Stand Out

Tamara Lowe put it best when she said, ”A dream without a plan is a wish”. Well, as much as I enjoy fixing my gaze on a beautiful midnight blue sky, and wishing on the first star I see… I like results just a little bit more.  A dream with a plan is unstoppable.  I have every intention of becoming unstoppable. Not for recognition, wealth, or any other acquisition, but to serve. To give. Because it is in giving that you receive! 

Big plans equal big results. Interestingly enough, plans change- yet with change there is opportunity. What an interesting spin on even the most discouraging situations! So, you are unemployed… what opportunities does that lead to? Your business is struggling… what are the great things that can come from this? Yes, these are tough questions. No one ever said that life would be easy. But it is worthwhile. Let’s start with the first question: After serving your company for years on end, laboring over projects and opening your company up to sensational leads, you are now without a job. What opportunities can you find in this situation? Growth. Development of new skill sets. Networking potential. And in the long run… a new job where you are able to utilize each piece of what you have learned. In the process, you’ve learned more about yourself, gained knowledge, and  built long-lasting relationships with referral potential. In change, there is the opportunity to stand out- but only if you spend the time to build a goal-oriented plan.

How about the second situation: Your business is struggling to make ends meet. What kind of opportunities would come from this? Actually, quite a few. Maybe you have the chance to learn something new- take a class or attend a seminar to learn skills that you may be missing. At that seminar or class you would have the opportunity to network with new potential referral sources.  Those referral sources might do just what their title speaks of- refer you to new clients or markets that could increase your profits exponentially! You may be thinking… okay, this woman is most certainly the eternal optimist. But if optimism is your reality, the opportunities to find strength in your weakest hour is always there.

Some of the most prominent people in the country and in the world, have come- not from the wealthiest families, which only a few of them have- but from normal families or families without very much. So, do you think that when the going got tough they cried themselves to sleep every night, doubting that they would ever become anything, and putting blame on others or circumstance? Not so much. These are not just survivors- they are “thrivers.” Some of the biggest, brightest, and most well-known names saw a situation, and made something phenomenal come from it. Did Suze Orman just wake up one morning and find herself a celebrity? She worked, and worked hard, every step of the road. Was Oprah Winfrey born into a wealthy family, where fame and fortune were handed to her like a new Lexus on her 16th birthday? The simple answer is no. The longer answer is that Oprah struggled, she pushed herself to succeed, and she has succeeded- and not without failures along the way.

Just last month, I watched as leader after leader- from arenas of politics, public speaking, finance, and sports- walked up on stage at the Get Motivated! Seminar in Harford and said the words that us “little people” have always hoped to be true. They have worked hard to get where they are today. They have struggled and failed. But they came out on top. Not by crushing others, but by helping others. Because in helping others, they were given the opportunity to stand out and make something of themselves- and others in the process.  How do you stand out? In these tough times, have you found the motivation to bring yourself to new heights? If the answer is not a yes, make it one. Take a chance… break out of the box… unleash the qualities that make you or your business different.

If you are asking how YOU can stand out, take a moment and learn more.  Are you looking for employment? How about looking to reorganize your small business with motivational management or human resource processes and techniques that would assist with YOUR GROWTH? Consider Custom HR Solutions LLC for your development needs. Offering services in human resources and people management such as: procedural manual (customer service, training, and processes), incentive program, training and development seminar, and mediation-meeting construction- as well as recruiting and staff development- we can unlock YOUR FUTURE with personalized service. Interested in more information? Go to: www.custom-hrsolutions.com or email us at: customhr@live.com.  

Where There is Sunshine

If I had to identify with any one word, this would be it: Optimist. Bold and beautiful, this word seeks out the best in everything and everyone. The possibilities are limitless, and the visions far surpass those of everyday existence. For optimists, there is no glass-half-empty… there is a glass waiting to be filled! The prospect of something new, exciting, and beautiful each and every day is what keeps us motivated. It is the only thing that can fulfill us.

