Posts Tagged "priorities"

Ali Magazine: Inconsistent Messaging

Posted by LisaYoung in Faith |

I’ve been an Ali Brown afficionado for a few years. Her rise to nearly celebrity status as the darling of Internet Marketing, more commonly known as “the Ezine Queen”, has been almost metoric in nature. In fact, during a teleclass this summer, she credited the law of attraction and the power of manifestation for her quantum leaps in business over the past few years.

So when I heard tell of a new magazine that was on the way, I was very nearly salivating. My mind traversed the possibilities: powerful interviews and articles on business building and attraction principles. Profiles on Ali disciples that had made good and gone “big time” with their business. Even the possibility of some lifestyle and travel tips. The horoscopes…

… Wait? huh? HOROSCOPES?

You heard me.

In my perfectly blunt style, I wrote my letter of disbelief to Ali. She of course did not reply (she’s far too busy for that these days) but one of her assistants did.

“Thanks Lisa – We appreciate your feedback. The reason why we included a horoscope section is because horoscopes are FUN! People like them, Ali likes them. It’s good to have fun with your business and enjoy it. ”

Well, I don’t dispute that FUN should be a part of your business. Countless pages in Ali’s new magazine outlined style, fashion and travel ideas. And I even appreciated the tip sheet articles and guest spot on Heidi Klum. Heck, I’ll even give her props for the layout of “behnd the scenes” pictures from her cover shoot. That’s fun stuff!

But Horoscopes, to me, seem to go completely against everything Ali spoke about during the summer teleclass on Manifestation with David Neagle. In a class all about setting your sights on a goal, learning the right way to goal set, and how to attain those goals through attraction, putting your “faith in the stars” just seems incongruent at best and insulting at worst.

To say “people like them, Ali likes them” is a means of justification without addressing the issue of congruence.

It draws to mind those old Venn diagrams from logic class.

If people like horoscopes, and Ali likes horoscopes, then Ali is people, too.

…Talk about lowest common denominator.

Don’t get me wrong. I still like Ali’s work, and she has some valuable content that has taken my business in a new direction, but to lower the qualty of the content to appeal to “the masses” is a bit heartbreaking.

A good magazine – a FUN magazine – doesn’t need tawdry little, mind numbing horoscopes.

The Trash Man Cometh

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas |

I’m a weird bird, I’ll admit it.

If I’m home when my mail carrier arrives, I’ll meet him at the door and tell him thank you. I figure they don’t see a lot of people on their day route, and I should be grateful to them for saving me time by delivering my mail every day (and picking up all the packages I send out on a daily basis).

Also, My aunt (who’s retiring soon) works as a supervisor in his office, so every now and again I get “Stories” from him. Fun stuff.

But I also say thanks to my sanitation engineers.

Most of the time, I just shout out a “THANK YOU!” as they’re scooping up the bins and driving away.

But not today.

On our sanitation trucks (and I think this is common in most areas, but just for clarity) there is a driver and a rig man. He’s the guy that rides on the back end of the truck to grab the bins and dump them into the back end.

Seems pretty dangerous and labor intensive to me. Which is one of the reasons I make sure to say thanks.

But today’s rig man was a jerk.

So he got no thanks of any kind.

In retrospect, he may have been having a bad day, and I think that’s true in any business. We have days that aren’t so great. We shove and slam and bang things out of frustration, thinking that taking it out on the inanimate object will make us feel better.

But he cracked the wheel on my trash can when he hucked it half way across the road.

Needless to say, I felt a little disgruntled and saying “thank you” would probably have sounded a bit sarcastic.

So I just sighed as he drove away, collected my impaired trash bin, and hobbled it up to the garage for next week’s adventure.

And I started thinking about all the times I’ve been the trash man to others.

When I yelled at my kids when they didn’t deserve it.
When I ignored a request from a friend because I didn’t feel like it.
When I had a bad day and didn’t give 100% to my customers.
When I (God Forgive me!) lied to my boss about being sick, so I didn’t have to work on an important project that bored me to tears.
When I get frustrated with myself and start calling ME names.

I could go on for hours with this list – as I’m sure you could, too.

