The Other Side Of Life - Video

We’ve all had those days were we think we’re the center of the universe. Sometimes we become so self absorbed in our everyday lives and make the mistake of thinking the world is out to inconvenience us.

Check out this video for an alternative look. Maybe it’ll make you think the next time your impatiently standing or feel the world is out to get you.

Get It Together - How Americans Manage Their Time

The average American spends almost 4 minutes searching for lost keys, television remote controls, mobile telephones and other elusive household items every time one of the little suckers sprouts legs and walks off or so says a survey conducted exclusively for American Demographics by Rochester, N.Y.-based research firm Harris Interactive.

The survey found that not having enough time is the biggest excuse people use for not getting organized. In fact, almost half of Americans (44 percent) say they don’t have time to get their stuff in order. But, ironically, those who are the most organized spend considerably less time looking for lost belongings.

According to the nationally representative survey of 2,288 adults conducted online between February 11 and 13, the 10 percent of Americans who consider themselves “extremely organized” say that, on average, they can locate something they’ve misplaced in as little as 1 minute and 18 seconds, while the 7 percent of adults who say that they are “not at all organized” take an average of 8.5 minutes to locate a missing item.

Disorganization appears to be an equal opportunity trait, with equal numbers of Americans across most demographic groups saying that they are organized. Whether you’re a man or a woman, young or old, with kids or without doesn’t seem to affect your likelihood of being a neat freak. What does seem to matter is marital status. According to the survey, 61 percent of married adults say they are either “extremely” or “mostly” organized, compared with just 54 percent of never-married singles and 49 percent of divorced, separated or widowed adults. Previously married Americans (15 percent) are more than twice as likely as married (5 percent) and single adults (7 percent) to say clutter is their middle name.

Regardless of one’s level of organization, however, 89 percent of Americans say they could use help tidying up some corner of their life. Nearly half of respondents (48 percent) told American Demographics they need help getting their keepsakes in order - the area in most dire need of attention. Quite a few Americans could also use help organizing their closets and clothes drawers (42 percent) as well as their finances, including bills, pay stubs and receipts (35 percent). A significant share of respondents (27 percent) admit they need some help in the garage, at their computer station or with their facts and figures (telephone numbers, addresses, birthdays, etc.).

Of course, if getting organized was all that easy, everyone would do it. Or would they? In addition to time constraints, Americans say that not having enough space is another major roadblock to their organizational efforts - 39 percent use this excuse. Others feel that without the cooperation of everyone in their household, there’s no use even trying (26 percent) or that getting organized is so overwhelming they wouldn’t know where to start (16 percent). Naturally, there are also those who admit that they are just too lazy (22 percent) or that they simply don’t care enough about organization (17 percent) to bother. Not surprisingly, men are the most likely to state apathy as an excuse, whereas women complain more that they are overwhelmed by the idea of getting started.

Still, there are scores of Americans who would be willing to take action, and even pay for some help. According to our survey, 54 percent of adults say that they have purchased or would be willing to purchase containers, furniture, file systems or similar products to help them get organized. Young Americans are the most likely to take this approach. Seventy-two percent of young women (ages 18 to 34) and 57 percent of young men have bought or would consider buying such products. A quarter of those surveyed also say they have built or would consider building new cabinets, closets or shelving space to help them eliminate clutter. And then there are the 6 percent of Americans who would prefer hiring someone else to clean up their mess. Mom was way underpaid.

Byline: JOHN FETTO American Demographics

How to Lead in a Crisis

Best-selling author and careers expert Jim Citrin on How to lead in a crises - The current environment presents us with new challenges and opportunities at an ever accelerating pace. While we are constantly in search of stability and predictability with which to base decisions, it has become evident that very rare events, such as the rise of Google, the collapse of Bear Stearns, and 9/11, just to name a few, occur without warning and obviate all of our assumptions and prior forecasts. This underscores the fact that one of the toughest management challenges is dealing with uncertainty.

