Having a super mind power is not only defined by how much a person remembers a person but what exactly a person has in his/her head. For example, the power of the mind of Oprah Winfrey gives her cunningness which makes it easy for her to build a connection in the masses and in individuals. Having a powerful mind can also be seen in the famous Hollywood actors and actresses like Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, and Al Pacino who easily transform and mold themselves into the personalities of the characters they are portraying. Thus, the power of the mind refers to the ability of people to use their creative sides, alter their egos, and adapt easily to other moods and different people. The idea of having special mind powers has been appealing to us ever since because of all the superheroes and fantasy characters that we’ve been exposed to. If you will just look back and think, you will notice that it is not the physical powers that makes us interested before but the extraordinary power of the mind of our favorite characters.

At present, the wide popularity of fictional shows that feature telepaths, aliens, and scientific fiction confirm that people are still enthralled with high intelligence, and the power of the mind. How many people do you know likes vampires, interested in crystal balls, fortune telling and black magic? Humans are naturally peaked by whatever makes us feel our minds have super mind powers that can enable us to move mountains and conquer galaxies. Fortunately because of this natural desire, we are now enjoying the many advantages of the different technologies and advancements that make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Have you ever imagined yourself living without television or internet? All of these were born due to the human’s power of the mind. Maybe in the next few decades we will also be able to live in new planets or discover a time-traveling machine. Who knows? As they say, everything is possible now.

Each person probably wants to have some secret techniques that can help them enhance or give them some super mind powers. Though it can sometimes be a disadvantage when done in obsessive levels, for some people these are highly beneficial because honing the power of the mind can help them conquer and do new things. Mind power is even sometimes considered as the drive of people in their religious devotions. Seeing people in television who claim that they were able to regain their vision or ability to walk is not so normal nowadays. All of these are because of the power of the mind. Hindus, for example willingly underwent some painful trials and deprivation will just their mental powers to help them through the quest. These said powers of the mind are what bless them with the ability to make miracles. Individuals who can do hypnosis and fortunetelling are products of our confidence in our own minds. People believe and this gives them the urge to make things happen.

Ready to unlock the secret of controlling your super mind power to improve your life? I reveal all the secrets you need to know at www.secretofmindpower.com

The secret to business success lies not only in the kind of products you sell, but also on the skill to use the different marketing activities and media at your advantage, in combination with the right attitude and positive thinking. Media placement skills is the art and science of using and placing the appropriate media in your marketing or advertising activities, be it online marketing or offline marketing. Possessing the knowledge and skills in media placement gives you a competitive advantage in that it not only maximizes the business’ current profitability but opens up new opportunities and optimizes the business’ potential for strategic growth.

Media placement skills denote the difference between successful start-up businesses and failing commercial efforts. Possessing the skills to use the right media and place it in appropriate advertising or marketing spaces is critical not only for start-up businesses but also for established businesses. Why? Media placement teaches the business owner the right attitude and knowledge in advertising without spending sums of money. This skill is especially needed by home-based business owners for their online marketing or offline marketing to boost their profit. The knowledge gained by becoming a media placement spesialist is a powerful tool towards mastering the one skill that puts you ahead of your competitors.

Knowledge in running a successful business consists not only in knowing how to manage the selling and buying activities. The business owner must also possess the skills in media placement, the knowledge and talent of conducting online and offline marketing using the correct media and putting it in appropriate places in the advertising or marketing activities. Media placement skills are suitable for small business owners who do not have enough money to hire professional PR agents or firms. Possessing this skill, and in combination with the right attitude and positive thinking, start-up, home-based or small business owners can make their business endeavors a huge success for a long period.

There is, today, a growing interest in media placement due to the success stories of many start-up, home-based or small businesses. Positive thinking and a positive attitude combined with media placement knowledge become a powerful tool for success. Most businesses succeed or fail not only because of management methods or practices but due to bad placements of media or advertisements as well. There are many resources available to learn the art of marketing whether they be online or more traditional but it is a learned skill how to put them to the best use. Thus, media placement techniques are critical in the life of the business.

Judy Hawes a consultant for Global Cashflow Network says – go to the following Web site for a Free Special Report that may just change your life.www.24hourwebcash.com/hawes9072

None of us is born with a destiny to fail. As children we are not aware of where we exactly fit in into society. But as we reach around teenage we become aware of our appearances and of our position in society. Some who feel that they are inferior to other people around them can get stuck in such a frame of mind for the rest of their lives. It is not always about physical appearances or what we look like. We sometimes get negative feedback from people around us on other aspects of our lives, like how we perform, how we work at things like that. These comments if taken too seriously can have a heavy negative impact on the human mind.

