Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

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Living on Turnips

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This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?

During the war, a little community in Germany exhausted its food supply, and was forced to live on turnips. Turnips raw, turnips cooked, turnip soup, turnips disguised in every conceivable way, but only turnips to eat. On an unbalanced, turnip diet, the power of resistance was reduced to a minimum. Statistics from that community showed from four to five times more tuberculosis in the lives of the children who lived on turnips then than there was in a group of children of the same age before the war.

Are you living on turnips—movies, pleasure, loss of sleep, lack of study, no power to concentrate? Life’s program must build up a surplus against a day of need. If you are eating too many turnips, better look out. Why not lay off and take a little more Ralston, Milk, Butter and SPINACH!

Are you locked in to the familiar? Familiar experiences, familiar people, familiar days? When you limit yourself to doing, thinking and believing the same things you hold yourself back.

Open yourself up to the new. Talk to new people and get new points of view. Break out of your routine and do things in a new way. Work in a new place, with new stimuli.

Just as you wouldn’t eat only one food, do not get stuck in ruts in your work and other areas of life.

Jar Yourself!

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This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?

Smash a Window!
Kick in the Door!
Do Something!
Jar Yourself!

All hail to the unknown Author who said, “If the Door of Opportunity does not Open to Polite Knocks, KICK IT IN!”

Let’s stir something up this week.

Begin on yourself.

Make this the week you make a bold change. Do something you have never done before:

Take on a new challenge. Take on a new responsibility, or create a new product or service for your business.

Let go of something. Have you been holding on to a task that you should not be doing? Delegate it to staff, hire a virtual assistant, outsource it or just stop doing it.

Change your look. Changing your hair and clothes can give you confidence and change your attitude.

Get physical. Push yourself to run, sign up for a yoga class, join a gym (and go), and look for ways to challenge yourself physically everyday.

Approach someone who could be a mentor to you. Look for a way you can work together.

Find someone you can mentor. You do not have be at the very top of your industry to be a valuable mentor to someone else. And you can learn by mentoring someone else.

Start something. Commit to starting a new habit that will make you healthier, more productive, happier or somehow make your life better.

Stop something. Give up a destructive or harmful habit or practice. Quit smoking, stop procrastinating, or anything else that holds you back.

Find a way to make technology work for you. Start using a new tool that will change how you do things and make you more productive.

Change your attitude. Instead of “I can’t,” say “I will.” With a conscious effort you can turn a negative attitude to a positive one.

Do the thing you fear. Are you afraid to make a speech? Or even to speak up in a meeting? Do it!

Make this the week you do something that will jar you out of your routine, generate excitement and boost your confidence.

Do You See the Opportunities in Today’s Economy?

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binocularsWith more bad economic news every day, it is tempting to be like a turtle, pull yourself into your shell, and wait for things to calm down. However, as a business owner, you can not afford to do that.

Times of economic upheaval are not only times of crisis, they present great opportunities, too. But if you are deep in your shell you will not see them.

The fact is that if you can help people get what they want, they will find a way to pay you in any economy. People are still spending money, but they are making different choices than they have in the past.

Keep in mind that “downsizing” spending can mean greater opportunities for some businesses. For example, fewer people are splurging on expensive restaurant meals these days. However, some grocers have reported that they are selling more of their expensive cuts of meat, such as quality steaks. People who want a good steak may choose to cook one at home rather than going out to a fine dining restaurant. Bad news for the restaurant means good news for the grocer.

How can you find new opportunities for your business?

Listen to your customers. In some businesses, you may find that the help your customers need today is different from what they wanted from you in the past. How can you adjust to help them realize their dreams?

Solve new problems. The saying is that if you keep doing what you have always done, you will get the results you have always gotten. The idea is that you have to try new things in order to move forward. However, today you may find that if you do what you have always done you will start moving backwards. Old solutions to old problems will not work. Help customers with the needs they have now.

Find a way you can provide a substitute for a more expensive option. For example, if companies are cutting their travel and training budgets, could you provide lower-cost training options such as webinars and teleseminars? Can you help companies get more for less in any area, from telecommunications to advertising to shipping, supplies and other expenses? The same idea works for consumers, too. Can you offer an option that helps them make more money or spend less?

Get outside of your shell and look for the new opportunities that exist. They are everywhere, just waiting for you to find them.

New Year’s Revolutions

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new_years_celebrationNo, that’s not a typo–I mean REVOLUTIONS!

Although you can and should make changes and improvements at any time, the new year is always a popular time to make changes, acquire new habits and lose bad habits.

Take advantage of the spirit of the season and make the changes you need to make to be successful.

Don’t be timid—take big steps. Start by revolutionizing your thinking. [Read more…]