So just how do you lead people, manage your investments, and handle yourself when you can’t fall back on past experiences to deal with a situation that no one has seen before? Nobel laureates have wrestled with these seemingly unanswerable questions and have sought to model unpredictable occurrences, which have more popularly been termed “long-tail” events, or “Black Swans.”

To look at these issues in a practical manner, I spoke with Robert L. Dilenschneider, a renowned strategy and communications advisor who formed The Dilenschneider Group in 1991, after having served as CEO of public relations firm Hill and Knowlton. Mr. Dilenschneider has advised major corporations on crisis communications and related issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions and to marketing, government affairs and international media. He has authored twelve books, including the best-selling Power and Influence.

Based on his work over the years and on recent conversations with the renowned financial markets guru and Nobel Prize winner, Myron Scholes, Mr. Dilenschneider has developed four simple rules for managing and leading in times of crisis:

1. Project a Sense of Calm

Just as panic is contagious, so too is a sense of calm, which when it kicks in can settle the frayed nerves of those around you. In a crisis, you should project a sense of continuity, of having managed through similarly difficult predicaments, and of applying the lessons learned in a calm and reasoned manner to the situation at hand.

Responding to such pressure in a cool, calm and collected way requires being guided by your mind rather than your emotions. There are different areas of the brain which govern us when we are thinking clearly and calmly on the one hand and when we are operating in a state of anxiety or fear on the other hand. When it comes to working in a crisis, we perform at our best when we are guided by the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that plans and reasons.

When we are scared or anxious, however, we are driven by the part of the brain that produces the fight-or-flight emotions. By simply deciding to project a sense of calm, not only will you be quelling the fears of those around you, but you will be consciously triggering the part of your brain that will enable you to problem-solve your way through the situation.

Whether it is the current credit crisis, the dot-com bust of 2000, the Asian debt crisis of 1997, or Black Monday in October 1987, Wall Street and the economy have been through many “sky is falling” crises. After this passes, the economy and markets will still function and survive, often, healthier than before. As Mr. Dilenschneider said, “Remember; this too shall pass!”

2. Take Early and Decisive Action on Personnel

If you are in a management position during a crisis or period of great uncertainty you should also create an immediate feeling of decisiveness and accountability, according to Mr. Dilenschneider. You need to decide early on which employees you need to let go and which you are going to keep. The goal is to reduce the sense of uncertainty as soon as possible and get everyone focused on the tasks at hand. One dilemma is that the very people who let you get into the current difficulty are often times the best-equipped to help you get out of it.

The analysis of what to do with the individuals involved must be objective and fact-based and must weigh the advantages to the organization of their departure in terms of morale, public perception or operations compared to the loss these individuals in terms of their expertise and relationships. If you decide to retain these individuals, you as a manager must make sure to align their incentives with those of the organization. Once you have decided who to keep, in order to calm down still skittish employees you should reassure them that their jobs are secure — at least until the organization navigates its way out of the crisis.

3. Ensure That the Information You Receive is Accurate

Mr. Dilenschneider has advised scores of clients during many crises and has come to believe that the single most important thing you can do as a manager during a crisis is to ensure that the information flowing to you and your team is comprehensive and accurate. He says that under no circumstances can you delegate the collection of information to subordinates whose interests could diverge from yours or that of the organization. Recognize that they will naturally be focused on their own survival while your concern as a leader is the well-being of your organization. You must play a hands-on role in determining what information you need, how it will be obtained, and how and to whom it will be disseminated.

From a communications perspective, what you say publicly and privately must be consistent. The levels of detail you share may differ, but what you discuss publicly must be both accurate and consistent with what you are saying to your team and more broadly inside the organization. If you violate this rule, the inconsistency will find its way out, into conversations with others and with the media. That then would undermine everything else you are saying and doing and create more, rather than less, panic.

4. Manage Yourself First

Finally, Mr. Dilenschneider stresses that above everything else, the one thing that you must do when disorder replaces order is “seize control of your own head.” In times of distress, it is often easy to get swept away in the flow of events. It is imperative that throughout the crisis, you as a manager take care of yourself, get enough rest, and keep stress levels as low as possible. It is well documented that you make poor decisions when you are tired and stressed. Yet many top executives ignore their own health and state of mind in times of trouble. As a manager, your job is to make good decisions. By taking care of yourself you are helping do your job by improving the quality of the decisions you will make.