When we find our selves in such a position in life, it is time to turn things around. Get into positive thinking by attending seminars and reading books by counselors. You could even keep a few quotes in mind, to rely on when you are feeling down. They really can give you comfort. Here are a few of them:

A. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new: These are the words of Albert Einstein, one of the most intelligent minds the human race has ever seen. This quotation encourages one to believe that failure can only mean that you are a step closer to success. So do not let your mistakes get you down, get right back on track and you will succeed the next time.

B. No one can make you feel inferior without your permission: These are words from one of the most successful Presidents of the United States of America, Eleanor Roosevelt. These words tell us that we sometimes tend to give people too much importance. If you do not take some body too importantly in your life, how could their words ever hurt you? So, refrain from listening to the words which are obviously designed to hurt you and cause you pain and misery.

C. There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. True nobility is in being superior to your own previous self: This is a translation of a beautiful Hindu proverb from India. It keeps one from becoming proud, and this can happen if your self esteem becomes a little higher than it really should be. So only compare your self with what you were, not with somebody who is fighting his own battles. We all have different issues to overcome, and just because you overcome a few of your own issues doesn’t mean you have become better than the rest. This should never be the goal.

D. You yourself, as much as anybody in the universe deserve your love and affection: These are words of the Buddha, founder of the religion Buddhism. These words ask us to love ourselves first and then love others. How can you give love when you have none of it in you?

Abhishek is a self-proclaimed Personality Development Guru and has written several books on this topic! Visit his website www.Positive-You.com and Download his FREE Personality Development Report and discover some amazing self-improvement tips for FREE. Become the best you can become and reclaim your life! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! www.Positive-You.com

Bryan J. Johnson is a published poet and is currently in the process of writing his first book about techniques you can use to have a positive outlook about your life and to begin the process of manifesting the life you dream of. Bryan J. Johnson has studied metaphysics for over twenty years and understands the importance of thinking positive and that everyone has the power to manifest there dreams. With his wife Maria they run www.amazingmindsnow.com. where you can find plenty of free advice on self improvement and manifesting the life you dream of. Bryan and his wife are currently in the process of putting together a self help course on positive thinking that they will offer at www.amazingmindsnow.com.. 

http://powerofmindsecrets.blogspot.com/

To your success!

Odin is an expert reviewer of easy, effective, guaranteed and powerful ways to unlock the mind’s ultimate and limitless potential.
Currently reviewing the privately exposed methods on how a newbie to the power of the mind earned $74,116.50 in a week:

http://powerofmindsecrets.blogspot.com/

The human mind power is probably the greatest mystery in the history of mankind.

Despite having gone through thousands of years of civilizations, man has only recently found out that the human brain power is generally under-utilized. We have traveled so far as to reach the moon, yet most people today have been able to utilize only up to 10 percent of what the brain is capable of achieving.

It holds the greatest power of creation in the universe, yet it is so elusive to many people, who are ever in search of the power that can bring success and glory in life.

From a young age, we learned directly or indirectly what are the important things we need to do in our life so as to get ahead in the world. In school, we are taught to study hard to get a good paper qualification. In work, we know our life single most important purpose is to work hard, constantly upgrade our skill sets to stay relevant to the fast-changing world, and to network diligently to widen the power of our social network.

There is always an endless list of things waiting to be accomplished. But sadly, most people never truly feel secured no matter how hard they have worked. No matter how far people have gone in their pursuit of power, they will inevitably experience an increasing sense of lagging behind, which constantly drain their energy and confidence.

Ironically, the very power that they set out to pursuit through the acquisition of wealth and status has eventually created a desperate sense of powerlessness deep inside their heart.

Why is it so?

The truth is, in the pursuit of all the powers that should supposedly help us achieve wealth, status and success, people have abandoned the one and only power that really matters in their life, that is, the subconscious mind power.

The subconscious mind power is our innate gift. Yet not everybody is aware of its power or even its existence. Some people have probably heard of such innate power but refuse to believe that it works. There are many who are aware and believed in this innate power, are learning how to master the technique of tapping the power residing in their subconscious mind.

Our subconscious mind holds the power to create anything that our mind can possibly conceive. The very challenge that people face in harnessing their subconscious mind power is how to tame their conscious mind. A mind that is untamed wonders in all direction from one moment to another.

A mind with wondering unfocused thoughts has very little power to command the subconscious mind. Just as the laser beam will not have any power when it is scattered.

However, this is exactly the kind of mental state most people are having today, as a result of countless bombardments of information, stress and temptations in our modern world.

Calming the mind and be still is not the natural state of being for most people. It takes efforts and practices to be able to quiet our conscious mind so as to control our subconscious mind. Meditation is one good way to tame the mind, but it is by no means an easy process. Some people spend years to perfect their skill of meditation, and achieve a state of being unsurpassed before.

