4. Success Stories 2: Successful Self Publishing at 4 Score Years!
If you ever wondered how women managed to get control of their lives, sufficient to
become financially independent, develop worthwhile careers and avoid continuing as
merely one of man's possessions, then you ought to read Cynthia Walton's fascinating
account of how Birmingham women helped take family planning from 'Chance', to 'Choice'.
Cynthia has co-authored 'Birmingham Made a Difference' (with Audrey Court) charting
thirty years of family planning history and has self-published her own books, including
a poetry book and a book on her early school life in a famous progressive school -
Maltman Green.
I first met Cynthia when Paul and I went round to deliver a restored copy of artistic etchings.
Within five minutes of our arrival I had bought a copy of each of her three books, read the
articles that she used to write for the Guardian and promised to design a weblog for her.
(I did not have to explain twice the brilliancy of weblogs for small businesses.)
If you would like to show your appreciation for Cynthia's pioneering family-planning work and
indomitable entrepreneurial spirit then treat yourself to a copy of 'Birmingham Made A Difference'
for only £2.50 and make her day.
4. Success Stories 3: Warning: Anti-Perspirant may burn holes in your Mum's cashmere sweater (that you secretely borrowed)
Contains: Butane, Isobutane, Propane and Aluminium.
Warning: Do not use on broken or irritated skin. Avoid contact with eyes. Keep out of reach of children. Keep away from polished or painted surfaces. Do not inhale as can be harmful or even fatal. Solvent abuse can kill instantaneously. Extremely inflammable.
Wow, what am I talking about? Paint stripper, road surfacing materials, commercial bleach or perhaps rat poison? No, these words were taken directly from a can of `designer` anti-perspirant. This is what millions of people spray under their arms every day.
Anti-perspirants containing aluminium and zirconium are currently being researched at Reading University to see if there is any evidence that they cause breast and under-arm lumps. Whilst we still await conclusive evidence, it is no coincidence that many years ago we were advised to stop cooking in aluminium pans because of these fears. Women should be particularly vigilant as they shave underarm and then spray these chemicals into open pores.
Armpits release toxins from the body and the research is looking at how aluminium blocks the pores and could lead to a build up of those toxins in the lymph nodes. Investigations are continuing into how aluminium and zirconium may enter cells causing mutation in DNA and affect hormone levels.
Ironically there is no need for us to be using these chemicals at all. Forever Living Products have an aluminium-free deodorant containing Aloe Vera and other natural ingredients and it is very effective. It was recently featured on the `Richard and Judy Show` as one of the few safe alternatives. At £5.26 and likely to last the average user in excess of 3 months, it is also great value for money. If you would like to obtain this product or find out more about it, please call Vanessa Sant on 01564 785993.
5. Career Change Notes: First Step - Creating Wealth
First of all you need to be clear about who you are and what you stand for. It helps to have a great coach to work with at this point. Without a coach, you need to be asking yourself some searching questions about what you WANT to do, who you want to BE and what you want to HAVE.
Whether you have a business idea or not, here’s what I want you to do…
I want you to take a pen and paper and go and sit somewhere quiet in your home where you will not be distracted. Get comfortable. Take a deep breath and relax for a moment.
Now I want you to write down everything you WANT in life. That’s right. Everything that you wish you had in your life. It might be a new car, a house with a walled garden, some new and beautiful clothes, a swim with the dolphins, an arctic cruise, new watch, the latest Laptop, whatever… Just write it down. At least twenty-five things, but it could be twenty pages long.
Spend some time writing down everything that you could want in this life and desire. You can also write down things that you WANT in your relationships with other people. Such as “love”. You can think about the kind of relationships you have with people.
Do you surround yourself with people who:
Make you feel better about yourself or worse about yourself?
Tend to be stronger than you or weaker than you?
Are in better or worse financial shape than you?
Have more real friends than you, or fewer?
Place a higher value than you on honesty, integrity and commitment? So write it all down.
The next thing I want you to do is to write down all the things that you feel you NEED to do. Things that you would need to do or would like to accomplish. This can range from organising the carpet cleaner to writing your will. It could be that you need to visit your Mum or set up a new email account for your business.
Write it all down. Things you need to do for your business and things for your personal life – just write them all down. If you can get a good unconscious ‘flow’, going, so much the better. Don’t worry too much about going into detail, you can do that at a later stage.
