Jim Carrey – A Lesson in Building Your Career

Jim Carrey was an extrovert as a child. As a child he performed constantly for anyone who would watch.
When he was a teenager, his family was forced to relocate to a Toronto suburb. They all took security and janitorial jobs. Jim worked an 8-hour shift after school. The family lived out of a Volkswagen camper van.

Eventually he dropped out of high school (age 16) and decided to strike out into the comedy club scene. Then he moved to Los Angeles and worked his way into a regular show at The Comedy Store, where he impressed the late Rodney Dangerfield so much that the veteran comic signed him as an opening act for an entire season.

After seeing Jim perform, Damon Wayans made a call to his brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans, who was in the process of putting together the sketch comedy show “In Living Color” (1990). Carrey joined the cast and quickly made a name for himself with outrageous acts.

Carrey’s transformation from TV goofball to marquee headliner happened within 12 months! He starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and then in Dumb & Dumber, his first multi-million dollar payday! Eventually he made $20 million for a movie (The Cable Guy), the largest up-front sum that had been offered to any comic actor at that time.  Jim wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars in 1983, post-dated 10 years and hoped he could cash it by then.

What can we learn from Jim’s journey to become a major movie star and comic actor?

1.     You never get anything good for nothing – study the “greats” and you’ll see that they all worked hard. It’s your focused day-to-day efforts that add up to making you remarkable in what you do.

2.     You’ve got to LOVE what you do - Studies indicate that 75% of people are not excited about their work – they have a job but they don’t have a career – without passion you are unlikely to ever make it big!

3.     You’ve Got To Be Bad Before You Become Great – Career development is a PROCESS not an event – keep trying to get better at what you do and soon or later, you will be the expert!

4.     Recognize The Power Of Relationships – Jim made it big because he offered amazing talent that was recognized by industry leaders – who’s in your contact database that can help you achieve greatness?

5.     Focus On Who You Want To Become – Jim’s teenage life started with him working 8 hours after school and living in a Volkswagen van with his family – he beat the odds to become successful because he focused on where he wanted to be not where he was.

6.     You Become What You Think About (most often) – have a focused drive to become somebody great and have a WRITTEN plan to make it happen – having written goals dramatically increases the chance you will reach them.

Now more than ever, take time to think about what you want out of your life and your career.
The Internet and technology has made it easier than ever to become someone great.

Watch this video and Become A Dreamer Again.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

A Coca-Cola Employment Market

Why does the US unemployment rate seem to stay about the same despite news that companies are hiring? Companies are hiring but the real hiring is mostly overseas!

Look at corporate hiring nationwide and you’ll see that the era of a global workforce is rapidly emerging. International employment markets are growing twice as fast as they are domestically.

Take a look at the latest labor statistics and you’ll see that U.S. jobs have been moving overseas for the past 10 years. Years ago, clothes and commodity items were the primary goods made more cheaply overseas than in the U.S. Now the products are software and high technology electronics.  Look at GNP data and you’ll also see that the products being made overseas are primarily being sold to the emerging markets of China Brazil and India – not in the U.S.

Think about it. The # 1 English speaking country in the world is now China!  If you want and easy to understand overview of the globalization of the world markets, watch this video featuring Tom Friedman, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The New York Times – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE2ufqtzyk

The reality of the new economy is that U.S. companies are going where there is product demand and big profits. Asia-Pacific sales soared 40% in the first nine months of 2010, compared with 17% in the U.S. 50% of corporate revenue in the S&P 500 in the last 2 years has primarily come from outside the U.S.  China is now the world’s 2nd largest economy!

Major global companies are focusing on the geography where they sell their products and tailoring products to meet local customer needs. A key factor behind this runaway international growth is the rise of the middle class in emerging countries.

By 2015, it’s estimated the number of consumers in Asia’s middle class will equal those in Europe and North America combined. Most of the growth over the next 10 years is happening in Asia.

The CEO of Coca-Cola estimates that a billion consumers will enter the middle class in the next 10 years, primarily in Africa, China and India. Coke is aggressively targeting those markets. Only 13% of Coke’s 93,000 global employees are in the U.S.

So where does this mean to you as part of the U.S. employment market?

1.     Begin to reinvent yourself to compete in a global market – get to know the “facts” of globalization and how they relate to you.
2.     Consider developing an in-demand product or service that can be digitally distributed in the U.S.
3.     Make what you offer REMARKABLE – become a specialist in something – general skills do not pay well.
4.     Understand that your income will almost always be in direct proportion to the number of people you serve.
5.     Use the Internet to help more people get what they want
6.     Understand Web 4.0 technologies for e-commerce – Musion developed a 3-D holographic projection system that Cisco Systems used to “beam” a couple of its executives onstage to deliver a speech. That was 3 years ago.

