Getting Maximum Benefit from That Treadmill

In the spirit of good health, I’m sure all readers have been on a treadmill. You know, the machine where all you do is walk or run, incline, speed up the pace or slow it down. The best part of using this machine is being able to see how far you’ve gone, how many calories you’ve burned and, best of all, the “cool down” alert indicating that your time is almost up.

One thing I’ve noticed about a treadmill is that you get a great workout, but you are stuck in one place, on automatic, just running until your time is up. How many times have you happened onto someone after several years and you ask them how they are doing and they say “Same old same old.” Really? How depressing! Life should be full of challenges, adventures and individuality.

What happens when we find ourselves running through life on automatic — not pushing our limits, but just running, until it’s time to retire or die? Well, we just keep on going aimlessly, leaving our true selves camouflaged by our J.O.B. (just over broke) occupation, running fast enough to keep from falling off the treadmill, but scarcely working up a good sweat.

Come on, let’s get off the treadmill and move into something new… Continue Reading

Nurturing the soul is essential to personal and professional success. Balance is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Simply put, “work-life balance is the essence of existence,” says Ron Knaus, a physician and psychiatrist with the Peak Energy Institute in Tampa, Florida, that helps corporate executives enhance their job performance.

One of the oldest and most consistent truisms societies pass on to each succeeding generation is the notion of balance, says Nat Irvin, assistant dean for MBA Student Development and Executive Professor of Future Studies at Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management in. “It’s Biblical,” Irvin says. “It’s moderation in all things. Yin and Yang, breathing in and breathing out, to use the Eastern metaphor.” Continue Reading

Everyone who has ever earned an MBA has at least one thing in common: an expectation that the MBA would help on the road to success.

But something often happens along the way. Some people shoot ahead, earning all the awards, acclaim, and admiration as they move to the top — and then they seem to hit a brick wall. Others falter and flounder and never get off the ground at all, though they proudly use the MBA letters to indicate their education.

No matter which way it happens, the result is the same: a sense of getting stuck. The important thing is to get unstuck and move away from the chance of failing!

Everyone who has ever succeeded at anything has tasted failure’s disappointment. I know I have. When I lost my job in radio, I went out searching and searching for work — but nobody would hire me. When I bought my mother a home and then lost it, I was embarrassed. When my television show was canceled, people would ask me if I was still Les Brown; how mortifying!

But in each of those instances, I had to decide how I wanted to view the failures. Sure, I had met disappointment, and no, things didn’t go as I planned, but I could either let that stop me or let it propel me forward.

I chose to let it propel me forward. I chose to see each failure as a tiny brick in the life I was constructing. The result has been wonderful and fulfilling work that has produced a positive impact, international acclaim, and financial independence.

The difference between those who succeed and those who fall by the wayside is in how they view failure. Losers view failure as the end of their hopes. Winners view failure as a building block to their success. I often quote a story about Thomas Edison. When he went to a press conference to show off his light bulb invention, he told reporters it had taken him more than 10,000 tries to get it right. A reporter asked how he was able to continue in the face of all that failure. Edison replied that he hadn’t failed. He simply eliminated 10,000 options that did not work. You notice that he did not get stuck with failing all of those times; he kept moving.

How do you view failure? Do you view it as the elimination of an option that did not work, or do you view it as your end, your defeat? I hope you’ll choose to be like Edison. Even if your life hasn’t been exactly as you wanted or envisioned it, even with your MBA, that doesn’t mean you are a failure. It simply means you are eliminating options that don’t work. Your getting downsized at work doesn’t have to be a failure. Maybe that job wasn’t the right one for you. Seeing your business get off to a rocky start doesn’t mean you are a failure. Perhaps you must tweak your plan and choose a different way to reach your goal. Even the fact that your finances may not be thriving as you’d like doesn’t mean you are a failure. Perhaps that, too, means you must review what you are doing.

Failure is nothing more than an opportunity to give success another try. It just doesn’t matter if you are among those whose star quickly rose and now seems to be burning out, or if you are one who never quite got going. Your success is within your grasp. It’s all in how you look at it.

If you view your failures as the end of your chance to make something of your life, then that indeed is what they are. But if you view your failures as simply additional chances to seek even greater success, you will indeed find that is true.

Your belief in yourself and your abilities is the key to your success. In my last column in this space, I shared with you some ways to optimize your success by building quality, strategic relationships. It is imperative that you build a network of resourceful people who are there to help you along the way. Remember, though, that no matter how successful those around you are, the drive for success must come from within.

