Have you ever met someone that you consider to be, or to have been, a really good person? I would imagine that after a few moments of quiet reflection you could probably name at least a few. What character traits do you think describe a good man or a good woman in our society today? Perhaps words such as kind, thoughtful, generous, giving and unselfish top your list. If so, I would agree – these are traits we would all expect a good person to possess, but there’s got to be more to it – and there is.

Being generous, kind and thoughtful are certainly wonderful qualities, but I believe a genuinely good man or woman is also defined as someone who knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses to do what is right. Civil Rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King summed it up well when he said, “Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic? Vanity asks the question – is it popular? But conscience asks the question – is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.”

Doing the right thing, whether in one’s personal or professional life, is not always the easiest thing to do. In the Old Testament, a ruler named King Hezekiah decided early in life that he was going to lead his people by doing what was right in the eyes of God. Even though he was criticized, laughed at and ridiculed, he did not compromise his conviction and consequently went on to be one of Judah’s most successful and respected kings.

A good man or woman does not concern themselves so much with doing the right thing as they do with being the right person. Actions alone do not reflect a person’s intent or motivation so one’s good deeds can actually serve selfish ambitions or desires. Although we can not always accurately perceive a person’s intent or motivation we can get a pretty good idea by looking at the consistency of their attitude.

The attitude of a good person is characterized by several distinct features.

1. Desires to help others achieve their goals in life
2. Is willing to put the needs of others before their own
3. Demonstrates respect for others no matter their position in life
4. Helps others without expecting anything in return
5. Refuses to compromise values for personal or professional gain
6. Possesses a willingness to forgive when harmed
7. Is committed to doing what is right even when it is not popular

Being a good person does not mean being perfect – we all blow it at times. It does however, mean that we have the ability to recognize when we blow it and, if necessary and possible, we do what it takes to make it right.

The most satisfying and effective relationships between co-workers, supervisors and subordinates, family members and friends are the result of people who choose to develop the attitudes of a good person.

Todd E. Linaman, Ph.D.

As the President and Founder of Relational Advantage, Inc., Dr. Linaman is committed to developing personal and organizational potential into a higher level of quality performance.

As a licensed psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist and a respected authority in the area of personal and professional development, Dr. Linaman has provided executive coaching, consultation, counseling and training to individuals and organizations throughout the United States.

Dr. Linaman has worked with corporate executives, business owners, attorneys, medical doctors and other professionals in his counseling and coaching practice. He is a national conference and seminar speaker and has authored numerous articles on personal and relational development topics. He has been featured as a relationship expert on national and local radio talk shows and local television news programs, and is co-author of the book Lessons Learned Looking Back: Strategies for Successful Living published by Broadman and Holman.

I have recently started firing some of my clients and turning down many new clients. This may sound counter intuitive to being successful, but I have learned 4 things that make it the smartest move I have ever made.

1. The truth is that nothing can move you towards successfully living the life you want more than a great coaching relationship. This truth is the secret that many of the most successful individuals in the world know. However, for you to get the most out of the coaching relationship you need to have a firm grasp of your goals and be aware of what obstacles are in your way.

2. Most people don’t have a concrete idea of what they want and are totally unaware of the obstacles that are really keeping them where they are. They have a strong desire to change their life and break free, but have either a fuzzy idea of what this looks like or no idea of what this looks like.

3. When someone comes to me for coaching and they are not sure what their personal life purpose is and what is getting in their way, I end up doing a mixture of coaching, mentoring, and counseling in order to enable them to get to a place where they can be truly coached towards their goals.

4. As much as I enjoy working with people in the above process, it takes a lot of their time and mine and I believe there is a more effective way to accomplish this. This is why I have developed a program to enable anyone to accomplish this process in 10 weeks or less. The program enables you to go from a fuzzy idea of where you are in life and where you are going, to a concrete grasp of who you are designed to be and how to identify and eliminate the obstacles that keep getting in your way. Plus, it also helps you create a map to show you how to live your design out 24/7.

As you can see, by not allowing clients to hire me before they are ready, I am actually helping them develop into the best they can possibly be. I want the same for you!

It is truly better to give than receive and I bet you know someone who is ready to stop just surviving their life and start thriving.

My name is Craig Miller and I am a professional Life Design coach. I specialize in helping people who are searching for purpose and success in their life, re-design their life so they live a life they want to live.

