The Gift of Challenges and Problems by Ken Keis

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."

Theodore Rubin





The Gift of Challenges and Problems



Challenge: A stimulating or interesting task or problem.



Problem: A question raised for consideration or solution; an unsettled question; a source of perplexity or vexation.



The only people who don’t have problems are no longer living.



Most of us at some time have wished that life was easier. In reality, life was not designed for such grand expectations.



Think about it. When we go to see experts -- about our car, our health, and everything in between -- we value the experts’ ability to solve our problems.



What would you think of those experts if they made comments like these?

- That’s too challenging for me.

- This will take some work! I only work on easy problems.

- Sorry, I prefer challenges where I don’t have to think too much.



Our confidence in them would be marginal at best -- and we certainly would avoid them in future.



So, if we expect others to solve problems, shouldn’t we be able to solve problems ourselves?



The greater our ability to solve problems, the more valuable our contributions become. And, the more complex the problem, the higher the value of the person who solves it.



How do you look at your problems? Are you in the group that whines or the group that is thankful for all the challenges that life sets before them?



I have little patience for individuals who complain about all their problems because, outside of confirming what the problem is, that approach has no upside. Whining does not fix anything; it merely increases the mental stress around the challenge.



Challenges must be embraced as a gift. Why? They teach you to develop the skills and the character to deal with the issues at hand and the problems that you will encounter in the future.



For example: You are a manager about to hire for a new position at your company.

- One candidate has led a sheltered life; all his problems were handled by others around him. He’s a nice person but, when confronted with a challenge, he freezes and is usually unable to help solve it. Thus, he avoids or hands off most challenges to other people.

- A second candidate is less educated but has excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. She embraces a problem as an opportunity and usually comes up with several options to help resolve the situation.



Which person would you prefer to have in your organization?



Look in the mirror and ask yourself these questions.

1. Do I see problems as burdens that must be avoided, at all costs?

2. Do I embrace challenges as opportunities that can build value and help me feel vital?



Great leaders are great problem-solvers. In essence, they get paid to remove obstacles. If you expect to fulfill a leadership position -- paid or volunteer -- you must accept that troubleshooting is an essential part of the work. Success in leadership is as much about mindset as it is about capability. If you can’t tolerate doing battle with problems, your ability to focus on solutions, stay calm, and command credibility from others will be significantly reduced.



On the other hand, if you believe that dealing with challenges is fundamental to the business of life, then dealing with problems will not take you out -- emotionally or mentally.



That said, we do need to acknowledge that each of us has a different capacity level when it comes to handling problems. Some have roles that are always concerned with problem-solving. An air traffic controller is an example. The success rate for training for that job is very low. Why? With the high level of problem-solving skills critical to that role, few people can keep a cool head.



- First, let’s acknowledge that challenges are here to stay.

- Second, you have your own unique capacity to problem-solve.



Confidence, experience, and skills can highly influence the level of challenges you can handle. To help you in your journey, I recommend you complete a self-assessment. Assessments can instantly point you toward your strengths and help you understand your problem-solving orientation.



We all face challenges; there’s nothing unique there. What is unique is the way we approach our challenges.



Be thankful for them because, when you have no problems, you’re no longer living.





"Having a dream is what keeps you alive. Overcoming the challenges makes life worth living."

Mary Tyler Moore, Actress





Action Steps for accepting the Gift of Challenges and Problems



1. Only those who are no longer here are free from problems.

2. How do you see problems -- gift or burden?

3. What would others say about you? Do you whine about your challenges or embrace them?

4. What do you think of others who always complain about their problems?

5. What can you do to improve (if required) your thinking about accepting your problems as valuable teachers?

6. The more you are able to embrace challenges and problem-solve, the greater contribution you can make. How can you increase your contribution?

7. All leadership requires dealing with challenges. To help you, I recommend implementing a self-assessment strategy to help you identify your strengths and challenges.

8. Even though we want to embrace challenges as opportunities, we have our limits. Are you aware of yours? Start to be aware of your limits.

9. Encourage others to see that problems are here for us to solve.

10. As you increase your ability to respond to what the world will throw at you, pay attention to the increased value you create by being solution-focused.





Until next time, keep Living On Purpose,



Ken Keis


Ken Keis, MBA, CPC, is an internationally known author, speaker, and consultant. He is President and CEO of CRG Consulting Resource Group International, Inc., Many professionals herald CRG as the Number One global resource center for Personal and Professional Development.


For information on CRG Resources, please visit http://crgleader.com


For information on Ken’s Training and Speaking Programs, please visit http://kenkeis.com/?page_id=14



Article Source: The Gift of Challenges and Problems

Awareness Can Lead To The Success Of Your Home Business

By John Fortner

We would like to think that our home businesses belong to us and that we have total control over our enterprises. For the most part, this is an accurate statement. The reality is that our work from home ventures are directed by the rules and regulations that are designed by the government. We create and develop our home based businesses under the guidelines established by Uncle Sam.



