Do you want more success in all areas of your life?  Virtually 100% of all people on the planet desire more success in their lives (however they define success).   Here are three keys to more success in all areas of your life.

1. Focus on collaboration
2. Lead initiatives
3. Stay current

Whether in your family, within the organizations and communities you belong or engage, or within the organizations in which you work and serve; collaborate – lead initiatives – stay current.

Some people may think these 3 keys to success are too simple.   My answer?  “They are far from simple and they are exceedingly effective.”   Even the prestigious Harvard Business Review featured these keys to  success in a recent publication.

Focus on collaboration. Regularly ask yourself this question;  “How can I more effectively collaborate with others to achieve mutually beneficial goals and dreams?”  Then do something about it.

Lead initiatives. In all areas of your life, raise your hand  and offer to take on new or different initiatives.  Offer to identify or create more effective ways to serve others – to create additional value for  all.  Then implement the best of those ideas.

Stay current. Be a person who consistently synthesizes current information and events, in all areas of your life, in order to offer new or tweaked strategies and tactics for accomplishing mutually desired and beneficial goals and dreams.

Excel at these 3 critical keys to success, and you will have distinguished yourself from at least 90 percent of all people.  Probably 95 percent!

Be unique.  Achieve more success.  Make a bigger positive difference.  Focus on collaboration – lead initiatives – stay current.

Mac Anderson and John Murphy recently wrote a small but very powerful book entitled Habits Die Hard: 10 Steps To Building Successful Habits.  The publisher, Simple Truths, describes the critical importance of this powerful, life-changing book as follows:

“We are all creatures of habit and if you make good habits, good habits will make you.  This wisdom has been around since ancient times.  Aristotle once said, ‘We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.’

 

The subconscious mind – the habitual mind – is over one million times more powerful than the conscious mind.  This means that we spend a substantial amount of our lifetime on ‘autopilot,’ playing out the mental programs that govern our behavior.

 

Whether they are a positive force in our lives or obstacles to the goals we want to achieve, habits become ingrained through repeated actions.

 

Here’s the point: Habits – good, bad, or neutral – are difficult to break… they Die Hard!  The real key to success is replacing destructive habits with successful habits.”

I particularly enjoyed and totally  agree with the “food for thought” offered by the authors at the beginning of  this excellent book.

“I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest asset or heaviest  burden.
I will push you up to success or down  to disappointment.
I am at your command.
Half the things you do might just as  well be turned over to me.
For I can do them quickly, correctly  and profitably.
I am easily managed; just be firm with  me.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made  failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with  the precision of a
machine and the intelligence of a  person.
You can run me for profit, or you can  run me for ruin.
Show me how you want it done.  Educate me.   Train me.
Lead me.  Reward me.
And I will then… do it automatically.
I am your servant.
Who am I?
I am a habit.”

Habits Die Hard: 10 Steps To Building Successful Habits is available at www.simpletruths.com.  Not only are successful habits critical to  your current and future success, they are critical to the success of every  member of your family, your team, your company, your customers, your clients  and everyone else in your life.  This  brief book would be an outstanding gift – both to yourself, and to those whose  success is important to you.

2011. Was it a good year? A bad year? A great year? A difficult year? A year of transition? A year of stability? A year of significant change? A taxing and trying year? A year of inspiration and progress toward your personal and professional mission? A year filled with successes and failures?

Like virtually every human on the planet, your year included all of the above. There was good, bad, great, difficult, transition, taxing and trying times, times of inspiration, and times of success as well as failure. Hopefully there was progress, even significant progress toward your personal and professional mission in life.

Like every human on the planet, you accumulated plenty of baggage during 2011. Mental baggage, relationship baggage, material baggage… baggage in every area of your life. Almost all of that baggage is not needed in 2012 and beyond. Your baggage will surely weigh you down, slow you down, trip you up, and seriously impede your progress toward your personal and professional mission and success in 2012 and beyond.

One of the most important priorities and activities in which you should engage in preparing for true success (your definition of success) in 2012 and beyond is to take the necessary time to identify and aggressively rid yourself of all unneeded baggage.

One dictionary defines baggage as “things that encumber one’s freedom, progress, development, or adaptability; impediments: intellectual baggage that keeps one from thinking clearly; neurotic conflicts that arise from struggling with too much emotional baggage.”

We all accumulate baggage. It is a part of life. Particularly in retrospect, we all have plenty of baggage that is weighing us down and holding us back.