Now I want you to take a new pad of paper and write down everything that you are GOOD at, problems you can solve, things you can do. It can be driving a car or organising a meeting. It can be fixing a tap or writing articles. Think of as many things as you can and write them down. (You can put ‘reading for ideas’, as one of them, you are reading this, after all!) Keep going until you have at least twenty five.
After you have brain dumped everything you are good at, you need to write down things that you LOVE doing or are interested in. So for example you might love horses, travel, parachuting, socialising with friends, persuading people or using a computer. If you find that you enjoy doing just a few things, then list those things in more detail. So, for example, if you love reading, ask yourself ‘What books’ exactly – categories, titles, authors, genre/ Write all of them down, as many as you can.
The final thing I want you to do is to write down all the business IDEAS that you have – whether it’s ideas for creating new products, for your existing business, running some new promotion or new ideas for a business. Write them all down.
You will find that putting together combinations of what you are GOOD at and what you LOVE doing, will inspire business IDEAS for you. This way you can be sure you have explored all your potential job preferences.
After you have written down all those things that you WANT (both material and relationship), everything you feel that you NEED to do and all of the business IDEAS you have then you need to start transferring these to another writing pad. You are going to create a list of the top five WANTS, NEEDS, IDEAS and the ACTIONS you can take to accomplish these.
Once you have identified the TOP FIVE items in each list of WANTS, NEEDS and IDEAS, you can list ACTIONS to take for each of them. This is an easy way of PRIORITISING what you need to do to accomplish first, then second, and so on until your last item is the last thing you should be doing when everything else is accomplished.
You should now have a list of your five top job or business IDEAS. Now a really great way of deciding on which job or business idea you should start with is to take each IDEA on your list and RANK it out of 5 (5 is high) for 1) Your level of interest. 2) Your knowledge of the how to do the job. 3) Level of experience. Create a table like this and you will be able to see at a glance what you need to do in order to bring your skills and experience :
|
|
Job Preferences |
Interest |
Knowledge |
Experience |
|
1. |
Corporate Executive Coach |
5 |
4/5 |
4 |
|
2. |
Training Consultant |
5 |
3 |
2 |
|
3. |
Project Management Expert |
5 |
3 |
4 |
|
4. |
Interim Management Agency |
4/5 |
2 |
2 |
|
5. |
Online Pet Wholesalers |
5 |
2 |
1 |
It’s much better to do this exercise in writing and keep the list next to your computer so you can see it ALL the time. Now start with number one on your list of ACTIONS to take and when you have finished it – strike it though with a pen.
Some of your wants are obviously going to have to wait until you have the money for them. You will need to achieve your financial milestones with your business. But you will and then you can buy these WANTS along the way and strike them off your list as you go.
After you have done this whole exercise of getting things down on paper, you’ll feel incredible. Not only will it allow you to free-up your mind, so that you are no longer focusing on a hundred things at once, allow you to think more clearly but it immediately creates an ACTION list that you can immediately start accomplishing. You’ll be surprised how fast you can get things done. The faster you get things done, the faster your business will grow and the faster you will be able to strike off those WANTS.
(extract from my forthcoming book - Copyright 2004-2005, all rights reserved)
6. Just for a Laugh!: Proof That Women Are Smarter Than Men
Due to inherit a fortune when his sickly, widower father died, Charles
decided he needed a woman to enjoy it with. Going to a singles' bar, he
spotted a woman whose beauty took his breath away. "I'm just an ordinary
man," he said, walking up to her, "but in just a week or two, my father
will die and I'll inherit 20 million dollars." The woman went home with
Charles, and the next day she became his stepmother.
There was a man who had worked all his life, had saved all of his money,
and was a real miser when it came to his money. Just before he died, he
said to his wife, "When I die. I want you to take all my money and put it
in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me."
And so he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he
died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him. Well, he
died. He was stretched out in the casket; his wife was sitting there in
black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the
ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the
wife said, "Wait just a minute!" She had a box with her; she came over
with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the
casket down, and the rolled it away. So her friend said, "Girl, I know
you weren't fool enough to put all that money in there with your
husband." The loyal wife replied, "Listen, I'm a Christian, I can't go
back on my word. I promised him that I was going to put that money in
that casket with him."
"You mean to tell me you put that money in the
casket with him!!!!?
"I sure did" said the wife. "I got it all together, put it into my
account and wrote him a cheque. If he can cash it, he can spend it."