There is an old African proverb that I love because of its simple truth. It says, “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.” If you are not your own enemy, you will find your success. You must believe in your ability to make your way in this world. You must believe that your path will take you to untold success. You must believe.

Yet so many people don’t believe in their success. Benjamin Franklin said something that I am convinced is true: “Most people die by the time they are 25, but they are not buried until they are 75.” These people allow disappointments to beat the life out of them early on. So they coast through life, going to jobs that don’t excite them, listlessly letting one day melt into the next. They are alive, but they sure aren’t living.

If you recognize yourself in this, I challenge you here: What are you going to do about it? Will you continue coasting through life, letting all your MBA hopes lie dormant – dead – within your being? Or will you acknowledge your disappointments and choose to go forward anyway? Will you become a dead man – or woman – walking? Or will you choose to view your failures and disappointments as the stepping-stones to wild success that gives your life meaning?

Be among the few who do achieve their dreams. No matter how far off-course you may be, you can get back on track. Here is how:

1. Commit to the commitment. Renew your interest in your goal, whatever it is. If the goal needs to be tweaked, then tweak it. Write down your success plan.
2. Make a contract with yourself. Write down your new goal, with the affirmation that you will accomplish it. Sign and date this contract.
3. Gain accountability. Share your dream with someone. Better yet, give that person a copy of the contract you signed with yourself, asking him or her to sign it also. When we add accountability to the equation, we increase our likelihood for success.
4. Fortify your mind. As I told you last time: You must cultivate your mind. Plant powerful motivational messages there. Read books to broaden your thinking and to educate yourself about your chosen path and ways to attain success. Join groups and organizations of like-minded individuals. Attend training seminars related to your goal and interests, so you gain new knowledge to move yourself forward.
5. Schedule a review. Pull out your calendar or PDA or whatever you use for schedule-keeping, and set a date three months from now to review your progress. Then set a date three months from that date, and another three months from there, then another. These reviews can help you see your progress and also will show you where you need to adjust.

Stick with this plan and you will find that even when you hit a stumbling block, unless you view it as a dead end, you can keep going. And that will keep you moving toward your success.

Les Brown is an internationally known author, speaker, television and radio host. Learn more at http://lesbrown.com or e-mail Les at les@lesbrown.com.

Allyson Johnson (a pseudonym) took a deep breath. She’d just been asked a tough question by the recruiter sitting before her: “What would your last boss say your greatest skills were?”

Johnson spoke slowly and deliberately. “He would probably say that I was organized. . . analytical. . . a team player. . . and although I have great leadership skills. . . he probably would not acknowledge that.” Johnson remembers her heartbeat beginning to race, her speaking pace becoming more hurried.

“My former boss was not really one to give compliments,” she explained. “And in fact he was rather critical… and at times, condescending. Well, I mean, he had some personal issues and misdirected his . . .” Johnson glanced up at the recruiter, who now looked like a deer in headlights. Her confidence shriveled as she realized she had said too much and become too emotional. “I can kiss this job goodbye,” she thought miserably.

Johnson’s situation is one that resonates with many. Just a week earlier, she’d lost her position because of a restructuring of roles within her business unit. She had convinced herself that she was not fazed by this and that no one was to blame. Johnson decided to get back in the saddle and jump into interview mode right away.

What she didn’t confront was the emotional baggage she was carrying, particularly her resentment toward her former manager and toward the company’s leadership in general. This anger made its way to the surface in what started out as a model interview. Johnson had not yet closed the door behind her so that a new one could open.

Reaching closure is essential when transitioning jobs, especially if the departure from a previous position was difficult. It helps tremendously to avoid playing the victim – though, let’s face it, many of us feel exactly like victims when we’ve lost our jobs. But “victim” is a job description no employer is looking to fill – not when a potential employer is looking, as all are, for signs of competence and confidence.

The reality is that the majority of employees face a job loss at some point in their career, often because of circumstances beyond their control. Restructures, mergers, acquisitions, global sourcing, competitive cost management – there are a hundred reasons, and they all result in casualties. Being propelled into a job search can be a rude awakening and can bring on anxiety, stress, and related emotions. Many of us closely identify ourselves with what we do for a living. When our job is threatened or taken away, a significant component of our life is gone, too, and we can lose track of who we are and even why we’re here.

Acknowledging Your Emotions

Depending on the job loss circumstances and the individual, emotions may range from relief to rage. Going through a job loss is somewhat synonymous with working through the stages of grief. Although one may not experience all of these emotions, or in the order described, the typical ones that will surface include:

Disbelief

“How could this have happened? This doesn’t make sense at all.”

