely different. When the topic of business came up we both agreed his philosophy and what I believed were not the same. I have always felt in the model of work-life-balance, don’t get me wrong you need to work hard to get ahead in today’s challenging work place however we need to work just as hard on keeping the balance in all areas in life. For my friend his belief is work is his priority, he’d work all day and into the night, he claims without money you can’t have anything!It’s no wonder he was on three types of blood pressure medication. Although I do not disagree with the importance of having extra money to afford a good lifestyle, both of our families have brand new cars every 2-3 years, we take...
by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Jan 6, 2017 | Happiness
As the new year begins so does a new hope for an optimistic year ahead. We think about loosing weight after eating all those tasty foods during the holidays, our sights are all set for going to the gym and getting into shape! Right? The year starts out eating the right foods and keeping an eye on the scale however by spring our new diet begins to fall apart, those healthy meals are no longer a part of our daily routine. Sound familiar? While most of have good intentions, loose weight, save money, go to the gym, buy a new house…etc…etc…Why do most new years resolutions fail? Its easy to say…I’m going to the gym three days this week or I’m going to eat healthy this year. The challenge with that is when “life happens” our desire to continue with the resolution deteriorates before long we run out of gas… We are missing an important element which is the fuel to keep us going…Why… What is important to you? Although eating a balanced diet, exercise, saving money or buying a new house is all good goals, why is that important to you? remember when we were kids and our parents we always telling us you should be doing better in school or you should help more around the house! We always knew what our parents were telling us was in our best interest but there was always something else we wanted to do instead. Friends would show up at the door looking for us to go out and play, so off we went. Life was full of excitement! Let’s imagine...
by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Dec 31, 2016 | Performance
There are two types of people, both know where they intend to go, one is running from, one is running to. The basic fundamentals are the same, however, if running from, it’s a good chance a decision to survive is the dominate thought within your mind. On the other hand if the focus is on running to something, there is a good chance your dominate thought is focused on purpose. Over the years we’ve all had jobs which we don’t like, for weeks, months, and years we “put up” with angry bosses, and managers some have little to no experience, but like to tell you how-to-do or what-to-do when they have never done that particular task. This can be very frustrating. When the atmosphere which we work in is stressful, even the simplest of tasks become an internal conflict. We tend to avoid anything which makes us feel uncomfortable. On the other hand if that same manager approaches a challenge or situation with a little less anger and arrogance, we might not avoid the task. Our internal conflict is much less of a problem. Instead of a boss just telling you how-to-do or what-to-do, they instead ask if you could take a look at a problem and see if you have any suggestions to fix the issue! Which boss or manager would you prefer to work for? Does their attitude impact your decision to complete work in a timely fashion? We can’t control how people treat us however we can control what it means. Within both examples there is a guiding force which paves the path for us to...
by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Dec 23, 2016 | Productivity
Do you find yourself stressed or overwhelmed by all those unread emails? Your inbox seems to never be completely empty? Phone calls, text messages, constant social media posts, So much to do every day, the cost of not accomplishing tasks grows with each passing hour…It’s five o’clock…Only a few more things to complete and it’s quitting time? Right ? Next time you look at the clock it’s now six thirty, almost done…one more email, phone call, next thing you know it’s eight o’clock, where did the time go? Sound Familiar ? This is the new normal today, people working longer hours often times into the night with just under half of those people working one weekend a month. Most don’t take a break at lunchtime, they eat their lunch in front of the computer to “get more done” which is less productive in the long run..However technology is amazing, I am so lucky to have grown up with unlimited resources at my disposal. In one way we are blessed in another we are cursed! Seriously, no matter where we are or where we go we are always “plugged in to the system.” With all this technology like should be simpler more efficient and require less hours…right? One of the challenges with all of these new developments is there are many more distractions which most people don’t know how to handle or how to manage. The new era where we now live in is uncharted waters, and has lead to some companies working toward policies to limit how much time employees spend on social media and personal business. But what...
by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Dec 17, 2016 | Performance
As an entrepreneur you have some sort of a business, no boss to tell you what to do or how to do it every day, how awesome is that! Those days of corporate meetings , constant “Number Crunching,” and conference calls are a thing of the past. Congratulations you are one of the few who had the guts to fire their boss! You now can do what ever you want. Right? As rewarding it can be to live the life of an entrepreneur it is equally rewarding to receive encouragement from a person for a product or service which you have created. However what happens when your customer is unhappy? How do you handle it? Do you get frustrated? Stressed? Angry? or do you go right to the issue and work to resolve the problem? When starting out in business the first year can be full of challenges, some good, some bad, it can be an emotional roller coaster which if not controlled can have a devastating effect on long term success of the business. If you and I are going to be successful entrepreneur’s we must first have the ability to control our emotions when things don’t work out as expected. When we receive positive feedback from a successful webinar, meeting, training, blog, or social media post our emotional state keeps us on task and focused. However when there are negative comments, or unexpected issues arise it becomes much harder to stay focused on the goal ahead. This can be a destructive force when first starting out in business. Both good and bad comments are an important element...
by stevengconnelly@aol.com | Dec 9, 2016 | Success
Today we are all faced with more and more challenges, which in some ways is good, it is a way for us to expand and grow right?? If your like most people life at times seems as unpredictable as the weather. Just when things are going along smoothly…A major road block appears! When “life happens” do you feel like you can “rise up” to the challenge? Or do you give up ?Is your motto the glass is always half-full? or half-empty?? What you believe about your own abilities can play a major role in how you feel about a situation as well as the success you will have to achieve your goals in life. Self Efficacy beliefs should never be compared with outcome expectations, which is when a person begins to judge the consequences of a particular behavior will produce. A confident person doesn’t just “hope for a successful outcome, they anticipate one! Albert Bandura defines Self Efficacy: Which refers to one’s belief that he or she is capable of successfully performing a certain task to meet a goal. If you are of the belief that accomplishing a task which you never accomplished before is not likely or you doubt your ability, your Self-Efficacy is low you will never challenge yourself to improve. Each obstacle becomes a problem or issue which fuels excuses and validation of why is is better to give up and quit! The past becomes future reality. Yet if you set your beliefs much higher than your ability it is possible you will set your goals too high and fail to achieve your goal, become...
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