Take the time. Identify the baggage in every area of your life. Almost all of this baggage is useless, dangerous, negative, anti-productive dead weight. Over time, this baggage is extremely costly.

Shed the baggage – but keep the wisdom. Wisdom is the opposite of baggage. Wisdom provides a priceless foundation, platform and perspective for high-impact success in every area of your life.

Shed the Baggage – Keep the Wisdom… and move effectively, efficiently and expectantly into the greatest and most successful year of your life… 2012.

Successful people and successful organizations are busy this time of year, tweaking and making appropriate adjustments to their 2012 strategic and operational plans.  Even more so for highly effective and highly successful people and organizations.

They have carefully reviewed their 2011 successes and failures.  They are building on and leveraging their strengths and successes.  They are not overly concerned about, or focused on past failures or weaknesses.

Highly successful people know that everyone, and every organization has failures and weaknesses.  They know that truly successful people and organizations are those that focus on, and leverage their strengths and past successes.  These highly successful people focus on strengths, not weaknesses. They focus on successes, not  failures.

As you tweak and adjust your 2012 strategic and operational plans, and as you take a few days off for the holidays, what a perfect time to read and  study an excellent resource recently published.

This excellent resource is directly applicable to every person and every organization, no matter how successful, that is seeking to leverage strengths and successes.  This resource is  entitled Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader.   If you read carefully and seriously, it would be impossible to not benefit from this excellent, user friendly, practical, highly relevant book.

Build on your strengths and successes in 2012 and beyond.  Leverage the wisdom and guidance of Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think and Act Like a Leader, written by world-class consultant and author Dianna Booher, whose 45 books have been published in 23 countries and 16 languages.   This excellent resource is available wherever best-selling books are sold.

One of the many blessings and benefits of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays is the time and inclination to reflect on what is really important in your life…. and what you are doing about what is really most important in your life.

The wisest of the wise… the most truly successful of the successful… will advise you to ask, answer and take definitive action relative to these critical questions:

1.“Both personally and professionally, am I doing what I really love to do?” Not just like what I do, but love it.

2.“Both personally and professionally, am I doing that for which I have great passion?” Not just some passion for what I do, but great passion.

3.“Both personally and professionally, am I living, serving, giving, and performing at my highest potential.” Not someone else’s opinion of my potential. My potential! The wisest of the wise… the most truly successful of the successful… will tell you that these are some of the most critical questions in life, regardless of who you are, where you are, or what you do.

The wisest of the wise… the most truly successful of the successful… will tell you that virtually nothing in life is more important than the following:

1. If you are not doing what you really love to do, take action and make changes ASAP. No excuses regardless of the difficulty. Take action and make changes… the sooner, the better!

2. If you do not have great passion for what you do, take action and make changes ASAP. No excuses regardless of the difficulty. Take action and make changes… the sooner, the better!

3. If you are not living, serving, giving, and performing at your highest potential, take action and make changes ASAP. No excuses regardless of the difficulty. Take action and make changes. Be the best that you can be! Live, serve, give and perform at your highest potential.

The wisest of the wise… the most truly successful of the successful… will tell you that if you ask, answer and take definitive action relative to these critical questions, you will achieve true success, probably far greater than you ever imagined!

September 4, 2011 my brother, Brent Leisure, lost his home and all his belongings in the Bastrop, Texas wildfires.  The Bastrop fire encompassed approximately 34,000 acres and burned 96% or 6,240 acres of Bastrop State Park.  Over 1,600 homes were lost, which makes this the most destructive fire in US history in terms of homes lost in one fire event.  Over 6,000 people were estimated to be without a home during and immediately following the fire.

Through all the devastation and heartache, we saw firsthand, time after time the generosity and love extended to those who were affected, specifically my brother and his family.  People in general want to help during difficult times.  I would like to share the story of a very special little girl, who gave from her heart and her pocketbook.

My brother is the director of Texas State Parks and this true story is about Teresa Justice, the 6 year old daughter of Brenda and John Justice.  Brenda is the Superintendent of Goliad State Park in Texas.

Brenda was telling her husband that my brother Brent and his family had lost their home and everything  they owned in the fire.  What they did  not know was that Teresa, their daughter, was listening, in the background, to the details.