Where are you in understanding how to use technology or your skills to help people and businesses make money, save money or solve a problem?  It’s the key to your employment security.

Don’t focus on finding a job. Market how you can be a remarkable solution.

5 Things That Create More Time In Your Day

Banish Time Management to Get More Done

Do ever feel that you have more “to do’s” than you do day?  Is overwhelm feel like a place that you reside rather than a temporary state of mind?  Do boring time management techniques make you feel like a boa constrictor is squeezing the life force and creativity right out of you?  If you are finding it difficult to cram your life in to the time management techniques you have, let me introduce you to your new secret weapon/time creator energy management.  When you feel pressed or behind the “eight ball” or you are about to fall under the wave of overwhelm these are the five things you can do to create more time, get more done and have fun.

Get in the Present, NOW!     

The first thing you need to do is breathe.   Breathing, especially deep breathing allows your mind and body to connect. It also connects your “spirit” and energy so you can begin to harness that part of your self.  We are human beings not human “doings” and we all run on energy.  Breathing and focusing on what is happening right now in the present is the same as filling your car with a full tank of gas.  When you are in the now or “being present” you naturally focus on what is important.  You have access to power and the ability to harness as much energy as you need to get the task you need done.  Being in the now takes you out of time management and connects you to your power.  Remember the present is perfect that is why it is a gift.

The power to get things done is in the NOW.

When you find yourself in overwhelm or feel really stressed or frustrated that is a clue you are not in the NOW.   Overwhelm occurs when you focus on the all the details of a task at once.  When you get too focused on the details or the “how” things get done you are focusing on the wrong thing.  The key is to take you out of the valley and focus on the end.  Go to the mountain top and take a look at the view and see the big picture.   I promise it looks completely different and it feels much better.  You see things on the top that you can’t in the valley.  You can see the ENTIRE picture and ways to get things done in ways that you could not imagine.   When you focus on the end you are taking yourself out of time management and traveling to the future where the task has been completed successfully.  Remember success always leaves clues.   The how to get things done is always available when you focus on the end.

Make Time to Put Your Self First

This is difficult for many people, including myself.  My natural instinct is to put everyone else first including my “to do’s”.  Do you find yourself saying you don’t have time?  I have found this is true for many of my brother and sister “human doings” who live in time management.  This is the wrong strategy to implement when you have a busy to do list.  The opposite works much better and allows you to get more done in less time.

Let me explain.  Time management focuses you on time and no matter what you do there is only 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week.  We can do our best to cram as much as we can into time but like house or computer it has its storage limits.   If you put too much stuff in, it is going to get crowded and feel overloaded.  Have you ever had your computer crash?  Why did it crash? Information overload, you put too much in too little of a space.  The same thing happens with time management and human beings.

Time Management is Finite…Energy Management is Infinite

Have you ever heard the terms “crash and burn” and procrastination? These are symptoms and natural outcomes of time management.  Even great time management techniques create these outcomes when pushed beyond its limits… With energy management there are no limits.  You can create as much as you need.  Energy management focuses you on creating energy and the way to do that is to put yourself first.  The principle is simple.  The more “to do’s” that you have to get done the more energy you need and your time is best served putting yourself first and fueling up.

How do you create energy?  Great question!  You focus on your energy centers.  Eating, sleeping, exercising, having fun, feeding your creativity and passions.  You might be thinking right, how am I going to fit that in?   Energy management requires this because putting your self first allows you to focus and manage the fuel you need to skyrocket your mindset outside of time and space to harness the power of energy.

Give Yourself Room to Breathe and Get More Things Done

Energy is your natural state of being and allows you to get more done with less and still have time for fun.  The more you need to get done the more energy you need.  You can create as much as you can handle.  Even if you don’t get EVERYTHING done on your list you are energized, focused and motivated to find ways to have everything accounted for and you avoid the familiar “crash and burn” syndrome and familiar procrastination patterns.

Manage Your Big Rocks

You may have heard me saying this before in a previous post. Your big rocks are the FIVE things that when properly managed keeps everything else moving forward and takes care of the small things.  Have you ever read the book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”?  If not read it because it is a great book and explains energy management in a great way.  It teaches you to focus on the big things because the big things naturally take care of the small things.  Strategy always dictates tactical action.  When you choose to focus on the small things and details you tend to get buried or lost in them and never find your way back to the top where you need to be.

The way to get things done and have time for fun is to manage your big rocks.

