Clarity of purpose and direction is one of the keys to career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  To develop your personal clarity or purpose you need to do three things.  First, define what success means to you.  Second, create a vivid mental image of you as a success.  Once you define what success means to you personally, I suggest that you develop a clear mental picture of you as a success.  This image should be as vivid as you can you make it.  Third, clarify your personal values. 

I remember reading Hamlet when I was in high school.  As Hamlet was setting off on his journey, Polonius gave him some advice.  As we got to this advice, the teacher stopped and said “This advice is timeless wisdom, pay attention.”  Here it is…

There … my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts hold in thy memory…

Look thou character.  Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new hatched, unfledged comrade. 

Beware of entrance to a quarrel but, being in,
Bear it that the opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s measure, but reserve thy judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.

Neither a borrower, nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

This above all: to thine own self be true,
and it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst be false to no man.

Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!

The final piece of advice – “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst be to no man” – is at the heart of clarity of purpose and direction.  It is much easier to be true to yourself when you are clear in your purpose and direction in life.  As Polonius suggests, if you are true to yourself, you can’t be false to others.  More important, you can stay on the course to career and life success.

Roy Blackman, my father-in-law was so enamored of this advice that it was his final words of advice to his first grandson as he went off to college.  Roy lived by these words.  They were his epitaph, displayed prominently on the program at his funeral.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people clarify their purpose and direction.  Then they conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with it.  Shakespeare, speaking as Polonius, offers some timeless advice on how to live in a manner that is consistent with your purpose and direction: “To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst be false to no man.”  If you follow this advice you’ll be living your purpose and you’ll be well positioned to create the successful life and career you want and deserve.

That’s my take on Polonius’ advice to Hamlet and how it is as important today as it was when it was written hundreds of years ago.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes and leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Competence is one of the four keys to career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I also discuss it in some detail in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success; Your Success GPS; and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  If you want to succeed you need to develop four basic, but important competencies: 1) creating positive personal impact; 2) becoming a consistently high performer; 3) dynamic communication skills; and 4) becoming interpersonally competent. 

There are four key competencies that will help you become a career and life success:

• You have to be able to create positive personal impact.
• You have to be become an outstanding performer.
• You have to be a dynamic communicator – in conversation, writing and presentations.
• You have to build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the important people in your life.

Positive habits are an important key to outstanding performance.  Positive time management is an important habit to develop.  Habits are like muscles.  The more you use them, the stronger they get.

Here in Colorado, we are required to get our cars checked to ensure that they meet clean air emissions standards before we can renew our license plates.  It’s a good law, one that helps with the air quality in our beautiful state.  It’s also a pain in the butt.  It requires a trip to an emissions monitoring station and waiting in line for the test.  My plates renew in October, so yesterday I spent a couple hours getting my car tested.  It passed.

Cathy laughed at me as I was leaving the house with my briefcase, which had my cell phone, a couple of books and a bottle of water.  She said I would probably be the only one at the emissions testing facility reading a book.  That was OK.  I had just received a review copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book Crush It.  I wanted to read it so I could review it on this blog – and to learn a few things.  By the way, Crush It is a great book – not just for entrepreneurs.  I’ll do a post on it next week.

Carrying a book with me is one of my time management positive habits.  Sometimes it’s a novel.  Most times it’s a business or inspirational book.  I am in the habit of using spare moments to read and learn.  Yesterday, I was able to read the first four chapters of Crush It while I was waiting for my emissions test.  I also took some notes — ideas that I plan on incorporating into my business.  Not a bad use of my time.

I read while waiting for appointment with clients.  I read while waiting for my dentist, or doctor – and you know how long those waits can be.  I read when I go to get my car washed.  I read before a movie if I’m by myself.  This is a small habit, but one that allows me to read at least two more books a month than I normally would.  That’s 24 books a year – and a lot of good ideas to help me grow my business.

Reading spurs ideas.  These ideas give me inspiration for this blog.  They help me make decisions about my business.  They help me clarify my thinking on my passion – helping others create the career and life success they want and deserve.  Reading in spare moments is one of my most positive habits.  What is your most positive habit?  If you are thinking that you don’t have many positive habits, I suggest you check out Dan Robey’s site www.thepowerofpositivehabits.com.  There’s a lot to be learned there. 