Now, fast forward to the next day…

Teresa came running in from dance class and scurried into their home office to get a handful of  computer paper.  Her mom stopped her and asked her to put the paper back, but Teresa said, “but mom, I need to write a letter to your friend, Mr. Leisure.”  So Brenda allowed Teresa to use the paper.   Teresa continued to draw a picture and write a letter to Brent.

When Teresa finished the picture, she ran into the room where her dad was sitting and asked for the  money he owed her from picking up sticks in the park the weekend before (something Teresa does on a regular basis).  Dad told Teresa he would get it to her and she said, “no, I need it now.”  When dad probed a little further and asked why she needed it now, Teresa responded, “I need the $3.00 you owe me to send  to Mr. Leisure so he can build another house.”

You can imagine the rest of the story…. Teresa’s dad gave her the $3.00.  She put the letter and the money in an envelope and asked her mom to mail it to Brent.  Her mother of course, did just that, but before she mailed the letter she asked Teresa the following question: “Teresa, why did you write in your letter to Mr. Leisure that you love him… you don’t even know him?”   Teresa’s response was, “because I do love him.”

In a conversation with Teresa several weeks ago, we asked her where she learned to be so kind.  Teresa responded, (with the help of her mom)  “we learned at school that you should always try and fill people up with good things… like filling a glass with milk from a pitcher.”  Her parents have also been a huge influence by having her in Sunday School every Sunday and teaching the principals of  kindness at home.  This foundation will serve Teresa well throughout her entire life.

Teresa’s generosity and love for mankind is pure and genuine.  What a wonderful example for all of us, not just during the Christmas season, but 365 days a year!

We would all do well to follow Teresa’s example… action speaks so much louder than words.  We should give generously, not only financially, but from our hearts… showing and giving the priceless love we were intended to show to others.

I challenge you today to reach out and genuinely give from your heart to those who are in need or to  those could use a touch of encouragement.   Small acts of kindness go a long way.   I can assure you, the generosity and love Teresa extended to my brother will NEVER be forgotten!

Thank you, Teresa for  being such a wonderful role model.  You demonstrate great wisdom at a young age.   Continue to Give Generously…  Give Sincerely… Give Always… and your life we be a spectacular success!

Written by: Guest Author, Harla Adams

Words can be piercing, memorable and life-changing…  whether positive or negative.  Words can lift people up… or tear them down.   Some words, whether written or spoken, will never be forgotten.  Words can and will strengthen or destroy priceless relationships.  Words can truly make a difference in people’s lives.

It is not the number of words, but the timing, choice, sincerity and delivery of words that makes a real and lasting difference.

This holiday season… and every day throughout the year…  use as little as three carefully selected words to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of family, friends and colleagues.  Your timing, choice, sincerity and delivery of only three little words can make a huge difference in the lives of others!

These three little words, taken from an unknown author and edited by yours truly, will always improve your relationships and your immediate and long-term success.

I’ll Be  There

If you have ever had to call someone in the middle of the night because of an emergency, you know how good it feels to hear those wonderful words, “I’ll be there.”   Being there for another person is one of the greatest gifts we can give.  When we are truly present for other people, important things happen to them and to us.  Being there is at the very core of civility.

I Miss You

Many relationships could be saved and strengthened if more of us would simply take the time to say or write, “I miss you.”  This powerful affirmation tells friends and colleagues they are wanted, needed, remembered and appreciated.  Every human on the face of  the earth enjoys a sincere “I miss you” from time to time.

I Respect You

Respect is another way of showing appreciation.  Respect conveys that another person is a true equal.  Respect strengthens and deepens relationships.

Maybe You’re Right

This phrase is highly effective in diffusing arguments and restoring frayed emotions.  The flip side to “Maybe you’re right” is the humility of admitting, “Maybe I’m wrong.”  Let’s face it.  When you have a heated argument with someone, all you do is cement the other person’s point of view.

Please Forgive Me

Many broken relationships could be restored and healed if people would admit their mistakes and ask for forgiveness.  All of us are vulnerable to foibles and failures.  A person should  never be ashamed to admit that he or she has been wrong, which translates that he or she is wiser today than yesterday.

I Thank  You

Gratitude is an exquisite form of courtesy.  People who enjoy the companionship of good, close friends and colleagues are those who don’t take daily courtesies for granted.  They are quick to thank their friends and colleagues for their many expressions of kindness.  On the other hand, people whose circle of friends and colleagues is severely constricted often do not have the attitude of gratitude.