I have my Masters in Counseling, Masters of Divinity, and have been professionally trained in coaching through the Coach Training alliance. Over the past 15 years I have equipped people as a licensed Counselor, ordained minister, speaker, and as a Life Design coach. You can find out more by visiting neverlandlifedesign.com neverlandlifedesign.com

If you are comfortable with yourself you really do not need religion at all. You see if you have self-confidence and will just rely on yourself instead of searching for an invisible crutch or friend you will be so much better off in the end.

You should join those who have ditched religion and become self actualized and it should be rather obvious for anyone who takes the time to look at over all religion and a little history that indeed religion is just a way to control human populations for the benefits of those who do the controlling. Ditching religion and knowing self is really where you need to be in life.

Many religious folks do not want to admit it, but the current argument is that religion is nothing more than a crutch for weak-minded individuals who lack self-esteem? Or for those who could not cope, got involved in drugs or needed something to turn their life around. Indeed people who are religious will not admit that their religious belief system is a crutch to help them handle lives little challenges or that they lack the personal inner strength to do it on their own. But at the same time they will state that they have given their lives to God and are here to serve his will?

Interesting, serving his will rather than you own? Why? They say it helps them find moral clarity? Why did they lose it or something? It is time you ditch your religion and started believing in yourself and developed a sense of self-esteem and ditch the crutch. Consider this in 2006 and stop being so weak, it is unbecoming of your genetics.

“Lance Winslow” – Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

“Nothing is more practical than for people to deepen themselves. The more you understand the human condition the more effective you are as a businessperson. Human depth makes business sense.”

- From Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness
by Peter Koestenbaum

A philosopher, a behind the scenes sage for CEOs at some of the world’s largest companies, Peter Koestenbaum poses the truly big questions. How do we act when the risks seem overwhelming? What does it mean to be a successful human being?

According to Koestenbaum the central leadership quality is the ability to manage polarity. We want to live, yet we must die? How can I devote myself to both family and career? Am I a boss or a friend? Every business interaction is a form of confrontation – a clash of priorities, a struggle of dignities, a battle of beliefs. Koestenbaum links the deep insights of philosophy with immediate, bottom- line business issues to break through “stuck points” and do better business.

You may be wondering why CEO’s of top companies are even remotely concerned with deep philosophical issues. These leaders understand that their success in business is based in their continued personal growth and expansion. Every business person committed to success will reach a point when they need to confront the “deep” questions. So what about you? Do you put aside time each week to devote to your personal growth and development? What keeps you on the edge of your business and life? It may be reading, attending a workshop, a teleclass, conference, lunch with people who love to explore the “deep” questions or working with a coach or a combination of the above that keeps you living on the edge. Whatever it is, make sure you include it in your life. This week, schedule something when you can dedicate yourself to doing what a leader does – thinking planning, strategizing creating.

Ruth Zanes has been a unlimitedresourcesinc.com/blog/blogger.html Business, Career and Personal Success Coach since 1985. Her broad range of experience prior to coaching includes consultant, business ownership and corporate executive for some of the world’s largest corporations. Contact Ruth at: unlimitedresourcesinc.com unlimitedresourcesinc.com

Cleopa, my adopted cat, is nestled between my elevated legs at this very second.

She can hear the clicking of my keyboard, which is only six inches from her pink nose.

A picture of relaxation and serenity, she is a far cry from where she started in life.

She was born a wild cat, part of an urban brigade that lives off the land and the largesse of sympathetic humans.

She use to hang out on my front porch, along with three of her baby sisters. They were the most skittish bunch you can imagine. At first, they’d let me put out food, and no more.

Gradually, I was allowed to watch them as they ate.

Cleopa was the first to talk, meowing when it was time to eat.

I tried to feed her by hand, but she bit me. Gradually, she’d let me pet her while she ate, and before long, she started taking her meals indoors, as I shifted the dish closer and closer to its final destination, the kitchen.

Now, she is the greatest pet you can imagine, so calm, friendly, and outright chatty when she wants to be.

All of this wonderment is a legacy of PATIENCE.

I look back at so many things in my life and I wonder why I was so impatient. I couldn’t wait to graduate from schools, become credentialed, and there are so many things that I rushed, unnecessarily, that I paid a huge price.

But now, with this warm fur ball between my knees, I think I’m seeing the rewards of patience, and she is too.