The challenge with time management is that it leads you down the slippery slope to what time managers call “busy work”. Busy work is what you tend to focus on when you are overwhelmed, tired or unsure of how to tackle the big stuff.  When you manage your big rocks you naturally show up to what needs to be done and have time for fun too.

Commit to the Six Most Important Things to Do

If you have made it this far you are definite interested in energy management.  If you are a die hard time manager you may feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, saying “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore, Toto”.  Well, true but we are not that far away either.  Here is a technique that you will recognize it just has a new look and twist.  Your list.  Most champion time managers have a “to do” list.  Sometimes your list is longer than Kobe Bryant’s leg.  That is fine keep it but call it a data dump list.  Put everything on that list.

Choose the six most important things that need to be done in the next 90 days.

Choose the six most important things that need to be accomplished in the next 90 days.  You read it correctly, 90 days.   Not today or this week.   Focus on the end.  Once you have your horizon list (that is what I call it) break down your to do’s in to steps.  Tiny steps and it is these steps that you incorporate into your daily/weekly to do list.  Each list whether it be a daily, weekly or Monthly to do list keep to only six things.  If you get tasks done ahead of time you can cross them off and add another task to your six most important to do list.  Keeping only six in front of you rather that the entire data list will help you focus and implement the above steps.  Even if you fall back to the familiar land of time management you will feel energized and empowered and ready to battle the boa called time.

Banish old time management techniques, embrace energy management to get more done and have time for fun.

To learn more about how to release the constraints of time and embrace  energy management subscribe to our free news letter at www.facebook.com/successgenie

Are Women Better at Marketing Themselves Than Men?

Are women better at marketing themselves than men?

I have found that women are MUCH MORE WILLING to “put their money where their mouth is” when it comes to marketing themselves or their services. Is it possible they feel a greater NEED?  Why is there such a difference?

Okay, guys, don’t take this the wrong way, but I think it comes down to how boys and girls are raised and the male ego. We all know the differences between men and women are ENDLESS! (Thank goodness, for the most part.) But I have found that women accept that they often have to work harder and pony-up for greater marketing exposure than the average man. Men are raised to be naturally self-promoting. They learn early in life to stand up for themselves and to be more aggressive. Their egos carry them through battles unlike anything women have to deal with.

Is it natural for women to become better at marketing themselves?

Women, as little girls, are often raised to be gentle and delicate. When those women grow up and enter the workforce, they find that they must speak up and tell the world that they count, that they are smart, and that they can do the job (whatever that job may be). These qualities are expected from men. But, if a woman doesn’t take control of the necessary marketing for herself, who will? Women often feel the need to tell the world about their strengths.

Women have also been found to be better at NETWORK marketing because they are better at building relationships.

Women take business more personally, which may not always be a good thing, but it does result in deeper, more personalized business connections.

A study by Copernicus Marketing said that women are better listeners, more collaborative, they understand the importance of developing an emotional connection with a brand (or themselves), and that they have been socialized as “influencers,” whereas “men tend to demonstrate managerial qualities that reflect a more military-like command and control.” It’s just natural for men to EXPECT to ascend to leadership (or managerial) positions. Do men become leaders because of their expectations?

I offer motivational speakers many marketing opportunities. The women who sign up outnumber the men by as much as 3-to-1 most of the time. Are there other explanations? Perhaps men prefer to handle their marketing by working with other men, instead of working with women. Do you find that you are more comfortable working with the same sex when marketing your business?

Love is a Business Strategy

Love as a business strategy?  

Really? When we talk about the need to “Create Value” we’re talking about making a very real and discernable difference.  For all of us, no matter whom we depend upon for our daily bread, that means making our customers love us.

Love as a business strategy?  Really!  If people buy from you because you give them the cheapest price, they’ll buy from the next guy for the same reason.  When we create business propositions around cutting prices, I’m reminded of a joke about a man and a woman in a bar.  The punch line concludes with the recently face-slapped man answering, “We’ve already determined what you are.  Now we’re just haggling over the price.”  That type of transaction in the bar and the ones that we engage in predicated on discounting are not healthy, are of questionable character and are devoid of value and meaning.  We not only can do better than that — we must.

If your customers buy from you because of the love that you show them and because they love you, you can profit more — both in your bank account and your heart.  You need to know this—People don’t buy with their heads.  They buy with their hearts.  You don’t compete for their money.  You compete for their feelings and emotions.  If you touch the hearts of the people you serve, they will be loyal and become partners.  Engage their emotions and they’ll become raving fans.  Raving fans don’t just give you referrals.  They become your ambassadors and evangelists.