Denial

“This isn’t happening. Any minute now, someone will send out a clarifying memo. I don’t need to do anything differently.”

Anger

“Why me? Especially with all of these other #@%!!’s working here. This is evidence of a conspiracy!”

Bargaining

“I can turn this around. . . If I just finish this project and don’t create waves, they will give me my job back.”

Depression

“Oh my gosh, this is real! I can’t handle this now. It’s too overwhelming. I’ll just sleep or eat or drink my way through it.”

Acceptance

“Oh well, this is real; but I am feeling a bit more energetic and focused about what I need to do next. Life goes on.”

And then you feel yourself getting angry all over again! This time of post-job loss is the kind of period for which the term “roller-coaster emotions” was coined. You may go back and forth among the stages listed here, and fluctuate just as widely, up and down, in your moods. Whatever you feel, acknowledge it, remind yourself that this is completely normal, to be expected . . . and only temporary. . . . and then do something.

Vent and Connect with Others

Find individuals who you feel can offer a safe haven to whom you can express your emotions – the feel-good emotions, the lukewarm emotions, and the “low-down dirty” negative emotions. You need to surface and discharge them all. Reach out to family, close friends, and to colleagues you respect. At this time, they probably should not include any prospective employers or anyone you may want to speak on your behalf as you engage in a job search. Stick to people who would help, but aren’t likely to be the object of your job search. Be mindful to spread the venting around, so that you are not inundating one friend who you may need help from later in your job search.

Once you have been able to vent, begin spreading the word about your interest in finding a new position. Share your resume with any and all who might help, either with information or leads. Your operative truisms are: There is power in numbers, and networking is the gift that keeps on giving.

Maintain Emotional Stability and Reduce Stress

Job loss is near the top of the list of stress triggers; and stress can have a debilitating effect on you physically, mentally, and spiritually. Humans are hardwired to generate a flight-or-fight response to stressors in our environment. This translates into increased adrenaline in the bloodstream, a higher heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and, if unaddressed, can result in adverse conditions ranging from anxiety and pain to diagnosable trouble, such as circulatory problems, digestive problems, inability to sleep, decreased immunity, and more.

The good news is that we can take action to reduce stress. Simple strategies that work if you work them include exercising regularly (physical activity eases muscular and nervous tension), eating healthfully, using deep-breathing techniques and progressive relaxation to reduce tension, getting a massage, engaging in activities you consider fun or creative, focusing on a larger cause through volunteer work, meditating and praying, and learning to use positive visualization and positive affirmations. If possible, take a short trip that removes you from your environment and use the time to relax, recharge, and reflect. If a trip is not feasible, create a routine to replace your daily work schedule to give yourself an essential sense of predictability and progress. The bonus in these stress-reduction strategies is that they help to raise your self-esteem, as well.

Find Ways to Maintain Financial Stability

If your position was eliminated because of a restructure or other organizational drivers, you may be eligible for a severance package that can provide you with a cushion to land on as you take some time to reflect on your next career move. Severance packages vary greatly among organizations, with a range of offerings that includes severance pay (typically one to two weeks for each year of service, up to a threshold amount), help with finding another job within the organization, and/or outplacement or career transition services through an external vendor. These services will help you work through the job-search process, prepare your resume, practice interviewing, identify job leads, and maintain a physical work space in which to conduct your job-search activities. You will most likely need to sign a separation agreement or release to receive a severance package. This agreement essentially states that you will not hold the company liable for terminating you or disclose any trade secrets.

If you don’t have a cushion and have not voluntarily resigned from your organization, you will most likely be able to file for unemployment compensation. File within your state as soon as possible; generally two to three weeks elapse between after the first compensable week and the first benefit check. The weekly benefit amount is generally about 50 percent of the amount earned while employed, but each state sets its maximum benefit amount. Benefits are paid for up to a maximum of 26 weeks in most states.

You may need to take steps to maintain health insurance if you are not covered under your spouse or partner’s benefits. Coverage could end on your last day of employment. However, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows you to continue your coverage at group rates, plus a 2% administration fee. Explore this option as well as others, especially if you or insured family members have conditions requiring ongoing observation and/or treatment.

In addition, notify creditors of your situation so that you can arrange for a more flexible payment schedule. Establishing a “comfort zone” around your ability to pay bills and meet financial obligations will enable you to view your future in a much more positive light.

