Are You A Work In Process?

With all of the downsizing occurring in Corporate America, increasing cost of gasoline, and the mortgage fiasco, how can one not worry as to what is in store for their future.

Well, there are no guarantees in life and to say where you will be in five years, no one will know for sure.

Unless, you are a work in process!

What are you doing today to prepare yourself for tomorrow? Are you increasing your value? Are you sharing what you know with others? Do you have a plan to prepare for the uncertain moments that occur in one's life?

If you haven't thought these elements of your life through, perhaps you should. By becoming a work in process, you are making dramatic improvements to your life and professional career. You are never standing still. You are always doing. For example, let's say in your personal life you have a difficult time with organization. Well, what can you do to fix this? Do you hire an organizational consultant? Do you read all about organization? Whatever you choose to do, what's important is that you accept the dilemma, and work on changing your situation. When you decide to do this, this is when good changes happen.

So, what's the value in improving? By constantly improving yourself, you demonstrate then when you face a situation, you are able to overcome it. Just like you did with the organization issue. You accepted the problem by facing it head-on, and came up with a solution. You didn't throw your hands up in the air and agreed to failure. No, you were determined to come out of the situation smelling like a rose.

A true professional knows that in life we are faced with adversities, but what makes them different is they do something about it to change their situation for the better. Professionals that live like this are successful in their work and with their personal life. Can you imagine if the rest of the world was faced with adversities, and decided to stand still? Life as we know it would come to an end. Nothing would ever change. Nothing would ever improve. All that would happen is absolutely nothing.

So many people decide to sit back, wait, and watch their life fly by. For me, as well as for many other successful people, we do not sit back and wait for anything. We enjoy the 'doing part' of living our lives and consider everyday a true blessing. We are always improving ourselves. We are always helping others. We live our lives in expectancy. We understand what we put into our life we will get back tenfold.

Make changes in your life and when you are faced with a situation, no matter how difficult it may seem, deal with it head first. This is not easy to do, but it will save you from future frustrations. It is well worth dealing with it right away.

If you are not a work in process, don't worry. Just make the change so you are a work in process. Do you have a situation that you are afraid of the end result? This is your opportunity to overcome your dilemma and deal with it head-on.

The next time you are faced with a situation, deal with it and become a work in process.

Dedicated to your success,

Jerome Ratliff
Independent Associate

Can I Be Successful?

If you're a determined, career oriented professional, then I'm sure you've thought of this question once or twice before. How did you answer it?

Has your past accomplishments shown that you can be a success?

Earl Nightingale had discovered the following definition of success. This definition couldn't have been more right on.

--- "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal." ---

It simply means, anyone working towards the accomplishment of a goal is a successful person.

You may or may not think of yourself as a success or one that hasn't been successful, but I assure you. You have been or still are successful.

Did you get that job you wanted? You are successful..

Did you buy that car you wanted? You are successful..

Did you buy your home? You are successful...

You see, we are all successful, but most tend to concentrate on their failures instead. Failures are good, but they are to be treated as learning experiences, that's it! Whatever you learned from your failure, you make sure not do it again.

Some tend to think that success is determined by how much you money make. This is not the case and based on the definition nowhere is it mentioned about money. Well, money is important, but that's a goal in itself. Isn't it?

So, what can you do to be more success-oriented?

Try the following approaches:

Acknowledge when you are successful. - When you find yourself meeting a goal, stand up and declare, "I am successful." You don't necessarily have to use those words, but what is important is that you reward yourself with something very simple as a thought or a tangible item.

Detach from your failure mentality. - When you find yourself meeting failure head on, stand up and declare that, "I'm grateful to have discovered that this is not working, but I will not result to failure. I am successful." Break this cycle of failure by interrupting what has happened and turn it into something you've learned from it.

These approaches, as corny as they might sound will get you on the fast track of constantly thinking like a successful individual.

If you think you're not successful, YOUR WRONG!

Dedicated to your success,

Jerome Ratliff
Independent Associate

Nip Distraction in the Butt

How many times do you find yourself getting distracted from what you are trying to accomplish?

How do you not let interruptions affect you?

With today's working mentality of multitasking, let's face it, multitasking is a distraction. It distracts us from thoroughly, and effectively completing one task.

So that I don't upset our pro-multitaskers, this doesn't mean multitasking is bad or doesn't work, it just means we need to master how to effectively manage multiple tasks at once.

One way to nip distraction in the butt is to learn how to say 'no' to people. However, if you find that you have a lull in between your work and nothing to go onto, then feel free to multitask. Otherwise, put your time and effort to completing one task at a time.

Another way to nip distraction in the butt is to learn how to prioritize. If you find yourself being interrupted and it has nothing to do with what you are presently working on, then once again, say 'no'. Politely tell that person that you are busy working on something very important and as soon as you are done, you will give them your undivided attention. But, for now, your primary goal is to complete one task at a time.

Let's get back to prioritizing...If you are given or have come up with 10 tasks, figure out which of the 10 are the most important to do first. Then, take the top of 5 of the 10, and prioritize which of the 5 is the most important.

Work on your list by starting at #1 . Once again, only allow yourself to multitask if it pertains to what you are trying to accomplish or if you are dependent on someone else completing a portion of the overall task. Some may beg to differ and say that's not mutlitasking if it has something to do with what you are trying to accomplish.

I disagree!

If you are interrupted and asked to do something else, regardless if it is related, that's multitasking.

So, if you find yourself constantly being distracted, nip distraction in the butt by saying 'no' and learning how to prioritize. This may not seem like an effective way, but there have been studies done that says ineffective multitasking contributes to being counterproductive.

According to a CNN.com article it states...

"Multitasking is a managerial buzz-concept these days, a post-layoff corporate assumption that the few can be made to do the work of many. But newly released results of scientific studies in multitasking indicate that carrying on several duties at once may, in fact, reduce productivity, not increase it."

So, there you have it, stay your ground and nip distraction in the butt and become a master in managing your tasks.

Dedicated to your success,

Jerome Ratliff
Independent Associate

Increase Your Value

What can you do today that can double your income...attract others to you...and increase your effectiveness?

Increase your value!

A first place to start is, what do you know?

Whatever your area of expertise is, learn all you can about your professional. Become extremely familiar with the latest techniques and technology used by industry experts. You can get upto speed with your industry by attending local seminars hosted by industry experts or read books and publications for your industry. Everything you may learn may not be of value to you, but take a nugget here and there of what you do find worthy of having and implement it. This is the foundation for increasing your value.

The second place is, who do you know?

Seek out the experts in your industry. Find out what these experts are doing. How have they improved? What's their secret? Perhaps what they will share with you can be another nugget to add to your collection. Always been out on the prowl looking for someone who can help you. This is the building blocks for increasing your value.

The final place is, when do you know enough is enough?

The fact of the matter is, you will never know enough. There is so much out there that there isn't enough time in the world to know everything. Especially, because in some cases you may not even consider some of the techniques as being viable for you. So, that is why you need to be on a path of continuous learning. This is the icy on the cake for increasing your value, never stop learning.

When you increase your value, you become an expert. An expert that becomes sought out. An expert that is trustworthy. An expert that is effective. And, an expert that is a leader.

These values put you in charge. In charge of your life and career. You will find yourself achieving what you once thought was impossible, now something totally doable.

You choose what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

In return you increase your income, effectiveness, and knowledge.

Dedicated to your success,

Jerome Ratliff
Independent Associate