I’m just happy I survived this long to learn this lesson.

The best things in life do come to those who wait.

It would just be nicer if patience didn’t have to be one of the last lessons we learn!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: mailto:gary@customersatisfaction.com gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Another lifestyle factor that can really zap your memory power is stress. Feeling stressed is of course just another part of being human. But overwhelming stress can take a tremendous toll on our overall health, not to mention our memory.

How would you describe stress? For most of us stress is a feeling of pressure and lack of control. Yet formally defined, stress is merely the way you react to change. Stress in and of itself is not problematic. In fact, both “good” and “bad” life events are stressful. What distinguishes “good” stress from “bad” stress (distress) is the degree to which we feel we are in control. For example, most people would consider losing their job as more stressful than getting married. It is the sense of the former being more out of your control that makes it more distressful.

To understand how stress affects memory, let’s look at what happens when we feel stress. When we experience stress, our body triggers a “stress adaptation” response, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response. So what happens?

- Hormones, including adrenaline and glucocorticoids, are released
- Heart rate increases
- Breathing becomes more rapid and shallow
- Stored sugar is released toy the liver
- Senses are heightened
- Muscles, tense to prepare for movement
- Blood flow to digestive organs and extremities is restricted
- Blood flaw to brain and major muscles increases

This response to stress is a remnant of our primitive past. After all, this kind of preparation was essential if we were faced with something life-threatening, such as an attacking bear. Rarely today do we find ourselves in such life-or-death situations. But our bodies can’t tell the difference between such events and the relatively mundane pressures of modern living, such as being stuck in traffic or getting into an argument with your spouse. The stress-adaptation response kicks in, again and again, exposing us regularly to low levels of this stressed condition.

This unrelenting chronic stress has been associated with various medical and emotional conditions, ranging from cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal ailments, immune suppression; and endocrine changes. What about memory? Stress lowers memory performance secondarily because of its impact on overall health. Stress also makes us more distracted, which lowers our ability to acquire information we may want to remember.

There is growing evidence that stress may directly impair memory function as well. Research has linked excess stress to shrinkage of the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with new learning. Evidence for this has come from animal studies as well as studies in human populations exposed to excessive stress, such as individuals suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Scientists theorize that stress-induced increases of glucocorticoids are responsible for such changes. While more work is needed in this area, these findings suggest that stress is bad for memory in more ways than we previously understood.

Joseph Plazo is a killer success coach who teaches how to rapidly win love and
xtrememind.com attract women through powerconsultants.net leadership executive coaching.

To have more creativity, follow this two-step plan:

1. Encourage creativity.

2. Train your brain to be more creative.

Start on both of these right now, and you can experience greater creativity today.

Encourage your creativity and you’ll increase your creativity. Of course, this is true of most things you want to see more of in your life. Encouragement can work wonders, but how do you encourage creativity?

Start by paying attention to it. Our subconscious minds tends to give us more of what we pay attention to. Ignore the creative aspects of your life, and you are telling your subconscious that they are unimportant. Consciously note when you’re creative, and your subconscious mind will start feeding you more creative ideas. Just look for it and you’ll find more of it.

You can encourage creativity by writing your ideas down. Start keeping an “idea journal.” Do this regularly, and you’ll notice that you often start having more ideas the moment you start to write. A so-so idea may normally be forgotten, but by writing it down, you may remember it. Then your subconscious can work on it, and may transform into something very creative.

For more creativity in your life, start putting creative ideas into practice. If you paint, paint something totally different from your usual subjects. If you sell houses, try a new approach. Even just driving a different route to work to see if it is quicker can encourage your creativity. Just get your mind working outside of its regular patterns.

Changing your surroundings can encourage creativity. For more creativity in your love life, go hike up a mountain with your partner. If you write, try sitting on a roof to write. For new ideas for your business, take a notebook to the park and sit by the duck pond. Any change of enviroment can get your brain out of it’s ruts.

Creativity Training

To dramatically increase your creativity, develop creative habits of mind. If you watch a good comedian, you’ll see that she has trained her mind to look for the “different angle” on everyday things. Why not train your mind to do the same?

Start challenging assumptions, for example, until it becomes habit. If you’re looking for ways to get more customers, stop and say, “Do I really need more customers?” It’s a question that suggests other creative solutions, like finding ways to make more money off existing customers, or ways to cut expenses. It could lead to more profitable ideas. Challenge assumptions is a great way to have more creativity in your problem solving.