Today, studies of the science of mind have provided substantial proofs to confirm the viability of such subconscious mind power; more people are convinced and curious to learn more about how to master their subconscious mind.

The scientific findings on the potential of human mind is known to be the greatest discovery of our time, with the potential to leapfrogged the progress of our civilization like the invention of light-bulk, car, airplane, telephone, etc.

Today, after years of efforts in mind research and brain development, mind tools such as mind hypnosis are available to help people achieve effective control of their mind. Having a powerful mind is like having the anchor for our body, mind and soul, which ensures that every other aspect of life, such as health, mental, emotional, finance, and relationship, will be firmly secured.

Learning how to tap the subconscious mind power is the ultimate life skill anyone should seek to master. It is considered to be knowledge of the highest order, which probably surpass any other skills in its ability to shape our future and create our life success.

The famous metaphysical scientist and writer, Christian Larson said:

“He who can change his mind every day and think the new about everything every day, will always be well; he will always have happiness; he will always be free; his life will always be interesting; he will constantly move forward into the larger, the richer and the better; and whatever is needed for his welfare today, of that he shall surely have abundance.”

“A man may live the way he wants to live when he learns to think what he wants to think.”

Jordan Cheng is the author of the Success Journal
at http://www.jordancheng.net/. Find out the
free resources that can help you develop your Mind, Body & Soul to achieve Wealth, Success & Happiness. His is contactable at jordan.cheng181@yahoo.com.sg

Many years ago, Life Magazine ran a story about a man who, early in his life, had made a list of some 500 goals he wanted to achieve over the course of his life. Clearly an eccentric and adventurous fellow, the list included such goals as visiting the Taj Mahal and parachuting from an airplane. The reason the story was newsworthy, other than the fact that many of the goals were particularly colorful, was that the man had actually achieved most of them. The story made for an engaging portrait of an obsession. As we reflect on the story today, it reminds us of the power of goal setting.

The very practical idea that goals beget results is not new. As Euripides, the 5th century BC Greek tragedian, bemoaned, “A bad beginning makes a bad ending.” According to Seneca, the 1st century AD Roman statesman, “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” And, in the priceless words of John Heywood, 16th century collector of marvelous English colloquial sayings, “Look ere ye leape.” In ancient times as well as modern, it has always been self-evident that goals are necessary to provide purpose and direction to activity, and that activity without a goal gets you nowhere.

Contemporary organizational research lends quantitative respectability to the notion that goal setting is useful. In a roundup of research on goal-setting programs, it was found that companies that introduced systematic goal-setting programs enjoyed an average 39% increase in productivity. Interestingly, the size of the benefit varied dramatically among the companies with the key-differentiating factor being the amount of management support. In those companies where top management lent strong support to the goal-setting initiative, there was an average 57% increase in productivity while in those companies where there was little top-management support, the increase was a paltry 6%.

So what practical advice is there for individuals who want to take advantage of the potential power that lies within the goal-setting practice? What exactly is the most effective goal-setting practice? For years, trainers have taught the SMART approach to setting goals. Goals, the advice goes, should be specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time- and resource-constrained.2 Although this is sound advice and is easy to remember, people still find the act of goal setting to be rather difficult. We have found that by providing a bit more structure, it’s easier to set goals and — most importantly — to follow through on them.

The paper would like to offer a fresh acronym: ACT BEST. In order to ACT BEST yourself, and to have the individuals you manage ACT at their BEST, apply some goal-setting tips.

Setting and Attaining Goals: How to ACT BEST

Want to ensure that you end up achieving the desired results? Do an effective job of setting goals up front. This truism has been recommended for centuries, but structure and discipline are required to make it work. Building on the familiar SMART advice for goal setting, we suggest how to ACT BEST when setting and pursuing goals.

Many years ago, Life Magazine ran a story about a man who, early in his life, had made a list of some 500 goals he wanted to achieve over the course of his life. Clearly an eccentric and adventurous fellow, the list included such goals as visiting the Taj Mahal and parachuting from an airplane. The reason the story was newsworthy, other than the fact that many of the goals were particularly colorful, was that the man had actually achieved most of them. The story made for an engaging portrait of an obsession. As we reflect on the story today, it reminds us of the power of goal setting.

The very practical idea that goals beget results is not new. As Euripides, the 5th century BC Greek tragedian, bemoaned, “A bad beginning makes a bad ending.” According to Seneca, the 1st century AD Roman statesman, “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” And, in the priceless words of John Heywood, 16th century collector of marvelous English colloquial sayings, “Look ere ye leape.” In ancient times as well as modern, it has always been self-evident that goals are necessary to provide purpose and direction to activity, and that activity without a goal gets you nowhere.