Most recently, I remember waking up and not being able to take in a breath without feeling the weight of the world on my chest. It blocked out the cool, fresh air of a new day- instead filling me up with the stale dread of sadness and anxiety. Is this what it feels like to be a realist? To assume that something bad is most likely to occur, just as it did yesterday? If so, I know that the days I woke up feeling like this, I could not have conquered the world even if I was given a million bucks, a Lear jet, and the knowledge of Albert Einstein. Optimism gives us the need to create, to breathe life into the world. I missed out on life for the last several weeks, and that makes me a bit sad. It also makes me quite a bit more aware of what makes each moment brighter, lighter, and more effortless than the last!

So, in starting afresh, I will state what I have learned thus far: Life is relationship-based. It is not status, or identity-based. It is why God put us here- to grow and thrive in one another’s company- in His company. We learn more and love more when life revolves around constant, positive communication- not control and power, but pure, unconditional human interactions. When is the last time you thought of a relationship as unconditional? Without judgement, and based solely upon compassion, relationships can be brought to incredible heights. Maybe this is just the eternal glow of optimism shining it’s light on how I think. But I cannot see that a judgement-based world would make any relationship strong, healthy, or happy. Even though we make our paths hard and our relationships even harder, it isn’t as though we don’t want a path or relationship. We just lack the ability to walk in the world in a way that would be easy. We rely on ourselves, and adjust our paths based on how we can avert pain- clinging to individuality and avoiding the oneness that we just might have with everyone around us if we stopped believing we or they have any ability to judge. Only God can judge… and he doesn’t.

As a parting thought… have you put a relationship first today? It could be the one you have with your husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, brother or sister. Or it could be the one that you have with your child, your pet, your employee. A life is not a life fully-lived unless you build trust, encourage faith, and foster love into what you do. It was best said by theologian Howard Thurman, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Every part of your life could be different tomorrow than what it is today. Obviously, I mean good-different. Optimism is a blessing of faith, hope, trust, and love working into all the important and unimportant aspects of your life. It is embracing a cold, sunless day… where you are not oblivous to the shivers running up and down your spine, but you are also able to see that the sun is hiding right behind that enormous cloud… and you are absolutely sure that it will be out tomorrow.

 May the blessing of optimism come your way.

A World Apart…

yet so close together. Animals and people have a bond. Heck, more often than not we cohabitate with pets before we choose to bunk up with the person we will choose to commit to for the rest of our earthly lives!  Far beyond what the eyes can see, this human-animal connection bars no boundaries. Working with animals has given me the profound ability to not only see and sense this partnership, but to actually know that it is there. Seeing is not always believing folks! Sometimes it goes deeper…

Day in and day out I watch the affect that four-footed furry family members have on their persons. In the ten years I have spent owning and working with pets, I have seen the wins and the losses, the joys and the pains, that are pet-parenthood. Be it the older widow whose only connection with the outside world is this pet: the walks they share, the vet visits they embark upon together… despite one or the others hesitance at walking through that door- or the couple that kept it together for the sake of their cat and dog. These people- these human beings- have partaken in something more than mere ownership. This may not make sense to you, but maybe you don’t have a pet. Or you may still ask, why or how does a pet have this much to do with life, love, or laughter?  

Now pause. Think about it for a moment. Pets are the closest living beings to that whom we know is God. They are God’s creations, and like their creator, they bring about unconditional love and companionship, filling a void that before you may have never known existed.

You may not know the widow, the couple, or even the homeless man that feeds his dog before he feeds himself- but as we embark upon this journey called life, we have the opportunity to change a life- be it theirs or ours. Personally, I woke up this morning to a large, warm, yellow ball of fur and energy curled up behind my legs. All I had to do was look at him and his big tail thumped away rapping upon my feet. He was my reality check to be grateful. Here he is, thrilled by a glance from his “momma” when so many of us forget to exhibit that same dog-like enthusiasm to those humans we hold dear. I don’t believe we are quite a world apart. I believe we have something to learn from a crazy canine or a fuzzy felid. And I am sure that our worlds could be closer… our paths could be the same. We just need to learn to wag our tails a little more frequently, particularly at the simplest pleasures in life.