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are competent.  They set high goals and achieve them.  Positive habits will help you reach your goals – but only if you take the time to develop them.  Reading in “found moments” – the time I spend waiting is one of my positive habits.  I’m amazed at how much I can learn just by always having a book with me.  Today I learned a lot about personal branding by reading the first four chapters of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It.  Take the time to develop some positive habits of your own.  You’ll be surprised at how much they help your productivity.

That’s my take on reading as a time management positive habit.  What’s yours?  What are some of the positive habits that have served you well over the years?  How did you develop them?  Please take a minute and leave comment sharing your thoughts and ideas with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Competence is one of the four keys to career and life success in my Common Sense Success System.  I also discuss it in some detail in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success; Your Success GPS; and 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Professional Success.  If you want to succeed you need to develop four basic, but important competencies: 1) creating positive personal impact; 2) becoming a consistently high performer; 3) dynamic communication skills; and 4) becoming interpersonally competent. 

There are four key competencies that will help you become a career and life success:

• You have to be able to create positive personal impact.
• You have to be become an outstanding performer.
• You have to be a dynamic communicator – in conversation, writing and presentations.
• You have to build strong, lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with the important people in your life.

Resilience is an important component of becoming an outstanding performer.  High goals are great, but you need to do whatever it takes to meet those goals.  Sometimes, it will appear as if the fates are conspiring against you when it comes to achieving your goals.  That’s where resilience comes in.

In The Power of Resilience, Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein list eight characteristics of resilient people.  Here they are, with my take on each of them.

1. Resilient people have large networks.  They stay connected.  Last week, I did a post on mastermind groups and how they can help you perform better.  Mastermind groups are a way to build a supportive network.
2. Resilient people are optimistic.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I am an incurable optimist.  You need to be so too.  Check out a post I did last week on The Optimist Creed.
3. Resilient people are spiritual.  Mssrs. Brooks and Goldstein equate spirituality with religion.  I don’t.  I think there are many ways to be spiritual – meditation, conversations with your higher power, a walk in the park, or my favorite, a long bicycle ride on a nice day.  Regardless of your take on the spirituality/religion equation, you need to remember one thing.  The more spiritually centered you are, the more resilient you’re likely to be.
4. Resilient people are playful.  They enjoy themselves.  They are willing to laugh at themselves and at life.  They see the humor in even the most difficult situations.
5. Resilient people are givers.  I have long advocated that giving with no expectation of return is the best way to build strong relationships.  That’s why I’m always willing to help anybody in any way I can.
6. Resilient people focus on what they can control.  As the serenity prayer says: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”  I’ve found that the one thing I can control is my response to people and events.  I try to choose to respond positively the negative people and events in my life.
7. Resilient people are healthy.  It’s easier to deal with upsets and distractions when you are in good physical and mental shape.  That means eating right and exercising.  I find that things always look a little brighter after one of my bike rides.
8. Resilient people see problems and setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow.  Any time you fail, look for the lesson.  What will you do differently the next time you encounter a similar situation?  File away this information.  You’ll need it sooner or later.

Here are some affirmations to help you become more resilient.  Repeat them often and you’ll become a more resilient person.

• I am a positive and upbeat person.
• I am able to deal with high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty.
• I adapt well and quickly to new situations.
• I find the humor in difficult situations.
• I learn from my experiences and the experiences of others.
• I am good at solving problems.
• I am strong and durable.
• I am able to convert misfortunes into something positive.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people are competent.  Competent people set and achieve high goals.  You need to be resilient in order to achieve your goals.  Here are a few tips for becoming resilient: build your network; become an optimist; exercise your spirituality; be playful; give back; focus on what you can control, not what is out of your control; stay healthy; learn from adversity.

That’s my take on resiliency and success.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, you have my deepest and most sincere thanks for reading.

Bud

Self confidence is one of the keys to personal and professional success that is part of my Common Sense Success System.  I discuss it in several of my books: Straight Talk for Success, Your Success GPS and 42 Rules to Jumpstart your Professional Success. 

You can become self confident by doing three things.  First, choose optimism.  Believe in your heart of hearts that today will be better than yesterday, and that tomorrow will be better than today.  Second, face your fears and act.  Procrastination and inaction feed fear and rob you of self confidence.  Action cures fear.  Third, surround yourself with positive people.  Don’t let the naysayers into your life.  Hang around with people who are positive about themselves, their careers and life in general.