Contemporary organizational research lends quantitative respectability to the notion that goal setting is useful. In a roundup of research on goal-setting programs, it was found that companies that introduced systematic goal-setting programs enjoyed an average 39% increase in productivity. Interestingly, the size of the benefit varied dramatically among the companies with the key differentiating factor being the amount of management support. In those companies where top management lent strong support to the goal-setting initiative, there was an average 57% increase in productivity while in those companies where there was little top-management support, the increase was a paltry 6%.1

So what practical advice is there for individuals who want to take advantage of the potential power that lies within the goal-setting practice? What exactly is the most effective goal-setting practice? For years, trainers have taught the SMART approach to setting goals. Goals, the advice goes, should be specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time- and resource-constrained.2 Although this is sound advice and is easy to remember, people still find the act of goal setting to be rather difficult. We have found that by providing a bit more structure, it’s easier to set goals and — most importantly — to follow through on them.

We’d like to offer a fresh acronym: ACT BEST. In order to ACT BEST yourself, and to have the individuals you manage ACT at their BEST, apply the following goal-setting tips.

Align

Exactly what goals should you set? It’s often taken for granted that people know what they’re supposed to be working on. Better to be explicit than to make such an assumption. The goals individuals are directing their energies toward achieving ought to be aligned with the company’s strategic objectives and consistent with the corporate mission and vision.

So … line up your goals with those of your immediate supervisor and, in turn, your company. Tie in your efforts to the higher purpose. And, if you have direct reports, make sure their goals are linked with, and supportive of, yours. The overriding question to be asked is, “What needs to be achieved?” not “What do I want to do?”

Coordinate

Almost everyone has experienced what happens when there is an absence of coordination. The image that comes most readily to mind is riding the bumper cars at an amusement park. There’s a lot of energy being expended, but everyone seems to be heading in different, incompatible, and competing directions. Just as you think you have a clear path ahead, someone slams you from the side, and neither of you were expecting the collision. Similarly, goals can put people on a collision course and waste valuable resources, not to mention putting a strain on intergroup relations.

As goals are being established, make them public. Scan others’ goals for opportunities to avoid duplication, minimize counterproductive competition, and achieve synergy. When opportunities to coordinate are discovered, create the appropriate communication channels and checkpoints to ensure that the coordination happens. In other words, find out who else is working on stuff that’s related to what you’re supposed to be working on, talk to them, and agree on how coordination will be achieved.

Time

Virtually every goal will have a time element associated with it. And it needs to be specified.

For some goals, the time element will be a deadline. For example, if you’re accountable for completing the Wormwood project, there’s probably a “drop-dead” date associated with it — the client must have the project completed and in hand by a certain date.

Other goals may not have a deadline but rather have expectations that certain criteria will be met on a daily basis. For example, a receptionist would have as a key responsibility to effectively handle calls and visitors. There’s no deadline, in that you aren’t shooting for a specific completion date after which you will wash your hands of that goal and move on to other things. Rather, you are continuously working on achieving the goal, which in effect gets continuously reset.

Whether a goal is associated with a project (and has a finishing date or a deadline) or with a key job responsibility (and is never ending), you may want to establish mileposts. Mileposts can provide checkpoints along the way to ensure that the goal is on track.

Break Apart

It is easy to get overwhelmed by a goal that is too large for you to get your arms around. The age-old advice here (and sound advice it is) is to break apart the big, indigestible goal and work with its manageable parts. This works whether you are a manager or an individual contributor.

Managers use this approach to ensure that major areas they are accountable for are divvied up and properly apportioned to their direct reports. Hence, sales managers take their “Increase district sales” goals, carve them up, and delegate the pieces to their sales reps. The project leader on the Wormwood account similarly carves up the essential pieces of the project and empowers members of the project team to make the necessary component contributions.

This is an efficient way to “cascade” goals out through the organization. At the top, strategic objectives are basically carved up into manageable pieces and delegated, and these manageable pieces are in turn carved up and delegated further. Breaking apart, combined with alignment, helps ensure that everyone is productively engaged, directing their energies in the appropriate directions.

Evaluate

How do you know if you have achieved the goal? This is a matter of measurement. The ideal is to have some kind of yardstick against which you (and others) can measure your progress, and to have a notch on that yardstick that represents successful goal achievement. You need to establish the evaluation criteria, and the criteria ought to be agreed upon at the time the goal is set.

Sometimes evaluation criteria are pretty straightforward, as may be the case with a sales quota. And sometimes a single criterion is all that is needed, as in “Book $2 million in signed contracts.” Often, however, multiple criteria are appropriate. Consider the Wormwood project where it might be necessary to define several criteria, such as the level of client satisfaction, the profit margin to be achieved, and the quality standards that the project’s output must satisfy.