Is there room for softhearted words like “Love” in the world of business?  In our self-important universe of trade and commerce, can we use this kind of language?  I believe it is critical that we use it and live it.  Speaker and author, Tim Sanders wrote the bestseller, “Love Is The Killer App” and challenges business people to become “love cats.”  He argues that the way to fix your future is to fix yourself and that in today’s world the road to prosperity is paved with a commitment to generosity.

Milton Mayeroff in his philosophical book, ”On Caring”, defines love as “the selfless promotion of the growth of the other.”  When we help others grow and become their best selves, we are being loving and we grow.  It is one of the most amazing counter intuitive realities of this world; the more we give, the more we gain.  I speak of this in the presentation that I’ve given at several industry events entitled “How Full Is Your Bucket?” We each carry an imaginary bucket and when that bucket is full of positive feelings, we operate in our zone, at our best and at peak performance.  When our bucket gets emptied through the negative emotions of others, we cannot be or do our best.  But the very best way to fill our own buckets back up is to consciously and conscientiously be filling the buckets of others.

So what does it mean to bring love into our professional lives and how does that create value?  I like Sanders’ definition:  “Love is the act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your knowledge, networks, and compassion with your business partners.”  When we are openly human with each other great things can happen.  We can operate from the perspective of assuming positive intentions from each other and not creating drama skits of ulterior motives.

Some brilliant business minds have stated that the purpose of business is to make a profit or to maximize return to share holders.  I could not disagree with that more.  It leaves no room for the most powerfully motivating force on the planet — Love.  Love can propel you forward and give you a sense of meaning and satisfaction, which will help you do your best work and be your best YOU.  The purpose of work is not to maximize profit.  It is to come together to do good things, to help each other and bring about important and lasting changes to our society and our planet.

We can build relationships, learn from each other and openly share our knowledge; expand and connect our networks of value-driven people, and express our true selves despite the harried pace we set for ourselves and our business partners.  We can hold each other to higher standards and demand from each other that we leave everything we touch better than we found it.  And we can live out our values and do good things not because we expect a Return on Goodness, but simply because it is the right thing to do.  We can believe in a karmic quid pro quo, but it should not order our days.  Do the right thing because you want to be the right person.

The passion and compassion that you bring to your customers, your supplier partners, your associates and your world are what defines you.  Compassion and generosity are the best strategies for individual and organizational prosperity.  We must be people of value with the right values. Together we can make a difference for good.  Really!  Love is the best Business Strategy!

The Connection between Coffee and Success

Think about the brand of coffee that you were drinking 5 years ago.
More than likely, it was a well known brand advertised on TV priced at $4.29 a pound.

Then along came Starbucks where you went with your friends to socialize.
The coffee was more expensive but you decided that the experience was worth the price.

Eventually Starbucks started selling their coffee in grocery stores and one day you saw it on sale for $6.29/lb. You bought a bag and enjoyed 2 weeks of premium coffee at your home. Then a bag went back up to the regular $8.95 / lb. and you had to decide – continue with a cup of Starbucks or go back to your value brand?  A premium brand coffee was your new standard – time for an upgrade.

Notice how your buying decisions were small enough that you were able to update your standard of coffee one small step at a time without really thinking about it. Issues related to cost or your need to save money probably never came into your mind. And once you started drinking the premium coffee, you essentially decided that you would never go back to a value brand. Somehow you found a way to adjust your buying options to enjoy the taste of a cup of Starbucks.

The gap between what you wanted and what you settled for was small enough to allow you to upgrade without having to make any radical changes. Little upgrades became your new standard and a better standard.

Amazing success for most people never happens because they try to make changes that are too big. Once you decide what you want, do something each DAY that gets you closer to your goal. One day you start a blog, then you start getting ideas to write a book and then before you know it, you are planning a speaking tour reaching out to people directly to help them reach their goals.

Realize that SMALL steps to reach your goals are the secret.

Drinking premium coffee offers another insight. Once you tasted a great cup of coffee, it’s unlikely you will go back to a value brand.  As you improve your standard of living as a result of reaching your goals, you are essentially preparing yourself to resist regressing back to where you were when you started.

A Starbucks competitor used a great marketing slogan in the 1990’s – “Life’s too short to drink lousy coffee!” The implied message is still valid. Decide TODAY what you want out of your life and more specifically your career. Then write down the steps to get there starting with simple DAILY goals that will become something AMAZING in the next 6 – 12 months.

The next time you’re sipping a cup of coffee, realize that Starbucks has 17,009 stores in 50 countries, including 11,000 in the US, 1000 in Canada and 700 in the UK. Starbucks was founded in 1971 by an English teacher, a history teacher and a writer. Last year the company generated $10 billion in revenue. Not bad for a goal of selling a cup of coffee to one customer at a time.