Fear can — and will — paralyze you.  It can keep you from reaching the career and life success you want and deserve.  If you develop the habit of courage, you can beat fear.  Repetition is the best way to develop the habit of being courageous.  The more you are willing to face your fears – small and large – and act, the quicker courage will become one of the guiding habits in your life. 

Learning is a good way to become courageous.  Fear is caused by ignorance and a lack of knowledge.  When you don’t know, or have limited information about something, you become tense and insecure when you have to deal with it.  Think about scary movies.  When the hero is approaching a door and he or she doesn’t know what’s behind it, and the music is playing some ominous tune, your heart starts thumping and you fear for the hero (at least I do).  The lack of knowledge of what’s behind that closed door causes our fear.

It’s that way in life too.  We fear the unknown and uncertain.  This is normal.  Most of us learned it from our parents.  They wanted to keep us safe, so they taught us to remain with the familiar.  That’s great for childrearing, but it can have negative implications for your career and life success.  For example, you might not apply for a job because you don’t know everything about it and aren’t sure we can do it well right away.  Or you might not be willing to move to a new city for a better opportunity because you don’t know anyone there.

You can defeat your fear of the unknown by learning about the job you’ve been offered or the city where the better opportunity is.  Just gathering information and learning about something will help you build your courage and help you to face your fears and act. 

For me, and for a lot of people, procrastination is the manifestation of fear.  Whenever I become aware of the fact that I am procrastinating, I always ask myself “what are you afraid of here, Bud?”  Once I am able to identify the fear, I’m better able to deal with it.  As I’ve mentioned above, a lot of times, I am afraid of the unknown, of not knowing exactly what will happen if I act.  My other two big fears are fear of failure and fear of rejection. 

When I find that I’m fearing the unknown, I learn as much about the situation as I can.  The more familiar I get with the situation, the less fear it causes, and the easier it is for me to act. 

When I find that I’m fearing failure, I ask “what’s the absolute worst thing that can happen if I fail?”  Usually, I find that the absolute worst thing that can happen is not as scary as the generalized fear of failure.

When I find that I’m fearing rejection, I ask “does what this person, or this group of people think of me more important than what I want to accomplish?”  Again, in most cases what other people think isn’t as important as what I will think of myself if I fail to even try.

The common sense point here is clear.  Successful people are self confident.  Self confident people face their fears and act.  Fear of the unknown, fear of failure and fear of rejection are the three biggest fears most people face.  You can build the habit of courageous by facing your fears and acting.  You can conquer fear of the unknown by learning more about what scares you.  You can conquer fear of failure by determining the absolute worst thing that can happen if you try and fail – and then contrasting it with how good you’ll feel when you succeed.  You can conquer fear of rejection, by putting more emphasis about how you feel about yourself than others feel about you.  The more you can face your fears and act – develop the habit of courage – the more self confident you will become.

That’s my take on fear and self confidence.  What’s yours?  Please take a few minutes to leave a comment, sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

Happy New Year. 

This is a special Sunday post.  As we begin 2009, I want to review my ideas on personal and professional success as described in Straight Talk for Success. 

Thanks to you, Straight Talk became an Amazon.com bestseller last year.  And, I’ve received offers from two publishers to write follow up books.  So be on the lookout for a Walk the Talk handbook called Your Success GPS, and a 42 Rules book, 42 Rules to Jumpstart Your Personal and Professional Success later this year.  I’m also working with my friends at SelfGrowth.com to produce an eBook in which I will interview experts on the ideas in Straight Tal  and is tentatively titled The Official Guide to Success.

Straight Talk, the two new books and the new eBook are based on some common sense ideas about personal and professional success.

Successful people have five things in common:

1. Successful people are self confident.
2. Successful people create positive personal impact.
3. Successful people are outstanding performers.
4. Successful people are dynamic communicators.
5. Successful people are interpersonally competent.

Self confident people have at least three things in common:

1. Self confident people are optimistic.
2. Self confident people face their fears and take action.
3. Self confident people surround themselves with positive people.

People who create positive personal impact have at least three things in common:

1. People who create powerful personal impact develop and constantly promote their personal brand.
2. People who create powerful personal impact are impeccable in their presentation of self.
   3. People who create powerful personal impact know and practice the basic rules of etiquette.

