The Power of Choice

by Bo Bennett, DTM

Where we are today is a result of choices we have made in our past. Choices as minor as what to have for breakfast to choosing what we want to do for a living. Each of us was born with the gift of free will and we have the right to choose our destiny by a series of lifelong decisions. Accept responsibility for who you are and where you are today and understand that with the exception of some external forces, you are where you are because of the choices you have made.

What about choices like going to work? You may be saying, "I have a family to support and I cannot choose to skip work. If I skip work, I get fired." The fact is, you choose not to skip work and keep your job. The choice of skipping work is yours and you must accept the consequences of each of your decisions. Even in the extreme situation that someone has a gun to your head, you have the choice to do what they request, or get shot. Choice is always present and always yours.

What about the person who gets hit by a bus? He obviously did not choose to get hit by a bus, but providing he is still alive, he can certainly choose how he responds to the situation. He can spend the rest of his days focusing on "why me?" and how unfortunate he is, or make millions writing the best seller "Life After Being Hit by a Bus" and help others who happened to get whacked by a Greyhound while picking up a penny on the highway. Although we cannot always choose what happens to us or around us, we can choose how we deal with it.

A successful person understands this concept well and understands that her choices make her who she is today. She does not use the negative statement "I HAVE to" but rather "I WANT to". Having to do something makes you subconsciously believe that you have no choice in the situation, which is rarely ever true. Once you truly understand that you choose to do something rather than have to do it, your attitude becomes positive and you see the benefits rather than focusing on the negative.

Other people will respect you for your candor when being more truthful with a statement such as, "I prefer to". The words "I have to" are often used as a defense mechanism and used as an excuse not to do something. Understand that you have a choice in the matter and be savvy enough to avoid the words "I have to". Those with whom you communicate will respect you more for it.

# 1 Skill Employers Are Looking For

What Is The Number One Skill Employers Are Looking For?

just finished reading Alan Greenspan's book: The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. It is an exceptional read and is really two books in one. The first part of the book is about his life from humble beginnings up to his retirement as the Fed Chairman in 2006. The second part of the book is about his thoughts on the economies of the world and where they are potentially headed and why.

Alan Greenspan is a strong believer in the capitalistic system rather than central planning (ex. the old Russia system). This is because with hard work, proper study and focus, people can be prosperous in a capitalistic system.

The final chapter of the book was extremely enjoyable to read. It is called the Delphic Future and projects possible futures for the US and the world in general. One enlightening paragraph says:

Quote: A dysfunctional U.S. elementary and secondary education system has failed to prepare our students sufficiently rapidly to prevent a shortage of skilled workers and a surfeit of lesser-skilled ones, expanding the pay gap between the two groups. Unless Americas education system can raise skill levels as quickly as technology requires, skilled workers will continue to earn greater wage increases, leading to ever more disturbing extremes of income concentration. End of quote.

On the other side of the coin Greenspan says:

Quote: It is not accident that human beings persevere and advance in the face of adversity. Adaptation is in our nature, a fact that leads me to be deeply optimistic about our future.

What do we take away from this? The simple answer is that each of us must choose our own future and that future will affect our collective future!

To create a great future we need a clear path to travel. The difficulty of choosing that path is increased because of ever expanding options in everything we do. In a highly stimulating environment it is too easy to spin our wheels. How do we choose a path that improves our life both individually and collectively? Fortunately there is hope.

The message is clear. Those who will succeed and prosper in the coming years will have the following skills and backgrounds:

These skills can be boiled down to one skill. It is a major skill that we all need to be successful in whatever career we choose. That skill is also: The #1 Skill Employers are Looking for.

• Decision making
• Knowledge
• Schooling
• Experience
• Reasoning
• Intuition
• Common Sense
• Confidence

The skill is powerful, transferable to any field, and has made countless people enormously successful and prosperous through the ages. If you learn to use it well you can become extremely successful in your professional and personal life.

My next series of Blogs (They will posted in the next month. If you cant wait, please go to my website: chuckclayton.com) will provide you with the name of that skill, why it is our most powerful strength and what learning it can do for you. It will also teach you some of the key elements of that skill!

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense!

~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Greenspan, Alan. The Age of Turbulence Adventures in a New World (New York: The Penguin Press 2007)

Copyright © 2008, Chuck Clayton, All Rights Reserved<

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Clayton

Recognize the Dead End

Recognize the Dead End
by Bo Bennett, DTM

Imagine yourself exactly where you are today ten years from now. You are in the same job or business and making the same pay. You know no more than you did ten years ago, since your experience has been limited to the same year of experience repeated ten times. The only things you have to show for the last ten years are perhaps a few extra pounds around the mid-section and some more gray hair. Although some people may see this as great job security, those who are focused on success and personal growth see this as ten years of wasted time. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to ensure, on a regular basis, that you are making progress in your life by recognizing the "dead end".