The point is, we can either accept these “character flaws” as a part of who we are, or we can strive to improve with each passing moment. We can make a point of doing the work it takes to do the right thing, or we can keep hucking the neighbor’s trash cans across the street, breaking the wheel, and along with it their trust and our credibility.

So I’m sorry for being a jerk. To You. To My Kids, family, friends and former bosses.
I’m also sorry for being a jerk to myself. Getting frustrated when I truly had no control over a situation, knocking myself around when I didn’t deserve it.

And I’m sorry I couldn’t tell today’s trash man what I always want to say:

“THANK YOU!”

Lucky – After 10,000 Tries

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas |

I love hearing people talk about their success with the following statement:

“I just got lucky.”

Egads, people! Wake up and smell the four-leaved clovers! In reality the odds of luck happening to you are – well, in similar respect to the lottery.

But there are ways to tip the scales in your favor.

It’s called hard work.

My grandmother used to keep a small plaque hung over her kitchen sink (because there was no window there) and it read:

Good Things Come
To He Who Waiteth
If He Worketh Like Heck
While He Waiteth.

That’s what being lucky is all about.

Seth Godin’s recent “Luck Parade” post give a glimpse into what this “get lucky” mentality is all about.

Yes, timing is a factor, but as Godin points out, “luck travels in packs”.

There’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity waiting around every corner, folks. They’re not all waiting for you, mind you, but they’re out there.

And yes, you could be the first to strike it rich in some up-and-coming business category, but even if you’re not first, if you’re in the pack, you’ll “be lucky” when success starts handing out passports to paradise.

But you know what? The work still had to be done before you could get lucky.

Edison’s world famous light bulb is the testament to that. He didn’t make it happen on the first try. And because he was SO cutting edge at the time, people were actually flouting his failure in his face. He refused to acknowledge defeat, thus the popular phrase: ‘I didn’t fail 10,000 times, I found 10,000 ways that didn’t work’.

But yeah, Edison got lucky – after 10,000 tries.

15 Things Will Show You Success

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas |

A regional sales manager that shared an idea with me, that was so simple, I couldn’t believe it would work.

But it does. Like gang busters.

Women are notorious for making horrendously long lists, and in the process, we never complete them, never feel accomplished, and never think about making their lists SHORTER. Imagine how much more unruly these lists are when you’re a Mom, Wife, Author and Network Marketer!

Yep, I’m busy. But there are days when I feel like I’m going in circles, chasing my own tail.

So my manager said, “Take a piece of paper and divide it into 3 sections. Label each section: Family, Home, and Work. Then, list 5 things in each area you need to accomplish for the day, and work on those first. START with the item you dread the most. Think of how much happier you’ll feel when you get the toughest job out of the way first.”

I could end the article there, and you’d have plenty to keep you busy. But I like to write, so I have a couple of additional thoughts to share.

I struggle with doing things for myself. Between writing, doing my party plan business, the kids and my husband, I rarely take time out just for me. I can always find SOMETHING that needs to be done. So when I was scheduling my “family” activities, I would forget that I, too, am part of the family. So I created more sections on my paper and added more things to do.

Bad idea.

Stick to 15 things. When I created 5 sections instead of 3, I put 5 things in each area, but found I wasn’t getting everything done. That left me feeling frustrated, disappointed, and disgruntled. Now my 5 sections have only 3 items a piece. And it feels SO good when I cross everything off on my short lists. It motivates me to finish up more quickly. Then I have the choice of adding more items to a list, or continuing with other activities in my day.

Instead of a piece of paper, I use Mark Joyner’s free Simpleology program, and just write down my “to do’s” in there. Plus, I help protect the environment, because I’m not using all that paper every day. The Simpleology program keeps track of everything – no misplaced lists to worry about! Plus it archives my lists, so I can review my accomplishments over time – which really helps me feel better about my work.

Burden lifted. Missions accomplished – and usually with time to spare. My kids and my husband are enjoying the “kinder, gentler” me, now that I’ve got a handle on my schedule and my once-unruly lists.

Go give it a try and tell me how it works for you.