While driving to work, randomly choose anything you see and ask what it can teach you about whatever problem you are working on. A helicopter might make you think about a way to track where the car goes when you loan it to your kids. Palm trees may lead to a new design for patio umbrellas.

These two techniques are called “Assumption Challenging” and “Random Presentation,” and are classic creative problem solving techniques. There are dozens more. If you train your brain to habitually use these or other techniques, and provide it with a little encouragement, you really can have more creativity.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on IncreaseBrainPower.com How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: IncreaseBrainPower.com IncreaseBrainPower.com

Are you:

- feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied with your life?

- ready to stop holding yourself back from success?

Is it time to:

- get rid of self-sabotaging thoughts that keep you down?

- say goodbye to the blues and take control of your life?

Then the following life-changing information is for you!

We’re all born with the potential for living a fulfilled, happy and enjoyable life. Some of us achieve extraordinary success in business and in life, some of us watch others achieve it, and many wonder why they come up short.

If you’re among those asking where is success for me? then please read on.

The following 10 principles for successful living are full of tips, tools and benefits that will ignite the fire within you to help you awaken to the fulfillment, happiness and joy in life you’ve been looking for.

Here are some compelling reasons to stop singing the blues:

1. Start thinking and dreaming big

When you think and dream big, you:

• stop singing the blues and begin to activate your power to dream big.

• can dust off the dreams you’ve had on the back burner and bring them into now.

• see so many possibilities and want to take action to achieve them now.

• look around at people who have achieved their dreams and believe if they can, you can too.

• stop worrying about if you can afford it, if you know how to get it, or about any obstacles that stand in your way.

• start using your creative genius to figure out how to get what you want.

• are full of intention to take opportunities that come along.

• surround yourself with like-minded people who are positive and encouraging, who are dream-makers not dream-breakers. The more you associate with supportive people who love and accept you just the way you are, the more success you’ll attract in your life.

• recognize that you are who you spend time with.

2. Believe in yourself

When you truly believe in yourself, you:

• become your greatest fan, you’ll grow stronger and your life will transform beyond your wildest dreams.

• will become a new person.

• will be so strong that you’ll know, without a doubt, that you can
have what you want, that you deserve it, and that you’re worthy of it. You will let go of limiting beliefs and start believing that “whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.”

• will start using your marvelous ability to reprogram yourself to have beliefs that are congruent with what you want and who you want to be.

• will be encouraged to take chances, to push yourself further than you ever thought possible.

• gain improved confidence that will lead to better performance at work, a better circle of friends, and better quality of life in all areas.

This improved self-confidence will help you deal with all of life’s challenges with a positive outlook.

3. Remove fear roadblocks

When you finally let go of success-stopping fear, you:

• will finally remove the shackles of fear, you’ll hit the high notes of life expressed in Johnny Nash’s song “I Can See Clearly Now.” As you begin to see the world as “a bright sun-shiny day,” you’ll end your long history of self-sabotage to live the life you so richly deserve. You will realize that fear is only false evidence appearing real.

• will outtalk the negative chatterbox in your brain. As you face whatever you fear and push through it, you will understand how to focus on correcting fear-based, thoughts quickly and easily.

• won’t wait for the fear to go away before you take action. You will decide to take action in spite of your fears. Miraculous things happen to those who consciously choose to overcome their fears. As you move forward, your incredible inner strengths will emerge.

• gain confidence in your skills, abilities and even your downfalls. As you move from victim to creator, you’ll learn more about yourself, your wants, needs and desires. This will open new doors of opportunity and you’ll truly be on the road to creating the life you want.

4. Bounce back from obstacles

When you face obstacles head-on, you:

• meet everyday challenges with confidence. We all face problems, but some of us get stuck while others move on. Turning setbacks into comebacks will guarantee success.

• won’t give up, you face the future with optimism and courage despite events.

• will be able to self-reflect and gain wisdom from your experiences.

• will be able to face reality, labeling your setbacks, losses and disappointments for what they are.

• will find meaning and purpose in your struggles and think creatively under stress.

• will expand rather than shut down when faced with challenges, and most importantly you will achieve the personal and professional success you deserve while continually discovering your greatness.

5. Develop persistence

My favorite quote by Calvin Coolidge goes like this: “Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Education alone will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

When you cultivate the habit of being persistent, you:

• stop singing the blues and you make a conscious decision to train yourself to be persistent.