To take care of yourself properly, follow the same advice that you surely give to others:

* Put limits on your workday. You can’t function well in your job if you are fatigued. Cap the number of hours you work and carve out enough time to make sure that you get enough sleep and spend some time every day with your family.

* Practice deep breathing and take a nap. Both can be done in a few minutes and can be vital in maintaining your equilibrium.

* Maintain your exercise routine. When a crisis starts to fill up your schedule, the daily workout is often one of the first things to get pushed aside. Make it the last. Exercise keeps your mind sharp and routine helps you retain a sense of calm.

Article by Jim Citrin - Leadership by Example

Life Without Credit Cards?

Great article by by LaRita Heet over at Yahoo Finance. Even though I’ve got a number of credit cards, I’ve personally lived without credit card debt for some time now… I pay them off when I use them… but a lot of people don’t. In any event, a great article to ponder….

Is there life without credit cards? And if so, is it worth living?

In today’s instant gratification world, the thought of forgoing credit cards in favor of a cash-only lifestyle seems as foreign as mailing a handwritten letter through the post office: We know some people do it, but it’s hard to understand why.

Yet there are those who have declared, “Enough is enough!” and dedicated themselves to lives sans credit cards.

According to the Fair Isaac Corp., creator of the popular FICO credit scoring model, about 20 to 25 million people in the United States do not have any credit. An additional 30 to 35 million U.S. residents have a minimal amount of credit history, according to Fair Isaac statistics. These figures mean that approximately one in five Americans do not have access to traditional credit.

The Federal Reserve Board Survey of Consumer Finances of 2004 showed that as many as one in four U.S. consumers live without credit cards. This triennial study of approximately 4,500 respondents showed that 74.9 percent of those surveyed had credit cards. José Garcia, senior researcher at Demos, a national, nonpartisan, public policy research organization, divides noncardholders into two groups: those who are unable to obtain credit cards, and those who choose not to use them.

No Credit, No Choice

According to Garcia, many of those without credit cards simply do not qualify for credit due to bad credit, no credit, immigration status or another reason.

Gail Cunningham, senior director of public relations for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), says such mixed feelings over credit cards are common. When, during NFCC debt-counseling sessions, debt-ridden consumers — many of whom have already had their charging privileges suspended by the lender due to non-payment — are asked to cut up their credit cards, the reactions are often extreme. “Some people are like, ‘Give me those scissors! I never want to see plastic again,’ while others will clutch one of their cards close to their heart and say, ‘I loved this card,’” says Cunningham.

No Credit by Choice

Fifty-eight percent of credit cardholding households surveyed in the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Finances had balances on their cards, and until a few years ago, J.D. Roth and Ashkan Amouzegar were among them. Roth, 39, of Portland, Ore., has charted his foray into a credit cardless lifestyle on his popular personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly.

Amouzegar, 30, a Portland, Ore., resident and business consultant in merchant financial services, made the decision to stop using credit cards two years ago. Though the anti-credit card crowd decline plastic for reasons ranging from anti-debt religious convictions to extreme wealth (and lack of “need” for credit), Roth and Amouzegar stopped using credit cards to help rein in their spending habits and control their finances.

Amouzegar — who once had 12 credit cards — used to think nothing of using his plastic to buy his friends rounds of drinks and expensive dinners. Once, he confesses, he even took a monthlong trip to Paris with a friend — and the entire trip was charged on his credit card.

“Through college and after, I used credit cards religiously and part of the problem was my irresponsibility of using it incorrectly. Most people, I think, don’t view credit cards as a loan from the bank, but as extra income, and I viewed it as, ‘Oh, my Citibank has a $5,000 limit’ — I thought it meant, ‘I have $5,000 to spend now,’” says Amouzegar.