Support

Recall the statistics concerning the difference between goal-setting programs that are supported by management vs. those that aren’t. If you are in a position (i.e., manager) to give support, do so! (Given the dramatic difference in outcome, this seems like a no-brainer.)

Support can consist of freeing up resources, helping to overcome obstacles, providing greater clarity to the goal itself. Support can also mean setting goals yourself, which has the effect of providing clear goals for your direct reports to align their goals with.

If you are not in a position to give support (you’re not a manager), then seek it whenever you need it. If your manager doesn’t give it, align your goals with what your manager’s goals should be, or with your next-level manager’s goals. Be resourceful and seek support from other sources.

Track

Goals change … usually within days of having been set. They need to be updated periodically. As time passes, you also make progress against a goal. That progress needs to be noted … also periodically.

This process of revising, updating, and tracking goals suggests an additional attribute of an effective goal that is usually not spoken out loud. That dark secret is that goals ought to be kept visible. If what is out of sight is out of mind, then goals that are tucked away in a drawer will have very little power to direct and energize.

By setting your goals within the ACT BEST structure, you will have raised the chances that they will beget organizationally desired results.

If this sounds rather cold and clinical, you’re probably right. Anything so rational and passionless is bound to account for no more than about half the total effect you’re trying to achieve. For the other half, let’s look back to that eccentric fellow with the 500 life goals. We think it’s safe to say that this man got results not just by setting goals the right way, but by setting the goals and then persevering in their achievement. Good old-fashioned self-discipline and genuine, from-the-inside-out desire were the additional critical ingredients.

The Manager’s Role in Setting Goals II: Conducting a Goal Setting Discussion

You’re a manager, your company uses goal setting as a key management tool, and you want to help your direct reports set their goals. In this second part of a two-part series, we describe how a manager can conduct a goal setting discussion.

The first part of this series ended with the following tasks to be completed by the manager and the employees in preparation for a one-on-one discussion of the employee’s goals:

Manager:

o Review company’s top-level objectives

o Identify which of your own goals should be divided up and delegated

o Clarify employees’ key responsibilities and anticipate the goals you would expect them to set to back these responsibilities

o Review the competencies that apply to your direct reports’ positions

o Review any development plans

Employees:

o Understand the top-level objectives and their role in achieving them

o Think about how they contribute to the manager’s organizational goals

o Refresh any goals from the prior performance period supporting key responsibilities

o Draft goals for any major projects

o Identify competencies that are important to achieving the goals

o Think about development needs

Assuming that these tasks are finished, the next step will be to conduct a goal setting discussion where the following tasks are completed:

1. Finalize the employee’s goals for the coming performance period (quarter or year).

2. Agree on the competencies that are most critical to supporting the employee’s goals.

3. Finalize any development plans that are needed to support the competencies and goals.

This article will guide you through these steps by addressing criteria for a successful result, a process for getting there, as well as common problems and their solutions.

What Do Good Goals Look Like?

If you’ve done a good job working with your employee, the results of your discussion should meet these criteria:

Criteria: Comments:

The goals should be results-based Each of the goals should measure the value-added outputs of the job, not just the activities.

The goals should be verifiable Goals should not be vague. There should be a way to verify that the goals have been achieved.

There should be no more than 5-9 goals Too many goals will cause the employee to lose focus.

The goals should be aligned with both the manager’s and higher-level goals The employee’s individual success should visibly contribute to achieving these higher goals.

The competencies should directly support the goals How to achieve the goals (that is, what competencies are required to be successful) should be as clear to the employee as the goals themselves.

The development plan should specify who should do what by when to improve the employee’s competencies Specific activities and new on-the-job behaviors must be detailed if the employee is to have a chance to really improve his/her competencies.

How to Create Goals

There are three ways to create goals:

1. Use the same metric as the higher-level goals

The easiest way to assure alignment is to use the same measure as a higher-level goal.

For instance, a top-level annual dollar sales goal of $5 million, might become a $250,000/year quota for a sales rep.

2. Borrow measurement ideas from other sources

Reviewing measures used by other organizations saves you from “reinventing the wheel.” Asking colleagues for the measures they use or checking online or print sources of measures will save you time.

For instance, accounts receivable might choose to support a top-level profit goal with an evaluation criterion of “no more than 5% of receivables will be over 90 days old,” where the measurement idea of “% receivables over X days old” came from another industry.

3. Develop your own goals and evaluation criteria:

o Ask: “What does our customer need from us? What result do we leave behind that adds value to the customer?”

o When evaluating this result, do we care about quantity, quality, cost, timeliness or some combination of these factors?

o Some goals can be measured numerically: What number could we use to evaluate the quantity, quality, cost, timeliness?

o If a number can’t be used, a descriptive measure should be agreed upon: Who will be able to judge the “goodness” of the result and what factors will the judge evaluate?

o How much of this result represents a good job? If a number can’t be used, what would the judge see or hear that indicates that the result was a good one?

o How can we track progress toward the goal?