Look at Your Job Loss as an Opportunity

Think holistically about your options and how they fit into your life plan. Don’t have a life plan? Shame on you! But you are not alone. Most people are in “go mode” through so much of their waking hours that they seldom take time to reflect; nor do they typically feel they have the energy to plan. Think of all of the things that you have wanted to do but never pursued in all aspects of your life – not just the work-related ones, either, but whatever is tucked away in your hopes-and-dreams category. This could be the time to dust them off and see if there’s life in them. And don’t forget the things you now have time to do while you are between jobs: spend more time with family members, take a short trip, etc.

Rebuild Your Self-confidence

Review your accomplishments and remind yourself of the value you have created in the past and can continue to create in the future. Take this a step further and do small things every day to give yourself a sense of accomplishment and completion. Find a small project to finish around the house, for example, or commit to exercising daily.

Use visualization to picture yourself in successful interview situations, thinking through, in detail, how you would respond to various questions. This technique is used by many star athletes as they get ready to perform.

Get Ready, Get Set, Go!

OK: Now you may be ready for that interview. When you take time to understand your individual reaction to a job loss and how you have internalized it, you can give yourself a break, de-stress, reflect, recharge, and get help where you need it. You increase your probability of landing gracefully . . . where you want . . . and with a spring!

The lives of women have changed dramatically over the past three decades. Women are no longer the stay-at-home mothers of the 1950s sitcom “The Donna Reed Show” or even the popular 1970s sitcom “The Brady Bunch.” Today, women are more like Clair Huxtable of “The Cosby Show”—college-educated with professional jobs and sharing in the family’s financial decision-making.

“Our families don’t look like the ‘60s anymore,” says Susan W. Sweetser, who heads the Women’s Markets department at MassMutual Financial Group, a Fortune 100 company. “Women really are the drivers in their households.”

According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 60 percent of women are in the labor force today compared with only 43 percent in 1970. In fact, half of all management and professional positions are held by women, and they make up 38 percent of all entrepreneurs.

But women are still more likely than men to live in poverty despite women’s advancement in the labor force and their growing financial power. Black and Hispanic women are twice as likely to live in poverty as their White counterparts. Why? Continue Reading

The person who wants to be rich saves a lot from an early age, chooses a mix of investments that suits his or her age, lifestyle and attitude to risk and lets time and compound interest work its magic. There are steps you can take to make sure that you are maximizing and protecting your gains at the same time. Without these steps, you are destined to experience the gain-loss cycle, which in the end, is like spinning your wheels in the mud.

1 – Planning for the Long Haul

You are responsible for where you are in your life. Where you are today is determined by the choices you made in the past. So if you want to be better off in ten, twenty or thirty years, start planning now. All successful people have a clear vision of what they are working towards. People who don’t, just bumble along.

If you are just starting out, put off getting married until you become financially independent, with little or no debt, and have your investments in place. Study and admire successful people and try to emulate them. And if your parents aren’t successful, don’t do what they did.

2 – Pick the Right Job and Career

Obviously, the more you earn the more you can salt away. When considering where you want to work, look at what the top executive makes to get an idea of your earnings potential with that employer. Investigate and understand how your employment circumstances affect your wealth building strategy. Identify your biggest expense and manage it without having to make more money.

Remember, these days you are not limited to making a living by your physical labor. The only limit you have on yourself now is your own imagination – your ideas are the most valuable thing you possess. Finally, pick a profession you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.

3 – Change the Way You Think About Money

Realize that more money is not going to solve your problems. The problem isn’t the size of your checkbook, it is the way you were taught to use money. The gap between the rich and poor is getting wider because the rich understand money and how to use it.

Think of money as a seed; learn how to plant it to produce the best harvest. When you do this, you will rule your finances, not the other way around. Each dollar you save is a dollar working for you, not you working for the dollar. Over the course of time, the goal is to make your money work hard and make more money for you.

4 – Debt Equals Bondage

Debt is very expensive. Every dollar spent paying interest on your debt is money lost. The average investment earns about 13 percent over time, that’s also just about what you pay out in debt interest! Pay off your debts as fast as you can – aim to increase your monthly payments by 10%. Start with your smallest debt. Once that debt is paid off you can turn the payments you were making toward a larger debt, sometimes doubling the rate at which you are able to pay off that bigger debt.

Living above your means – on the bank’s money – is foolish and is likely to set you firmly on the road to financial ruin. Pay cash whenever possible and use debt very sparingly.

5 – Make a Budget and Stick to It

Today you should sit down and find the monthly expenses that truly don’t mean as much to you as building wealth does. See how you can eliminate some of your spending to pay off your debt or put in savings in order to maximize your cash flow faster. Wealth building actually begins with debt reduction and strict management.