• realize that persistence must become a way of life if you want to succeed.

This speech given by Winston Churchill is still applicable today. “Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

What separates a person’s successes from failures is the ability to carry on when things go wrong. All successful people have persistence in common. When others give up, they don’t. Top sportsmen and musicians practice their skills for hours and hours at a time. They never rest on their laurels. They are always trying to get a little bit closer to perfection. When you stop singing the blues, you realize that without absolute determination and perseverance, your chances of success are drastically reduced.

6. Cultivate your strengths

When you work to develop your inner strengths, you:

• polish your diamond and stop singing the blues

• will become more confident, optimistic and focused. The more developed your strengths, the more likely you are to aspire to higher goals and achieve a life of great satisfaction and joy.

My favorite analogy is one used by Edward Anderson and Donald O. Clifton. In their book, Soar With Your Strengths, they say: “Talents are like diamonds in the rough and strengths are diamonds that show brilliance after they have been carefully cut and polished. Just as finished diamonds start as diamonds in the rough, strengths start as talents. And just as rough diamonds are naturally found in the earth, talents are naturally found within you. But while diamonds are refined with blades and polishing wheels, strengths are produced when talents are refined with knowledge and skills.”

7. Let go of the past

The benefits of letting go of the past are enormous. Psychological research is finding that being a forgiving person is essential to happiness. Even when someone wrongs you, feeling anger or hatred only causes your life to descend into misery and resentment. You are the one who suffers, not the person with whom you’re angry. Forgiving, on the other hand, can lift the burden.

When Buddha and Jesus and other great spiritual figures taught us to forgive those who sin against us, they weren’t just pronouncing holy philosophy, rather, they were giving practical down-to-earth life advice.

There is no question that you will be more satisfied with your life and will be less likely to experience symptoms of psychological distress, such as nervousness, restlessness and sadness if you let go of past traumas and disappointments. Researchers now believe that letting go of grudges may fortify the heart and the immune system. “When you’re stuck in a grudge, you’re isolated in your own suffering,” says Fred Luskin, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good and director of the Stanford Forgiveness Project. “The long-term damage to the cardiovascular system from bitterness and resentment is clearly established.”

8. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
~ Meiser Echart

When you express gratitude and appreciation for everything in your life, you:

• give yourself a great and wonderful gift. Being grateful lifts your spirit, it helps you to renew, reflect and reconnect with yourself. You’ll notice you start appreciating ordinary things and realize that every day is a gift. An attitude of gratitude will hold you together even when you are in the midst of struggles and hardships.

• maintain that sense of thankfulness for life, for the chance to experience each day’s sunrise. This will keep you in positive thinking mode.

• have greater confidence and higher self-esteem. .

• will be richer and happier and you will appreciate all the abundant gifts you have.

9. Contribute to society and make a difference
As you continue creating a positive outlook on life, you will realize the importance of making a difference by giving back to your community. Giving back in terms of donations, volunteering, contributing, mentoring or just listening to a friend will make a huge difference in your life.
The benefits of giving back to society cannot be measured. When you give back by serving others you will feel a rewarding sense of fulfillment in return. The satisfaction you get from helping others will enhance your mental attitude and you will enjoy greater prosperity.

10. Take great care of yourself’

You are the greatest miracle and the most unique individual ever created. When you take care of yourself, you:

• stop singing the blues and appreciate this beautiful gift you have been given.

• will take your life and yourself more seriously. The more focus you place on you, the more joy you will feel.

• will feel fully alive, vibrant and rich.

• will feel in control, confident, and connected to your life’s purpose.

• will truly put your own needs first, you will build a reserve of energy and a safeguard against burnout.

• will become more productive and energized.

• will develop a habit of daily renewal. The feeling of being of purpose will inspire you to new heights – some you never dreamed possible.

• will always be focused on your well-being, on what’s most important to you. You will spend your day doing what matters most.

When you stop singing the blues, you will truly know what it is to love yourself, the greatest gift of all…when you love yourself you are honoring the very nature of the human heart — your source of life.

Dr. Cynthia Barnett is the author of Stop Singing the Blues. In this book, you will find powerful strategies for hitting the high notes in your life. The book is filled with heartfelt stories of people who refused to let life get them down. You’ll see how they use their innate powers to conquer adversity and achieve what they want. Today they live their lives with joy and passion — as you can.