Amouzegar, now only two years away from being completely debt-free, chose to not only discontinue using his cards but to cancel all the accounts, including his “emergency card.” The downside of no credit cards is that, even though financial experts advise consumers to save from three to six months’ worth of income in an emergency savings fund, Amouzegar says, “Well, for a lot of people, that’s not realistic. If there is a major car repair or something happens, what do you do if you don’t have that emergency card? Knock on wood, I haven’t been in that situation yet, but you never know when your refrigerator is going to go out. You never know when your car’s going to blow up, or that you need to fly somewhere due to a family emergency.”

NFCC’s Cunningham agrees. “None of us has a very well-polished crystal ball to know what tomorrow’s going to hold, and this person not using credit might think, ‘I don’t care; I’m not going to need credit in the future,’ but we really don’t know that,” she says.

Like most non-credit cardholders, Amouzegar uses his Visa-logo debit card in those situations that traditionally demand a credit card: renting a car, booking a hotel room, purchasing airline tickets and making online purchases.

He has run into occasional glitches renting cars with his debit card, as on a recent vacation. “The downside was, when I went to Maui, they would have done a charge authorization on a credit card, but since I didn’t have a credit card, they did it on my debit card, so they basically held $250 until I returned the car. So that tied up $250 out of my checking account.”

Turned Off

In 1998, GetRichSlowly’s Roth paid off his high-interest credit card debts with a lower interest rate home equity loan and now pays a single monthly payment. “When I did that, I made a vow to myself — and I promised my wife — that I was going to cut up my credit cards, and I did,” says Roth. “It’s perfectly possible to live a happy life without credit cards. They’re not a requirement. It seems to me that in our society, we get hung up on the fact that we must have credit cards, but it’s just not true.”

“The reality is that the practices of credit card issuers can be harsh on individuals,” Demos’ Garcia says. “It is those types of practices — tricks and traps — that I think will stop consumers. I think we’re seeing it more now due to that — that people, after a bad experience with a credit card, have stopped using them.”

Although it’s easy to blame the banks for high credit card bills, skyrocketing interest rates, and never-decreasing card balances, Amouzegar says that while card-issuing banks may be “crafty,” they are not dishonest. Instead, it’s the fault of the cardholder when debts get out of control. “Those people might just be making minimum payments on a really high interest rate. I would question, ‘How did that interest rate get sky-high?’ Did they make a late payment before? Interest rates don’t just automatically go to 18 percent or 24 percent — there has to be something done by the cardholder to trigger the rate to go from a preferred rate all the way up.”

Revolving vs. Nonrevolving Credit

Before canceling credit card accounts, stop to consider the long-term implications on your credit score, says NFCC’s Cunningham, noting that both revolving credit (in the form of credit cards) and nonrevolving credit (in the form of installment loans, such as auto loans, mortgages or other fixed-rate loans) are factored into a person’s credit score. “The elements that are weighed to create your credit score include a review of different types of credit, and how you handle those. For instance, a credit card is going to demonstrate how, if you pretty much have an open-end except for a credit ceiling, you can charge varying amounts each month, thus your payment each month is going to be different, and they like to see how you handle that, versus a fixed-rate loan,” she says.

Those who have paid off and then canceled their credit card account may end up “hamstringing” future efforts to obtain credit, because that old account will eventually rotate off your credit report after a period of time (usually seven years), says Cunningham. “It’s better to leave it open, because this is another element that is weighed in the credit-scoring model: They like to see longevity. They like to see that you’ve had an account open for a long time and handled it responsibly.”

Closing a credit card account can also adversely impact your credit rating by changing your debt utilization ratio — the amount of money you owe as compared to your available credit. For example, if you close an account with a $1,000 credit limit, your overall available credit number will lower, consequently skewing your debt utilization ratio.

The Bottom Line

Ask any personal finance expert, and she will agree that credit cards themselves are not the cause of anyone’s debt. Instead, it’s the misuse of credit that is to blame. Cunningham jokes about a sticker some debtors apply to their mirrors, which states simply: “You’re looking at the problem.”