Count On Me

A friend is one who walks in when others walk out.  Loyalty is an essential  ingredient for true friendship and an excellent relationship; it is the emotional glue that bonds people together.   Those who are rich in their relationships tend to be steady and true friends.  When troubles come, a good  friend or colleague is there, indicating you can “Count on me.”

Let Me Help

The best friends and colleagues see a need and try to fill it.  When they spot a hurt, they do what they can to heal it.   Without being asked, they pitch in and help.

Please Help Me

A sincere request for help breaks down most barriers and results in amazing behavior and results.  Almost anyone and everyone will positively respond to a sincere, open and honest “Please help me.”

I Understand You

People become closer, enjoy each other  more, and are far more likely to build lasting, trusting relationships if they feel the other person accepts and understands them.

I Love You

Perhaps the most important three words you can say.  Telling someone that you  truly love them satisfies a person’s deepest emotional needs: the need to belong, to feel appreciated, and to be wanted.   Your family, friends, and you, all need to hear these three little  words, “I love you.”

God Bless You

For those inclined, sincerely writing or saying “God bless you” is a very effective affirmation, wish and prayer for  great and wonderful things in the future.   Even many who do not believe in God realize the power and positive intent of these three little words.

Just Do It

Encouragement is extremely powerful.  Encouragement communicates a belief that you are capable and “you can do it.”  So, “just do it!

If you want to be more effective and successful at home, at work, in your community, in your career and within other organizations or environments in which you are engaged, one guaranteed strategy is to improve your relationships!  You can improve your relationships and make  a positive difference in people’s lives by sincerely and more frequently saying  or writing these three little words.

I suggest you make several copies of this article.  Place the copies where you will frequently  see them.  When you see the article,  take a minute to evaluate your progress regarding more frequently communicating these three little words… and the positive results you are seeing in your improved relationships.  Just do it…

Average tenure for a hospital CEO in America is less than 5 years.  Ben McKibbens was CEO of Valley Baptist Health System in Texas for over 25 years!  McKibbens also served as a leader for numerous local, state and national boards, associations and other organizations, including as a board member and Chair of the Texas Hospital Association.

When Ben McKibbens speaks, particularly when he is sharing perspectives and wisdom, I listen.  And so should you!

During a recent interview for the America’s Healthcare Leaders series, I asked McKibbens the following question:

“From your perspective, what were and are your most important accomplishments as CEO of Valley Baptist Health System?”

Not once, during several responses to this question, did McKibbens mention or talk about himself.  All of his responses were directly related to supporting, building up, encouraging, inspiring, and improving the health system and all those people and organizations directly or indirectly related to the vision, mission and goals of Valley Baptist Health System.

His responses were not about himself, but entirely about supporting, inspiring, improving, and serving others.  Think about that.  Over 25 years of significant and meaningful success, building and leading a healthcare system to be a prominent provider in its region, and yet he did not mention himself one time!

Just a couple of McKibbens’ responses to this question included:

“First of all, the generous support of the health system by so many different people from various backgrounds and locations.”

“Second, we were able to assist the system by developing a mentality of desire and focus for things such as improving, expanding, and opening new health related schools, creating all kinds of other programs and services, and we honored and recognized those people and organizations that assisted in helping the health system move ever-closer to our mission and vision.”

McKibbens then began extemporaneously naming all sorts of programs and services, such as medical schools, residencies, and other clinical and non-clinical programs and services that were initiated and became successful, according to McKibbens, because of the generosity (time, expertise and money), and loyalty of all sorts of people and organizations.  It was truly inspiring to listen to McKibbens name specific programs and specific people whose generosity (again time, expertise and money) contributed to the mission and success of Valley Baptist Health System.

Again, not once did McKibbens talk about himself or “what he had done!”

It would not be over-stated to say that our industry, our country and the world needs far more leaders with the wisdom, values, perspectives and attitudes of Ben McKibbens.

Want to be more successful in your personal and professional life… and in the marketplace, community and within the organizations you currently serve?  Learn from America’s Healthcare Leaders such as Ben McKibbens.  Follow the excellent example of this highly successful person and leader.

Focus NOT on yourself. Focus on supporting, building up, encouraging, improving, inspiring, and consistently serving a worthy mission.  Focus on those people and organizations that directly or indirectly support or impact your personal and professional vision, mission and goals.  Focus NOT on yourself.

Priceless Wisdom from one of America’s Healthcare Leaders!