Dr. Barnett can be reached at her toll free number 1-877-404-4446 or stopsingingtheblues.com/ stopsingingtheblues.com/

Dr. Cynthia Barnett is the author of Stop Singing the Blues. In this book, you will find powerful strategies for hitting the high notes in your life.

You have to have a clear plan for success and stay focused on fulfilling your plan. A fundamental of success is having a clear plan to follow to start your journey toward success. It isn’t that you have to develop every detail before you start, or that you can’t make changes along the way. A clear plan begins by fully understanding and identifying the ultimate result you want.

Focus on the most important things each day. Each and every day starts with more things to do than you could ever do. Given this fact of life it’s critical that you focus on the most important things each day. Identify no more than 1-3 things that if you were to accomplish just those things, it would make your day a success. Diligently work to accomplish those things before you end your day each and every day.

As you’re working so diligently to stay focused everyone around you will seem to be focused on keeping you from being focused. Don’t allow yourself or others to get you off track. When you allow yourself to drift away from the things that you know you need to do to make today a success, you’re choosing failure in that moment. Success seems so fleeting and unachievable to many people because they work against staying focused. It’s so much easier to put things aside and drift somewhere else. The problem is that all too often another fundamental of success is that success moments pass, and those missed opportunities never return.

Focus is supported through self-discipline. Develop the self-discipline it takes to stay focused. You don’t have to be focused 24/7, but you do need to be focused long enough to complete the actions you need to take today to make today a success. If you can discipline yourself to take the actions you need to take to make each day a success you’ll incrementally and steadily be moving toward success.

Success is rarely achieved instantaneously. Success is almost always achieved as a result of a series of daily right actions taking you ever closer to the ultimate result you want. You have self-discipline when you know you absolutely have to. Use that self-discipline to maintain the focus you absolutely have to have to get the success you envision one day at a time.

Use this e-coaching tool to develop your path for success – coachingmegaagents.com/SuccessModel.php Success Model.

Are you ready to get different results, so you can get where you want to go? coachingmegaagents.com/TrialMembership.php Give Coaching a Try.

There can be many frustrations in business and more especially in management.

Lots of us, in these roles, get irritated by the smallest things – often these things seem to be about others and, in truth, are just about ourselves.

Getting honest about this is one of the biggest challenges we have.

Sometimes, it’s vital to cast all our doubts and fears to one side and get on with it.

The more polite shortening of this is ‘JDI’ – otherwise known as ‘Just Do It’.

In this little article, we’ll explore more about JDI and how this weekend, it made a magnificent difference to a small town on the Scottish/English borders.

Manager Rowan Alexander says he never wants to leave Gretna.

In four years, this little Scottish football team have moved from the incredibly unknown non-professional league called the Unibond League, to the Scottish First Division (next season) and as of this weekend, their 3-0 win over Dundee led them to the Scottish Cup Final.

Never before has a team from the Scottish Second Division got there. And they are not expecting to stop progressing till they achieve Premier League status, hopefully sometime in 2007.

Already, due to their win and that of Hearts in the second semi-final on Sunday, Gretna are assured of European football next season (as long as Hearts stay 2nd in the Scottish Premier League!)

When asked how they had achieved this, Alexander, manager since those heady days back in the Unibond, says,
“We don’t talk about things here, we do it. Nothing negative, everything is positive.”
If ever there was a time when a state of expectations, meeting with application and wonderfully supportive, encouraging and developmental management came to fruition, then surely Gretna is it.

Sometimes the seemingly ‘unachievable’ is so very achievable. We just get in our own way, prevaricating with reason after reason why we shouldn’t, can’t or mustn’t.

We fear possible outcomes which might not achieve our goals – blindly forgetting that if we don’t try, we are certain of failure.

I once worked with a client who told me that he prevaricated because at least if he didn’t try, he wouldn’t fail and the hope and dream he had would still be there.

It had taken years of practice to reach this state of inertia – it took but a few coaching sessions to encourage him that using a JDI approach would not be life-threatening.

This week you have the opportunity to move on those things you have been putting off, for whatever reason.

Let’s call it an amnesty.

Give yourself permission for slipping out of your comfort zone and into action. It might not be as chilling an experience as you may think.

© 2005-6 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, coaching-businesses-to-success.com coaching-businesses-to-success.com.