For instance, when evaluating a key responsibility of order fulfillment, the pharmaceutical warehouse knows that the sales reps they service need “accurately packed orders” from the warehouse. When evaluating this result, the reps care about a combination of quality and timeliness. The measures of “% perfect orders” and “order turnaround time” might lead to evaluation criteria of “99%-99.5% order accuracy, shipped within 24 hours of receipt of the order.” This can be tracked using the dock’s shipping manifest data.

When evaluating a project goal, a research team leader might decide that one of the results the company needs from her and her team is a “completed research project.” While a budget criterion of “±3% budget variance” and a time criterion of “completed by the end of the 3rd quarter” could adequately measure cost and time, the quality of the work is best described, rather than quantified. Thus the quality criteria might read:

“The marketing and research managers agree that:

o Experimental results are consistent, definitive and interpretable.

o The findings are scientifically novel, suggest new ideas to pursue, or identify a new application of a previous result.

o The team identifies an area of clinical usefulness.

o A more efficient research design wasn’t possible.”

Note that the marketing and research managers have been identified as the judges of these descriptive evaluation criteria.

Get-Give-Merge

It is very likely that you and your employees will disagree about the content of their performance plan. Here is a negotiation model that gives you a way to understand the differences between your two separate views and begin to merge them. Using this model will encourage two-way communication and minimize confrontations in your goal discussions.

Get, give, and merge. These three words will cue you to get the employee’s viewpoint, give your own and merge the two views. Here is what we mean by these terms:

o Get – Ask questions and restate what the other person has said, using your own words. Your employee will give you feedback to confirm that your understanding is accurate, or to let you know that you’ve misunderstood.

o Give – Explain your viewpoint in clear language, and then confirm that the other person understood you. You can do this by either asking a question or having the employee restate what you said in his/her own words.

o Merge – Resolve differences between your views and the employee’s views.

While getting and giving are more self-explanatory, merging may be a new concept for some managers. There are four techniques used to merge or resolve differences. Their definitions and examples of each are listed below:

Type of Merge: Definition: Examples:

Agree You agree with the employee’s viewpoint or the employee agrees with yours. “You’re right, we did forget to have a goal for ‘customer satisfaction’ on the original list. Let’s add it.”

Create You and the employee create a totally new alternative that both of you can agree to. “I want you to handle the customers’ problems during their call, and you’d like the flexibility of handling them within an hour after the call. We’ve agreed that on each call, you’ll ask the customers when they need an answer, and then you’ll meet that mutually agreed-upon deadline.”

Meet You and your employee meet on a viewpoint somewhere between yours and the employee’s. “You’d like to shoot for 45 and I’d like the standard to be 25, but we’ll both agree on 30-35 for the next six months. Then we’ll re-negotiate.”

Impose You set the standard and require the employee to agree to agree with your viewpoint. o “OSHA rules say that goggles and ear protectors must be worn in these circumstances. So that has to be one of the things I expect from you.”

o “The department budget for this project is $10,000, and so you have to have the same standard.”

There is an order to the various types of merges. You can always impose your view or agree with the employee’s views, but the best solutions usually come from creating a new alternative that is acceptable to both of you. Here’s the recommended order for using these four merging techniques:

o If the employee’s idea is a good one, simply agree with it. He or she will probably do the same with some of your ideas.

o If you disagree, create a new alternative that both of you can live with, or

o Try to meet in the middle (especially if it is a numeric goal).

o If an outside group such as upper management or a government agency is imposing a standard on your work, you will have no choice but to impose the same standard on your employee. When imposing, always explain why to lessen the bad feelings that may occur.

When conducting the goal discussion, recycle the steps of Get-Give-Merge for each goal before moving on to the next one. By doing so, you will maximize the employee’s buy-in and commitment.

Common Problems and Their Solutions

Here are the kinds of problems you may encounter when you sit down with your employees to create their goals:

Common Problems: Examples: Solution:

Tasks disguised as goals o Hold kickoff meeting by 9/1

o Meet with 15 clients per week

o Review documentation for errors. Ask, “If the kickoff is successful, what value will we add?” and then measure that result. For example, the result might be “buy-in to the new project” with an evaluation criterion of 10-15 locations volunteering to pilot the program.”

Goals are too big or long range Achieve division profitability in 5 years. When a goal is too large and/or too far in the future to offer practical guidance on a near-term basis, identify interim goals that specify progress toward the longer-range goal. For example, achieving “$X revenue and $Y expenses by the end of the current year” could be an effective interim goal.