We want to believe that in a democratic economy our home businesses are unrestricted in the execution of daily operations. In addition, we desire to think that we have complete control over the cost that is placed on the goods and services that we offer. However, the reality is that the government still exercises some regulation over the prices that are acceptable and the prices that are not acceptable. This brings the concept of price control into home businesses and brick and mortar stores.



Government uses different policies to control the prices of goods and services in our economy. Two of these programs include the price floor and the price ceiling. Basically, the price floor is defined as the legal minimum price that products or services can be sold. Conversely, the price ceiling is described as the legal maximum price that goods or services can be purchased. These strategies are established for a reason. A better understanding of how these methods affect our economy might help improve the formula for your work at home business success.



The minimum wage is a good example of the reasoning behind the idea for price control. The minimum wage can be described as a price floor because this is the least salary per hour that employers can pay for the services of their employees. Consider for a moment the possibility that there is no price floor for worker’s wages. This might create a business environment that is marked by disorder. The first area that would suffer is production. The employee might experience dissatisfaction with their employer over the salary being paid for the amount of work that has to be delivered. A minimum wage provides a limit where security and stability for the worker, the company and our economy can develop.



A good example of a price ceiling would be the rental fee. In some cities, the government uses rent control to limit the maximum fee that landlords can charge their tenants. This enables the cost of the real estate properties in that area to maintain a sort of stability in price. An opportunity is provided for the middle-class and the poor to raise their standard of living. There are many advantages to rent control for the economy but there are also some hindrances. Price ceiling might prevent cities from reaching their potential development because investment could be limited as well.



There are several mechanisms in government that enable the business environment to function smoothly without many interruptions. It is also important to realize that these systems influence our home businesses directly and indirectly. Our responsibility is to be aware of the laws that impact the opportunity to make money online, develop a home based business or create a brick and mortar store.



Do price floor and price ceiling have that much of an impact on your home based business? Probably not. But a deeper understanding of economy and the rules and regulations of our government can help you make informed decisions concerning your work from home venture. The goal that each one of us strives for is success. The accomplishments of our home businesses will come sooner if we stay informed about every aspect of the business economy.



“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.”



About the Author: John Fortner lives in Oregon and works from his home through his online pursuits. He is the owner of Best-Income Opportunities which offers free information and proven opportunities for creating work at home businesses. To learn more about this topic please visit his website at: http://www.best-incomeopportunities.com/ To receive free information for starting a home business please go to: http://www.Best-IncomeOpportunities.com/optin.html



Source: http://www.isnare.com/

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=219351&ca=Business

Your Credit Report Score and What You Can Do About It

Your Credit Report Score and What to Do About It
By Douglas Michaels

Paying on time

Late payments on regular monthly bills will quickly reduce your credit report score and should be avoided at all costs. Bank loans and credit card debt are probably the easiest to miss paying as they are not as life-threatening as forgetting to pay the electricity or gas bill. If you are internet savvy, one of the best ways of avoiding late payments is setting up automatic payments through your financial institution’s website. Credit unions are perhaps the most amenable to this form of bill payment as some banks may charge for the service.

Closing Accounts

Credit scoring companies put a lot of weight on the length of your credit history. Closing newer credit accounts may well improve your score by reducing the amount of credit you have available and the chance that you may go out on a shopping spree. But closing your oldest accounts reduces your credit report score because it removes you longest history of payments from consideration when your score is compiled.

If you have moved recently, or are planning a relocation, make sure your utility or cell phone provider has a forwarding address. I closed an account in December with my natural gas provider, only to be surprised by a residual bill the following March.

Credit card imbalances

Let’s says you have three credit cards with limits of $10,000, $5,000 and $4,000 each and you are carrying balances on all of them or are about to make a large purchase using one of the cards. You would assume it may be best to use the card with the lowest interest rate and this may be the one with the $4,000 limit. But your credit report score could take a hit while you are trying to minimize interest charges. That’s because your score can be adversely affected by having a high debt to credit ratio on one of your credit cards. If your big purchase cannot be avoid, use the card with the higher available total credit to lower the impact on your credit report score.

Paying down your debt

If you are running on fumes from month to month, as I have done at some point in my life, you know it will take serious discipline to chip away at your debt. One of the most obvious ways to reduce your monthly outlay of cash and thus provide more funds for your debt-reduction plan is to avoid recurring expenses like the plague. And the ugliest of recurring expenses can be that old staple, the car loan. I have avoided paying a car note since 1982 by buying a succession of modest used cars that I have rigorously maintained. You could save yourself one or two hundred dollars each month by switching to a used car and purchasing an extended warranty.

Goosing your credit report score

What if you are fresh out of college or just stepped off a plane and have no credit? If you have made it though college while avoiding the credit card trap to which many college kids succumb, one of the easiest ways to jump start your credit report score is by applying for a secured credit card. You can do this by depositing some cash in a restricted account.

Most banks will issue you a credit card with a limit set by the amount of cash you have deposited. If you use the card regularly and pay on time, they may then lift the restriction on your deposit and change your account to a non-secured designation. After you have developed a feel for paying your credit card on time, it may be a good idea to call your credit card issuer and ask them to raise the limit.