Many people, once they’ve paid off their debts, are anxious to jump back on the credit card express to Debtville, says Cunningham. “A lot of people want to re-enter the world of credit simply because we live in a credit-dominated society.”

“I think the most important thing is, get your credit card and pay it off at the end of the month,” Garcia says.

According to Demos’ research, many of those who don’t pay off their balance in full every month simply cannot afford to, says Garcia. An increased cost of living, a set income and the lack of a financial safety net lead a lot of people into deepening debt, Garcia says. “So it’s not as simple as wanting to pay your credit card off. But if you can, pay it off. That way, you have a revolving line of credit, which is very useful. It’s short-term loans. Take the money upfront and then pay later so you don’t pay any interest rate or fees. But again, that’s not necessarily the reality with a lot of Americans and low-income individuals now that we’re close to a recession.”

Will Amouzegar rejoin the Land of the Plastic once he’s paid off his debt? “No,” he says without hesitation. “I personally don’t have the restraint to not view credit as extra income. I think that after the process of having been in debt and paid it off, I think I’ve learned my lesson, but still the temptation is there.”

“Ultimately, credit card companies are really a game, and you really have to be an educated consumer, and I think, be aggressive with them, because they bank on you not having knowledge,” says Amouzegar.

Yahoo Finance

Why aren’t we all Good Samaritans?

Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, asks why we aren’t more compassionate more of the time.

Napoleon Hill Discusses Andrew Carnegie

An oldie but a goodie. Napoleon Hill talks about the wisdom the billionaire Andrew Carnegie shared with him some hundred years ago.

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How to Be Positive During Tough Times

Great article from US News and World Report. Here’s why it’s so important to stop complaining.

It’s too easy to complain right now. You’re paying through the nose for gas, you’ve put off retirement for another five years, your company just sacked 10 percent of your coworkers, and your workload has doubled. Even worse, your CEO made more money than the Chicago Cubs last year. It’s ridiculous! It’s outrageous! And you can’t get a day off to save your life.

Well, you’re probably the reason Jon Gordon, an author, speaker, and consultant, wrote The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work, because negativity is contagious. It spreads through organizations, hurting performance and productivity. Gordon recently sat down with U.S. News to talk about finding a better outlook on hard times. Excerpts:

Are you suggesting all complaining should be wiped out?

It’s the mindless complaining and the subtle negativity that really destroys organizations and teams.

Complaining is contagious, as we know. You get off the phone and you’re surrounded by people, maybe in a cubicle, and you start complaining to that person next to you, and that person starts complaining to the person next to them. One person can really affect an organization with their negative attitude.

What really separates complaining from other conversation?

There are two kinds of complaints. There’s a chronic, mindless complaining which is just venting and complaining, where you just feel helpless, you feel powerless. No. 2 is because it’s becoming a habit. You’re just so used to doing it.

On the other hand, a justified complaint says: Here’s what I don’t like, here’s what I don’t want, here’s what’s wrong. But here’s what I think we should do about it. It’s all about intent. If you care about the organization and you want something better for everyone, then it’s a positive complaint. If it’s all about your own ego, then you’re not interested in serving the team.

How can almost-retirees stay positive, when they have to stay at work or go back to work because they aren’t financially able to retire?

It’s “get to” versus “have to.” You get to go to work. You get to have a job, versus “have to.” So many people your age are sick. Many people have not even made it to your age. My mom passed away at 59 a year and a half ago. She was young. She was a real estate agent, and she got cancer. When I speak to people in real estate, I’ll say, ‘I know you’re facing a tough market right now, but you get to have this job, you get to live this life. My mom wishes she was in your shoes.’ And that really resonates with them.

You get to drive in traffic. Many people don’t even get to drive a car.

No. 2: They can go to work every day and say, ‘What bigger purpose can I fuel up with today?’ The research is clear—people are the most energized when using their strengths for a bigger purpose, beyond themselves. Older people have a lot of gifts to give in the workplace—a lot of wisdom and a lot of advice. Mentor, teach, share, and serve.

How do you face challenges?