Outstanding performers have at least three things in common:

1. Outstanding performers are technically competent.  They remain technically competent because they are lifelong learners.
2. Outstanding performers set and achieve goals.
3. Outstanding performers are organized.  They manage their time, stress and lifestyle well.

Dynamic communicators have at least three things in common:

1. Dynamic communicators are excellent conversationalists.
2. Dynamic communicators write in a clear, concise easily readable manner.
3. Dynamic communicators are excellent presenters – to groups of two or 100.

Interpersonally competent people have at least three things in common:

1. Interpersonally competent people are self aware.  They understand themselves and their impact on others.  They use their self awareness to increase their understanding of others.
2. Interpersonally competent people build solid, long lasting mutually beneficial relationships with the people in their lives.
3. Interpersonally competent people are able to resolve conflicts with a minimal amount of problems and upset to relationships.

I blog about one of the five keys to success every day, Monday through Friday.  On Monday, I blog about Self Confidence; Tuesday, Positive Personal Impact; Wednesday, Outstanding Performance; Thursday, Dynamic Communication; Friday, Interpersonal Competence. 

This week, I will review the basic ideas behind each key.  In the weeks to come, I will be using quotes and anecdotes to highlight these five ideas.  I really appreciated all of your support and comments in 2008.  My goal for 2009 is to make this blog more interactive.  I want to turn it into more of a dialogue, where we can all share ideas.  Please add your thoughts to what I write.  Together we can become a very strong learning community.

Thanks for reading.  I hope that 2009 brings you peace, love, health, happiness and prosperity.

Bud

Just a heads up today.  My friend Mel Richardson writes a blog called Money, Cash Finance.  Yesterday, he had a great post on success, called "Advance Your Career: Tips to Help You Stand Out In Your Profession." 

I hope you’re having a good weekend.  I was sorry to see that Big Brown couldn’t pull off the Triple Crown victory.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting on self confidence success secrets that I learned from the movie Kung Fu Panda.

Best wishes for your continued success

Bud

Today is Tuesday so normally this post would be on creating positive personal impact.

However, this is no ordinary Tuesday.  Today, I am launching my new book “Straight Talk for Success.”

“Straight Talk” has five sections.  Each corresponds to a key element of career and life success.  My research and experience tells me that all successful people have five things in common.

• Successful people are self confident.
• Successful people create positive personal impact.
• Successful people are outstanding performers.
• Successful people are dynamic communicators.
• Successful people are interpersonally competent.

If you read this blog with some regularity, you know that I post on one of these five topics everyday.  I’ve done over 400 posts so far.  “Straight Talk for Success” contains the best of these blogs posts as well as some original copy written just for the book.

I am doing everything I can to make “Straight Talk for Success” an Amazon.com best seller.  In order to do this, I am attempting to get as many people as possible to purchase a copy from Amazon.com today — April 22. 

I have several giveaways that accompany the book.  You can find them by logging on to www.StraightTalkForSuccessBook.com/booklaunch. 

Also, for those of you who are environmentally conscious, I’m donating 10% of the net proceeds from sales on April 22 to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.  As it turns out, today April 22, a Tuesday I chose at random several months ago, is Earth Day.  I figured that it would be good karma to partner with an environmental group on my book launch day.

I would really appreciate it if you would help me make “Straight Talk for Success” an Amazon.com best seller by purchasing a copy today.

Best wishes for all of your continued success.

Bud

This is my second post today.  I rarely do two posts in one day, but I wanted to make sure that readers of this blog didn’t miss out on the chance to buy a great new book at a discounted price, and get over $8,500 in bonuses to go with it.

Do you know what impacts health and longevity the most?

EDUCATION is top of the list!

That’s why I’m always reading books, listening to audio programs, and attending quality trainings.
I’ll bet you do too.

And, when I come across a particularly useful book or program, I love to share it with my community.  Today, I want to tel you about a brand new book called "UPPING the Downside" by Master Developmental Coach, Mike R. Jay.

http://www.ecomincs.com/app/?af=745207

Mike’s book is all about how to create professional resilience by design (did you know you could actually design your life to be more resilient?).

The book is discounted to $9.97 today only, Friday, March 14. When you buy the book today, you’ll also receive a huge collection of Resilience Bonuses worth over $8,500 generously provided by Experts and Leaders around the world.