Goals for competencies Setting a goal of “improving teamwork” while simultaneously evaluating a competency called “teamwork” Decide which is more important, the end-result or the way of achieving the result.

o If the result is more important, set a goal for it.

o If the way of achieving the result is more important, evaluate only the competency and drop the goal.

Too many goals List of 25 goals Prioritize the goals in terms of effect on the organization and alignment with your goals and higher-level goals. Drop the low-priority goals or combine goals with similar intent.

Not practical to track o Answer the phone prior to the third ring.

o No typos on any documents. o Sample the work.

o Switch to exception reporting where the two examples become “No complaints due to unanswered phones or errors in documents.”

o Drop the goals.

Vague or unverifiable evaluation criteria o Do a good quality job.

o Improve customer satisfaction. Identify numeric measures and goals or switch to a verifiable descriptive measure. For instance, “improve customer satisfaction” could become “score 3.5 to 4.0 on customer satisfaction survey” or “customers say they are willing to recommend our product to their colleagues.”

Summary

Goal setting will go more smoothly if you prepare well and then hold meetings with your direct reports in which you:

o Set well-crafted goals that are results-based, verifiable, aligned, and have competencies and (as appropriate) development plans supporting them.

o Borrow measurement ideas from higher-level goals in the organization or from other functions or companies.

o Help the employee create goals based on the results his or her customers need. And use either numeric or descriptive measures to define the evaluation criteria.

o Negotiate goals by getting the employee’s view first, giving yours, and then merging the two views.

o Merge your views in this order: Agree, Create, Meet in the middle, and Impose when you have to.

References:

1. R. Rodgers and J. E. Hunter. Impact of Management By Objectives on Organizational Productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1991, vol. 76, pp. 322-336.

2. Larrie A. Rouillard. Goals and Goal Setting. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1998.

M.com, Phd. An experience of 16 yrs split into academics and industry

A powerful mind is the foundation of career success, and hence the key focus of executive training.

History abounds with highly intelligent and talented individuals who failed to achieve the level of success equivalent to their innate capabilities. On the contrary, many super successful individuals in human history epitomize the most common and critical success factor: Will Power – a quality not related with intelligence, talents or education, but born of the perfect mastery of inner strength. The inner strength is found in the mind.

Good leadership skills are critical in any career that revolves around human interactions -which is literally all kinds of career. Hence, the key aspect of executive training is in building good leadership skills.

Good leadership skills encompass more than technical skills and expertise knowledge. Great corporate leaders demonstrate exceptional personal qualities that stem from their inner strength. The common denominator among these successful corporate leaders is their highly empowered mind, which is capable of directing inner resources to overcome challenges during critical situations.

With an empowered mind, great leaders lead people into massive action to achieve massive success. They are able to exercise personal power through the effective use of three critical mind skills: Will Power, Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline.

People with strong Will Power have the ability to direct the power of their mind. Children often demonstrate perfect examples of what having a strong will means. Their pure and focused minds lend them to showing amazing strong will in whatever things they desire. As adults, we have learned all the rules and restrictions acceptable in the society. We learned how to exercise self-control, and ended up forgetting how and when to release this self-control mechanism that is deeply ingrained in our mind.

While children display willful behaviors due to their lack of knowledge of discrimination, we adult need to do some unlearning to deliberately harness this innate will power. Even though old entrenched beliefs may weaken our will power, this new awareness can help you to consciously recall your inborn will power. If you can direct your own mind to focus all its resources and be free from any distractions, you can develop a strong will and a powerful personality. A focused mind strengthens the will and self-confidence by increasing concentration and eliminating self-doubts. Good leadership skills require an empowered mind that can focus its thought effectively without getting distracted.

Self-Confidence comes from the subtlest level of the mind. It is the state of mind that is completely free of conflict. Looking at Anthony Robbins performing on the stage, you can feel his unlimited confidence that comes from the unshakable belief in his knowledge of expertise. There are no conflicts and self-doubts existing in his subconscious mind. Confidence need not necessarily be built upon success. The genuine confidence is all within us, if only we could shut out all the self-doubts that are all too pervasive. If our mind is strong and focused, we can ward off self-doubts and build good leadership skills.

Self-Discipline is another critical factor of leadership success. It may conjure a daunting notion that we have to go against our will to do things we don’t like. With knowledge of mind power, self-discipline can be transformed from a daunting task to a blissful activity that flows naturally with alignment of your mind, body and soul. It is simply creating the ability to do what you really want to do. Understanding the way the mind works, we can utilize the power of habits to instill self-discipline. As we develop self-discipline leveraging on the power of habits, we build good leadership skills.

Every human mind has enormous power. The success in life of individuals varies according to how effectively they utilize their mind power. In that regard, mind power development is probably the most critical part of executive training that builds long-term career success. Even if you have no inclination for leadership among people, you should be the leader of your life. Whatever way you may define success, the critical factor is found in your mind power. Any daily exercises that you do to develop your mind power will yield dividend to your life as well as career over a long time.