When you’re facing that obstacle, look for the lesson; look for the opportunity in the challenge. Look for the solution in the complaint. Look for the action that needs to take place. The next president of the United States will be someone who has a clear vision for the future and offers solutions, not complaints.

Stay positive. This is not Pollyanna. But you have to have a positive vision for the road ahead. Looking forward—no matter what age you are—and being optimistic is the key.

Gratitude seems to play a big part.

It’s everything. I think it really is everything. All the research on gratitude is so powerful: You see that you can’t be stressed and thankful at the same time. It’s the way our brains and bodies are wired. So you focus on gratitude and you won’t be stressed. It’s the best stress reducer.

Is gratitude in short supply?

No doubt. OK, you’re paying $4 a gallon for gas, and I’m as upset as anybody. But you can say: ‘We’re not paying $8 a gallon. And we live in a free country. We live with so many amenities. We live with so many free things that we can enjoy.’… Instead of focusing on that complaint, you can now be grateful for what you have. And which emotion’s going to uplift you? Gratitude. Which one’s going to enhance your longevity? Gratitude. Which one will strengthen your immune system? Gratitude.

It seems an unusual topic for the workplace.

It’s harder in the workplace, and it’s not as natural. A great example is Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup. He’s written 16,000 thank-you notes to his employees over the last seven years. The No. 1 reason that people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. It’s not only being thankful for your job, but being thankful for the others that you work with.

How successful are some corporate programs aimed at increasing positivity?

It has to permeate the organization. It has to be part of your DNA, of who you are. It works if it’s sincere. It works if it’s real, and if people know you really care about them. I can walk into a restaurant and tell if it’s a fake smile or it’s real. You can walk into a company and tell whether it’s real or not.

You say that negativity fills voids. What voids should companies look out for?

If employees don’t feel seen or heard, or they don’t hear and see, they don’t know what’s going on and they don’t feel communicated with, we will assume the worst. And the great example of that is cancer. Cancer sits alone in the body. It starts acting alone. It’s the same way with a company. If you think you are alone, you’ll act alone. But if you feel like you’re part of the body, part of the whole, then you’ll support the whole.

Copyrighted, U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved.

Being True To Ourselves

Happiness is a by-product of being true to ourselves. The fact is, many people are not being true to themselves. They are true to other people, or beliefs and philosophies that do not serve them. In my lifetime, I have spent a great deal of time and energy trying to please other people. In the end, I pleased no one - not even myself - until I dramatically altered my thinking and learned how to live, fully, in the present moment.

Living in the present moment is a habitual way of thinking and acting that must be practiced and developed like any other life-affirming skill. If you look at your own life and see the times when you were not happy, chances are that you were upset because you were chewing on the old bones from your past. Perhaps you were also worried about the future. Worrying about the future and chewing on “old bones” from your past have little value to offer you other than to cause you to be upset, anxious or stressed out.

You should think about the future only long enough to see if there is anything you can do in the present moment to make sure your future turns out the way you want it to turn out. The moment your thoughts about the future turn into “worry thought” that is telling you there is nothing you can do about the future, right now! It also tells you that you are living in the future rather than being fully present in the moment of now.

What are the roadblocks to living in the present moment? Our physical bodies always live in the present moment, but often times, our minds live elsewhere. How many times have you been in meeting, physically present, but you found your mind wandering off to other places? How many times have you listened to a speaker and found your mind drifting off to somewhere else? How many times have you had a conversation with someone, but you were not really present with them? These are all incidents of not living fully in the moment.

If we cannot get our minds to be where our bodies are, it causes us to feel pressure and stress. The solution is to bring our minds back to where our bodies are located. If we cannot bring our minds back to our bodies, then I suggest that we take our bodies to where our minds are located. A simple example: Your body is in church, but your mind is out fishing at your favorite stream or lake. If your mind refuses to come back to church, then go to the lake and meet your God there. The moment our bodies and minds are both located in the same place at the same time, we are fully present. And it is only in the present moment where we will find the true happiness we seek.

Copyrighted 2003 Frederick Zappone
www.frederickzappone.com