Before we can do something about a dead end, we must learn to recognize one. Whether you are a business owner, employee, independent contractor, or unemployed (either voluntarily or involuntarily), you run the risk of being stuck at a dead end. Although every business and job has a future, it may not be the future you had in mind for yourself. A dead end is not characterized by income potential alone, it is also about personal growth (learning, experience, etc.), happiness, and contributions to society. For example, teaching in an elementary school, although income potential is certainly limited, can bring one tremendous wealth in the form of personal fulfillment and would not be considered a dead end. Conversely, working at a job you despise, with little chance of promotion and no personal satisfaction would be seen as a dead end.

Those who fail to recognize a dead end can spend years “stuck” at the dead end, only to one day look back and ask, “What happened?” One of the worst forms of regret is a wasted life.

It is equally important not to falsely label your current situation as a dead end, as it is to recognize a dead end. Those who change vocations or directions in life solely for the pursuit of money, end up worsening their situation more times than not. Likewise, those who are impatient and determine a dead end by a “slow month” or a denial of a raise, end up making poor decisions based on their temporary situation.

So the question is, how does one recognize a dead end? Here are some suggestions.

• Analyze the market. Is your market expanding? Is demand increasing or decreasing? Is your organization getting an increasing or decreasing share? What do you think the future holds for the market? Where there are growing markets, there are usually increasing opportunities.
• Analyze the competition. Are more people entering the market? How does this affect market share? Does this appear to be a trend? "Flooded" markets are those with too much product and not enough demand, and usually a sign of a dead end.
• Analyze technology. Do you see technology rendering your business or your position obsolete? If so, it may be best to get out before you are forced out.
• What is your attitude? Are you burnt or burning out? Or do you remain motivated and positive in what you do? If you find yourself in a situation where you feel you cannot stay motivated and positive, get out.
• Visualize your future based on your beliefs, not on your hopes or wishes. Are you selling yourself a dream or is your prediction of your future based on your goals and actions? If you do not truly believe that you are on the right path to success, then you are at a dead end.

You can never really recognize a dead end unless you make a conscious effort. While there are millions of people who claim to be in "dead end jobs", the majority of them do nothing about their situation except complain. If you are one of these people, ask yourself, "Is this really a dead end?" and consider the non-monetary benefits. If you do find yourself at a dead end, then take a leap of faith and do something about it. Remember that dreamers only dream and successful people take action.

Getting to YES

Getting to YES

Am I correct in assuming that your success is very important to you? By now, you are aware of the importance of sales and how everybody sells something, aren't you? Don't you agree that sales is really about influencing others? Therefore, getting others to agree with you would be an incredibly powerful skill to master, wouldn't it?

You have just witnessed a technique used to get a "yes" response. This technique is based on the Socratic method, which is all about asking questions. This is an excellent technique for asking for referrals, closing sales, or persuading others. When you ask someone a question, assuming they are listening, they always answer it. They may not answer it out loud, and they may answer it with "I have no idea", but the question is always answered. One of the powerful uses of questions is to keep the attention of the listener or reader. The technique used above also uses questions to elicit a yes response. This "warms up" the listener by getting them in a positive frame of mind.

Let's examine how this works in detail. We begin by determining our goal. My goal was to get you to agree that getting others to agree with you is an incredibly powerful skill to master. If I had just opened with the statement, "Getting others to agree with you is an incredibly powerful skill to master" you may have agreed with me or you may not have. If you did not agree with me, you would be in "defensive mode" and even if I had proven my point later in the article you would not be as open to the idea. Now my example is a fairly easy sell, but this technique works equally as well with harder to sell ideas, products or services.

Now that we have our goal, we need to work backward and create several questions that we are confident will result in yes responses. In order for this technique to be effective, these questions must be relevant. You may be able to trick someone into saying yes by asking, “Would you like to have more money? Do you love your kids? Do you want to buy my widget?”—but their final yes will almost definitely be followed by an emphatic “NO!” Using a logical progression of questions that get yes responses make it easy for the listener to answer yes to our final question.

Here are some suggestions for formulating supporting or leading questions.

• Use yes tags. Yes tags are phrases such as, "isn't it", "don't you agree", or "wouldn't you say". These phrases can be placed anywhere in the sentence and should be mixed up for maximum effectiveness.
• Soften your questions. If you use hard questions as leading questions, this technique may backfire on you. A "hard" question is one that uses definite terms that leave little room for flexibility. For example, "Smoking is the most deadly habit on earth, don't you think?" is not as easy to agree with as "Smoking is one of the most deadly habits on earth, don't you think?" Remember, you want to phrase the leading questions in such a way that it is almost impossible for others to disagree.
• Phrase in the positive. Questions should be phrased in the positive whenever possible. My opening question, "Am I correct in assuming that your success is very important to you?" could have been written as "Am I correct in assuming that you not achieving success would be a bad thing?" The mind remembers "achieving, success, bad thing" and that is not the message to which we want our listeners to agree.

If you are thinking that this technique sounds a little manipulative, remember that the difference between manipulation and influence is intent. This technique is best used to counter other people's natural "no" defensive response, not trick them into a "yes" response. Just as a knife can be used to kill, it can also be used to heal.

Questions are a very powerful and effective form of communication that can be used in many ways. This technique, when used properly, can help you to become more influential, help you to become a better communicator, and bring you another step closer to success.