According to Time Magazine, in addition to years of training, operators who work in the main control rooms of nuclear plants must spend one week out of every six in retraining exercises.  Think about that.  One week out of every six… retraining, refining, rehearsing, sharpening their knowledge and decision-making skills.

Obviously, the decisions made by each and every operator who works in the main control room of a nuclear plant can have huge ramifications… either very beneficial or extremely destructive and harmful.

So, who works in the main control room of your personal and professional life? Who makes the decisions that have huge ramifications on your life and career… either very beneficial or destructive  and harmful?  How important is your life and career control room, and how often do you spend a week retraining, refining, rehearsing, and sharpening your knowledge and decision-making skills?

Day-to-day and week-to-week retraining, refining, rehearsing and sharpening knowledge and decision-making skills is very important.  Over time, daily and weekly improvements pay significant positive dividends  for each of us.  However, in the rush… yes, almost the race… to get through our  daily and weekly “To Do Lists,” we have little time for the bigger picture, the more complete picture, the more important picture, the most important picture.

Life-changing, career-changing, truly significant retraining, refining, rehearsing, and sharpening knowledge and decision-making skills takes serious time, energy,  focus and concentrated attention.

Unless you care to be a robot for the rest of your life, and to be a slave to that you already know, and a slave to that you already know how to do, you must make room for significant, extended, and highly-focused retraining, refining, rehearsing, and sharpening of your knowledge and decision-making skills.

One full week out of every six weeks?  Most of us will never allocate that kind of time, although to do so would probably be one of the very best decisions of our life!   One full week out of every twelve weeks?   One full week out of every three months?

Only you can decide.  And of course, for the rest of your life, you will live with the significant, life-long ramifications of your choice.
After all… you lead, you operate, you control the main control room of your life.  You make the most important, most impactful decisions in your life.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it.” Are you adequately preparing for the rest of the only life you will ever live on this earth?  Are you living up to your potential by consistently retraining, refining, rehearsing, and sharpening  your knowledge and decision-making skills?

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”  And now it’s up to you.

Terrell  “TJ” Johnson was one of the toughest, roughest, and most “successful” gang leaders and drug kingpins in the West Memphis, TN.  By age 15, TJ had made more than half a million dollars.  His cocaine-selling empire continued to grow.  By age 17, TJ  was driving the streets of West Memphis in a brand new Porsche.  At age 19, his drug selling days came to an end after being arrested for drug trafficking.

TJ faced a thirty-five year prison term.   After spending four years in prison, TJ had what he calls his Damascus Road experience.  He dedicated his life and career to helping others avoid the same mistakes he made.

TJ is now making a difference in the lives of those who might not know another way.  Upon his prison release, TJ was appointed prevention and intervention coordinator for the Memphis Juvenile Violence Abatement Project.  Survival on the streets in the West Memphis slums is literally a day-to-day, life-or-death trial and challenge.  It is clear that TJ’s life is now a testimony that good can come from even extremely bad and destructive situations and choices.

As President/CEO of the Wake-Up Youth Foundation, TJ is now making a difference in the lives of thousands of individuals across the nation.  He is making a real and substantial difference through his dedication and effectiveness in informing, empowering, and educating young people about the  responsibility of living productive lives.

Hopefully you have never been a drug kingpin or had to survive in the drug-infested slums of any city or location in the world.  However, if you are alive and reading this article, you have made mistakes, you have made wrong choices and you have made some really bad decisions.

The important questions is, “what have you learned from those mistakes, wrong choices and bad decisions?” Did you do what the most successful people in the world do?  Like the truly successful people and organizations, did you take the time to learn specific lessons from those mistakes, wrong choices and bad decisions?  And even more important, “are you intentionally and diligently applying those specific lessons in your personal, professional and organizational life today… and every day?”

It is wonderful that TJ is taking his experience to schools, churches, and the streets in a focused and concentrated effort to positively impact the lives of our youth.  We should all thank TJ, and many others like him, for their contributions and service to our communities by offering advice, encouragement and support to those who one day may make a positive difference in our society and around the world.

What have you learned from your mistakes, wrong choices and bad decisions? Are you intentionally and diligently applying those specific lessons in your personal, professional and organizational  life?  Are you educating and informing others… are you encouraging and inspiring others to not repeat the mistakes you have made?

Now is the time.  The opportunity is  unlimited.  Join TJ, and a million  others, who are living their lives in service to others.  This is the only way to be truly successful.

Are You Changing Lives and Communities  for the Better?