6 – Get into the Habit of Saving

The biggest single potential influence on wealth is what economists call the propensity to save. Obviously if you spend everything you earn, you build no wealth. But with the magic of time and compound interest, you increase your potential to become wealthy.

Many people suffer from the “not enough” mentality; namely that if they aren’t putting away large sums of money, they will never get rich. Develop a habit of saving, and steering clear of debt; that’s all it takes to set you on the road to becoming a millionaire. Ideally, you should be saving 15% to 20% of your monthly income, and this percentage should increase, as you get older.

Become disciplined in your saving; save on a regular schedule. One of the least painful methods of regular saving is to authorize a monthly bank debit into a high-growth money-market account or growth fund.

7 – Think Before You Spend

Develop an understanding of the power of small amounts. Try this idea –– save all the receipts you get for everything you buy in a month, from dinners out right down to that latté you bought this morning. Figure what you can do without and put that money into a savings account.

Making more money doesn’t make a difference. Most people think an increase in income means they can spend more. Drawing up a monthly budget and sticking to it is a great deterrent against falling into the trap of willy-nilly spending. Remember, with each dollar you save, you are buying yourself freedom. When you think about it like that, you see how spending $20 here and $40 there can make a huge difference. Since money has the ability to work in your place, the more of it you employ, the faster and larger it will grow.

8 – Invest Wisely

A survey of America’s affluent (those who make over $225,000 a year or own $3,000,000 in assets) revealed that 27-30% of all the income the wealthy earned went into investments and savings. That isn’t a result of being rich––that is why they are rich.

True wisdom in investing is a difficult subject, since investment wisdom is obvious mostly in hindsight. Some people invest in a single activity they know well. Often this is a recipe for financial success, since deep knowledge and strong focus work pretty well. Just make sure the investment is in something that actually makes money. The standard approach to investing is to have a variety of investments like cash, bonds, equities and real estate with a wide geographic dispersion. This is because different types of investments do well and badly at different times.

When choosing an adviser, be very careful to check credentials and to establish the basis on which the adviser is being paid. There is no reason to pay up-front fees (loads) on investments. The better advisers will charge an explicit fee and reveal any other basis of remuneration.

Even a small amount of money, wisely invested, can produce astonishing returns over time, but don’t be foolish and fall for a get-rich-quick scheme – they never work.

9 – Give Yourself a Tax Break

Aim to lower your taxable income and hence pay less tax. There are a few perks and plans that the taxman has not yet snuffed out. A qualified tax consultant can help you here.

You stand a better chance of achieving millionaire status from running your own business than by earning a salary. The business owner gets more tax breaks and reaps the income from hard work, but the greatest reward usually comes when the business is sold. If you aren’t keen to run your own business, there is another route to wealth: exercising the stock options given to you by your employer.

10 – Keep Things in Perspective and Enjoy Life

When you understand that any power money has over you is derived from your relationship with it, you suddenly become free from the constant pressures and stress of thinking about it. Once you have made the choice to take control back of your life by building up your net worth, don’t give a second thought to the “what ifs.”

Have fun. Earn a lot, save a lot, spread your risks and don’t try to be too clever at picking individual investments or changes in market sentiment. The rules so far may seem rather old-fashioned, even boring. But it’s okay to take a small portion and invest in something fun or have an occasional small indulgence. Just don’t go overboard; those little luxuries add up.

June Stewart learned about money at a very early age. Her mother was disciplined about money and taught Stewart the financial basics. Stewart got her first job in her teens and a checkbook shortly thereafter. She became a contributor to her household and shared what she earned. “My parents didn’t go to college, but my mother invested in stocks and watched her stocks grow,” Stewart says. “I feel like I got a strong foundation. I understood the whole framework around finances, investing and managing money, giving back and being a wise steward.”

Today, the 41-year-old human resources specialist Columbus, Ohio is passing on her mother’s values to her 5-year-old daughter. “When I found out I was pregnant, I called my financial guy to find out how much it would cost to pay for my daughter to go to school,” Stewart says. “She got her payout before she even got here.” Continue Reading

Being a retail behemoth hasn’t stopped Walmart from reaching out and helping people during the holiday season. On December 4th, Walmart launched a program to give toys to thousands of military families from all branches of the military. In addition to the toys, Wal-Mart is also laying 16,000 wreaths at national cemeteries across the country. Both programs are part of the Walmart Gives Back initiative which includes donations to groups like Operation Homefront and Wreaths Across America .

To learn more about the program, read the press release or visit walmartgiving.com