Developing our Will Power, Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline are the critical part of executive training to build good leadership skills. These mind skills will go a long way to building a successful life and career.

Jordan Cheng is the author of
mind-power-for-success.com. Discover more resources that help develop your
Success Skills to live a life of success, wealth and abundance.

Attitude in Positive Thinking and Self Talk

To achieve success we need to have a positive attitude. We can achieve this by using positive thinking and self-talk. People who succeed need to think positive and tell themselves that they can do it.

Being positive and telling yourself that you can do something like reaching that big dream you have for the future will change your attitude and make those dreams come true. Tell yourself that you can do it instead of thinking negative and let your self-think that the dream is too big you’ll never make it that far. This is called affirmatives, which bring nice rewards.

If we think about negative things, our mind will talk us right out of doing something especially if it seems scary. Don’ pay attention to those negative notions; jump in there by thinking positive, like “I can do this.”

Our attitudes depend on how we are thinking.  If we think negative thoughts, we will be unhappy making our attitude stinks. When we are happy, thinking positive things, our attitude will be happy and we in turn can be happier around others as well as ourselves.  We have to be happy with our self in order to have a good attitude on life.

Find out why you are holding a grudge about something. Think about how you got this rotten attitude and what can you do to change how you feel. Make a list of all the things that made you angry and what made you angry with yourself. Now prioritize the list with the worst one on top and work your way down until the bottom is the most less that bothers you.

Now make some suggestions on how to eliminate this list in order for you to like yourself and those around you. Changing is not going to be easy and some people might make fun of you or get mad but do what you have to do in order to change your attitude from being negative to positive.

You can’t have a positive thinking and self talk if you’re not happy with yourself. Think positive and tell yourself you are going to make these changes in order to be the kind of person in your dreams.

If you haven’t already made of list of dreams and goals, you want than do that right now.  Make your list of dreams and goals that you really have to work for in order to achieve them. When you are writing you may be thinking negative things like “I’ll never be able to get this dream” but you can by changing your attitude on life and using your power of positive thinking and self-talk.

Feel like a new person with an attitude adjustment; remember that if your thinking negative than that is how you’re going to feel. Positive thinking and self-talk will make you think happy giving you better health as well.

Think happy things by positive thinking will get you a long ways towards your goals for the future.

Relieving stress by thinking positive things will help you prevent health problems. Stress can and will cause you high blood pressure, heart diseases, strokes and high cholesterol.  Start relieving stress with positive thinking and self-talk.

Tell yourself that you’re going to be a happy person today. Everyday you’re going to learn to smile more, learn a new skill, and do something positive for yourself.  These and many others thinking positive will help relieve stress and help to putting your life on track with better health.

Subjects should always build on the list of inveiglement with ideas of their own.

www.neuronvideo.com

GuBu is the publisher and webmaster of the following niche websites:
http://www.videoclinical.com
http://www.swordsmartialarts.com and http://www.fishingfreevideo.com

This is a great magic trick that will impress anybody at a bar or any other social gathering. It’s fairly easy to learn, and easy to set up and do. You will convince them of your powerful psychic abilities, and earn yourself a few free drinks.

This is the way it will look to your soon to be amazed group of friends. You casually mention that you have recently learned the skill of psychic projection. Of course, everybody thinks you are fooling, and will ask you to prove it. You pick somebody at random and tell them you are going to mentally project a number into their mind.

You pull out a small note pad and a small pencil (like the kind you use to record your golf score) and write down a number. Then you focus all your psychic energy on the person in question, and ask them to guess a number between one and a hundred. You turn the paper around, and they will all be completely amazed to see the number on the pages matches the one they chose.

Here’s the secret. When you first write down the number on the small note pad, don’t actually write anything. Just pretend to. On your other hand, have a small piece of pencil lead attached to your thumb or forefinger. You can either use a piece of double side tape, or slide it underneath your fingernail. You don’t have to worry how neat your writing looks, but you will need to practice enough so that you can write their number quickly and without looking.

Then as soon as they choose their number, write whatever number they said on the pad. This is the trickiest part, as their isn’t a lot of things you can do to waste time. Most of the time people will want to see the pad pretty quickly, usually right after they choose their number. You can take a deep breath, and ask them to make sure, or thank the gods for helping you with another successful mind transfer. Or you can make them promise to buy you a drink or something if you’re answer is correct.

Then simply flip the pad around, and show them the number. They will be properly astonished, you will be the center of attention, and everybody will want to talk to you. For bonus points, you can make them agree before hand to buy you a drink (or give you a kiss if they’re your spouse or partner) if you “project” the number correctly. Have fun with this.