This is Mike’s way of saying thank you for buying his book today!

http://www.ecomincs.com/app/?af=745207

Bonus materials include software, audios, videos, live teleclasses, online courses, e-guides, blogging support, coaching, consulting, even tickets to live in-person events!

These are all bonuses with substance  you can begin implementing right away to generate more resilience now!  My bonus is an eBook: Star Power: Common Sense Advice for Career and Life Success

For the complete list of all 50+ Bonuses you get with your purchase, follow this link:

http://www.ecomincs.com/app/?af=745207

Here’s to your resilience.

Bud Bilanich

P.S. If you plan on living a long and healthy life, remember to keep up your education!
http://www.ecomincs.com/app/?af=745207

P.P.S. Besides me, the lineup of bonus contributors includes: Ken McArthur, Ben Mack, Eva Gregory, Hannah Wilder, David Matthies, Kevin Nations, Tara McGillicuddy, Ken Foster, Ellen Britt, Reed Floren, Trevor Crook, Maria Reyes-McDavis, Warren Whitlock, Denise Wakeman, Rhoberta Shaler, Andrea J. Lee, and many more! See the full list here: http://www.ecomincs.com/app/?af=745207

Earlier this week I was invited to do an interview with Jim Bouchard of PowerPOD.

We talked about how personal responsibility, ethical values and discipline should be part of our “Common Sense” for individuals and for businesses.

Listen to it here:

Common Sense with Bud Bilanich

Today is Sunday.  I usually don’t post on Sunday, but I felt compelled to do so today.

I arrived home late Thursday from a trip to New York.  I gave my snail mail a quick glance and found the hard copy version of the premiere issue of the newly relaunched SUCCESS Magazine.  I spent some time with it on Friday.  I was impressed!

Darren Hardy, SUCCESS Publisher and Editorial Director, has put together a great magazine for anyone interested in achieving a successful life and career.  In his Publisher’s Letter, Mr. Hardy says,

“If you seek a richer, fuller life, if you want to do more, have more and become more, if you aspire to realize your potential and achieve big ambitions, SUCCESS will be you most important resource for gaining an advantage in life.

“The original SUCCESS magazine founded by Orison Swett Marden in the 1890s was the vehicle for his ‘New Thought Philosophy’ teaching positive thinking, life skills and discipline.  The launch of SUCCESS has been cited as the birth of the modern-day personal development movement.”

It’s funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same.  In the 1890s Mr. Marden suggested that positive thinking, life skills and discipline are the path to success.  In my book, Straight Talk for Success, which will be out in late March, I argue that self confidence (of which positive thinking is a big part), positive personal impact, outstanding performance (of which life skills and discipline are a big part), communication skills and interpersonal competence are the path to success.  I may have embellished Mr. Marden’s ideas a bit, but they are at the core of my thinking on career and life success.

That’s why I was so pleased to receive the premiere issue of SUCCESS.  Mr. Hardy is says, “Each issue will offer insight from prominent thought leaders and success experts, both past and present (italics added), and reveal key ideas and strategies to help you excel in every area of your life.”  I love the idea that he is looking to both the past and present to help people create their successful, happy futures.

I realize that this sounds an ad for SUCCESS magazine, and in a way maybe it is.  However, my intent in doing this post is to suggest a great resource for readers of this blog.  I am always on the lookout for interesting, helpful material to suggest to my readers and executive coaching clients.  SUCCESS magazine is just that.  You can check it out at www.success.com.

One last thing, in the Publisher’s Letter Mr. Hardy points out that, “Success is not solely defined by financial accumulation.  Creating freedom and abundance are aspects, but success is also about being a leader in business, improving your relationships, living healthfully and making a difference in the world.”  He is right about this too.

The common sense point here is simple.  Successful people, and those who aspire to be successful, use all of the resources available to them to help them on their journey.  The newly relaunched SUCCESS magazine is one of those tools.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading.  Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense.  I am not posting regularly on my www.CommonSenseGuy.com blog right now, as I want to concentrate on this one.  It is still up though.  Please don’t cancel your RSS feed as there is a lot of good content there, and I will be posting there occasionally. 

I’ll see you around the web and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Bud

PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, my fundraising page is still open.  Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.