Avoid card collecting sprees

I have seen many instances of consumers carrying credit cards from several well known department stores and electronics and computer manufacturers and retailers. You should avoid a proliferation of credit cards with small limits like the proverbial plague. And be very careful what you sign up for, whether on the internet or at in-store promotion booths.

Paying off old debt

I am reluctant to advise you to avoid paying off old debt as I am a stickler for living up to my personal obligations. This may become a matter of personal choice for you but you should know that paying an old debt that has languished on your credit report for years, revives the account as a current collection activity, a certain means of lowering your credit report score. Better to boost your score, sign your loan, then pay off the old debt.

All this sounds simple enough but can be difficult to put into practice. Remember that there is no quick fix for boosting your credit report score. It will take discipline and patience and will create some annoyances in your life, but in the long run it can save you bucketsful of cash.

For more tips on credit matters visit my website at www.my-credit-report-score.com

For more tips on credit matters visit www.my-credit-report-score.com

Douglas Michaels is an editor, publisher and columnist. He started out publishing a free construction industry magazine geared to introducing builders to new, environmentally-conscious technologies in the 1980s. He works in the financial industry and now dedicates his time to helping others educate themselves on improving their credit scores.

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Think Like An Entrepreneur!

Think Like an Entrepreneur!
By Gary Ryan Blair

There was a time when being the biggest, most experienced corporate
kid on the block guaranteed success and dominance. However, in the
new economy, organizations that lack the commitment and capacity
for leveraging size and experience strategically will see these
attributes as vices instead of virtues.

The new economy will require an entrepreneurial mindset. Competition
will come from anywhere at anytime. Technology will empower smaller, nimbler competitors dramatically.

The days of sitting back, waiting, and depending on corporate size and reputation to attract business are effectively over.

To be clear—the relationship between size and entrepreneurial
behavior doesn't have to be an inverse one. People like Bill Gates
have already demonstrated convincingly that huge companies like
Microsoft can be as proactive and aggressive as the most
entrepreneurial start-up. In fact, entrepreneurial behavior can no
longer be the exclusive preserve of just the young start-up.

Everybody has to get in on the act!

Entrepreneurship is a bit like dieting: Everybody's in favor of it in
principle, but only a few have the intestinal fortitude to do what it
takes to reap the rewards.

In my view, the major source of the problem is cultural and is rooted in our fear of failure.

The new economy calls for a far more entrepreneurial corporate
culture, one where experimentation, risk taking, and even failure are
not only tolerated, but also actually celebrated. After all the only
real alternative to experimentation and risk is decay and decline.
The essence of risk is the possibility of failure.

Honor your errors. To advance requires a new frame. But the process
of going outside the conventional method is indistinguishable from
error.

Evolution can be thought of as systematic error management.

Scratch a successful entrepreneur and what you'll find is someone who failed a time or two or... get the idea?

The emerging rigors of the new economy leave us little choice. We
must experiment, and experimentation carries with it the near
certainty of at least occasional failure. In a truly entrepreneurial
culture, failure tends to be regarded as a learning opportunity, a
necessary pre-condition to eventual success. The status quo is simply
not a viable option any longer. You can stand still if you like, but
your competition certainly won't.

One other critical point about entrepreneurs. They are above all men
and women of action! Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the
importance of real-world experimentation, trial and error, and speed.
Experimentation, feedback, failure, learning, adjustment,
action—that's what successful entrepreneurship is all about.

Entrepreneurship, like innovation, is a profoundly relative concept.
At its core, it implies a willingness to risk challenging
conventional wisdom and prevailing approaches.

A company may employ you, but you work for yourself! Two defining
qualities of an entrepreneur are an appetite for risk and a strong
bias towards action. For many years, business conditions operated
strongly against the entrepreneur.

Size, stability, and industry experience were the only commodities recognized as having value in the business world; without them you could forget about making an impact. That's changing.

The business landscape of the new economy will be more hospitable to the entrepreneur than any we've seen before. The volatility and unpredictability of global competition have completely devalued most existing corporate currencies and virtues.

What good is size if your organization is too slow and muscle bound
to capitalize on new, fast-moving opportunities? What use is lengthy
industry experience if your most ferocious competitor is likely to
come at you from out of an entirely different sector? What's the
point of conducting exhaustive market surveys if the market changes
so fast they're obsolete before you've analyzed them?

Under these kinds of conditions, what counts is the willingness and
ability to take risks, get real-life feedback and react quickly. In
short, the ability to be entrepreneurial.

As a genuine entrepreneur, either inside an organization or
independent of one, you should prove to be ideally adapted to the
evolving imperatives of the new competitive environment.

Emboldened by its competitive dynamics and liberated by new
technologies, entrepreneurs will build not only bridges to the new economy but castles on the other shore!

Everything Counts!

Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe.

He helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and sustain a lasting competitive advantage. Learn more at http://www.personalstrategicplan.com

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