Welcome to Our New Format

Whether we are working at our professional or personal endeavors, change will surely be part of our experiences. If we are not careful, we can fall into the well known traps of:

1) Believing that yesterday’s solution discoveries will continue to solve today’s challenges.

2) Thinking that current realities will always exist.

3) Closing our eyes to new opportunities to explore through change.

Think BIG!

Herman

P.S. I have a special opportunity for my valued and loyal readers! That's you!

I've been testing a new Business Assessment process and I'm opening 5 spots on my calendar for these, to anyone who is interested. I will eventually be charging for these sessions, but the 5 appointments in February will be complimentary. I know that you will receive value and I'd welcome any feedback
you can provide from your experience.

Click to learn more about a
Business Assessment session.

Business Tip: Your Business Plan

This month continues work on your new business plan. Hopefully you have one in place. With January already gone, you should be on your path to reaching those goals. Just to insure success, keep in mind that any viable business plan MUST answer these 5 questions:

1)  What are you building?

2)  Why does your business exist? 

3)  What business results will you measure?

4)  How will you build the business?

5)  What is the specific work to be done? 

If your plan does not clearly answer these 5 MUST questions, you need to stop, regroup and redesign your plan so that you and any of those associated directly or indirectly with your efforts can clearly state the answers to the above questions. Only then will success be your constant companion.

Feature Article: Keep it Going

One of the most inspirational stories in American sports is golfing great Ben Hogan’s comeback from a near fatal auto accident in 1949. No one supposed that Hogan would ever play tournament golf again following his accident. His injuries were that serious.

The very next year, 1950, Hogan, hobbling on a surgically repaired leg, won the US Golf Open at the prestigious Marion, Pennsylvania golf course. A year later, he won it again on the tough Oakland Hills course where only 2 rounds were scored below par and one was Hogan’s 67. He often said that was the finest round of his life and career.

This man who had come back from the brink of death was not through yet. In his 3rd year after surgery, he won every event he played in including the Masters, US Open, and British Open. Not only did he win, he set records along the way. It may have been the greatest year any golfer ever had including Tiger Woods’ early career exploits.

Ben Hogan’s return to golf is a great example of courage and perseverance that has seldom been equaled in any walk of life. He not only came back, but he came back to win it all! As famed NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up again.” Hogan certainly picked himself up and pressed forward. 

If you look hard enough, you can find all kinds of excuses for not doing something or why a goal is unreachable. The moment that negative talk or mindset begins is when things like courage, determination and perseverance must take over in your life. Be resolute in your goals and develop an obsession for winning. Never give up hope!

There is a Ben Hogan in you too… person waiting to be challenged to push on and win it all! All you need to set this person free is the courage to begin and the perseverance to maintain your pathway. As Dr. C.E. Welch founder of Welch’s Grape Juice said, “Many men fail because they quit too soon. They lose faith when the signs are against them. They do not have courage to hold on, to keep fighting in spite of that which seems insurmountable. If more of us would strikeout and attempt the ‘impossible’, we very soon would find the truth of that old saying that nothing is impossible…abolish fear and you can accomplish anything you wish.”

Monthly Focus: Adversity

“Adversity is an experience, not a final act.”  —Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D.

“In this life we will encounter hurts and trials that we will not be able to change; we are just going to have to allow them to change us.”  —Ron Lee Davis

The village blacksmith was a brilliant crafter of useful tools. As he pumped his bellows, the fire was prepared in the furnace. He would put a piece of iron in it until it reached its proper state. The metal was then removed and placed on the huge anvil and, with a heavy hammer, it was pounded into a transformed state. 

After its final state was reached, it was then placed in water. The drastic change in temperature tempered the iron and gave it durability and strength. There is no other way to gain the strength needed.

The human spirit is formed, matured and strengthened through the adversities of life. As was once conveyed, “If troubles can be labeled experiences and are remembered that each develops a real latent force within you, you will indeed grow more vigorously and happily, despite the adversity you face.”

Begin now viewing all adversity as experiences which enable you to become stronger and wiser. In doing so, you will begin to build the best you possible and perhaps influence others who walk life with you to do the same.

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