Smarter Every Day Magazine - Vol1 Issue2 by Smarter Every Day Magazine

Smarter Every Day Magazine Vol 1 Issue 2

Smarter Every Day Magazine

Vol 1 Issue 2

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor.....................................................................................................3 The Most Valuable and Essential Things in Life..........................................................4 Ugly Duckling or Swan?..................................................................................................8 Good Habits ... Essential For Personal & Professional Success................................12 Being Serious Won't Make You Silly, Yet Being Silly Can Help You Be More Serious.............................................................................................................................17 The Tattoo.......................................................................................................................24 The Times They Are'a Changin'!.................................................................................27

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Jimmy Smart Letter from the Editor As I stood in the hospital room looking at my friend's four hour old baby girl, I could not help but think about the wonderful feeling new beginnings bring. The newness... the unknown... the innocence. Obviously, the birth of a child is the ultimate new beginning, but the excitement of something new doesn't always have to come in small packages. It can be anything from a beginning a new job to moving into a new home or it can be reading a new book. The list of new beginnings may be endless but the challenge is short and simple. In the coming month, I challenge you to break your norm and add something new to your life. It doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming. Start taking a walk after dinner. Take the stairs at work. Plant a garden. It's up to you. My only criteria is that it has to be new, give you some sort of enthusiasm and is self rewarding. I thank you for being a part of my new beginning. Jimmy Smart Editor/Publisher

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Billy Arcement

The Most Valuable and Essential Things in Life No one is born neutral! We all come into the world with enough “basic wiring” to conduct a current. Whatever “charge” we make on the world depends upon how well we tap our own natural resources. My belief is that all of us have sufficient talents and skills to do what we truly desire to do with our lives. Notice I didn’t say, “Wish to do.” I said, “Truly desire!” What is your true desire? What have you defined as your life’s purpose? What do you want the world to remember about your time here? What difference do you want to make? These are very tough questions that demand much thought to get meaningful answers. The strength of the answers depends directly on how well you use your pool of talents and skills. Here are four valuable, essential things we bring to life that help maximize these natural skills Our Ability to Think! No other living organism has the brainpower we possess.

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However, most people are reluctant to practice this skill. They want everyone else to think for them. They just want to do and not think. It’s almost like if they use their brain, it will wear out. What non-thinkers fail to realize is that if you don’t use it, you just might lose it. Consider your brain to be like a muscle that needs exercise to grow stronger. A failure to exercise both will lead to weaker muscles and weaker thoughts. Our Ability to Take Action on Our Thoughts! If you do nothing with the knowledge you gain by thinking, it’s no different than not thinking at all. Make ACTION on your knowledge the way that you do business. Don’t let inertia become the glue that binds you to inactivity and ineffectiveness. The world isn’t ready to hand us success. We must take action on our goals if we are to achieve them. Our Ability to Get Results from Our Action! What are the results you seek from life? Where do you wish your career to go? How much education do I need in order to grow my career? Answering these questions and taking action to make them become reality is the only way we can get results. If we don’t forget the law of cause and effect—in essence, we reap what we sow—we are clearer on what actions we need to produce the results we seek. But, we must remember that only the right actions produce the right

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results. Our Free Will! The power to choose, like our ability to think, is a unique gift. We don’t have to rely on instinct like other animals. We can think and thus make choices. While this wonderful ability is given to us free of charge, we often forget we can choose. Every decision we make is a choice and every decision we make moves us towards some end result. Don’t like the results you’re getting? The remedy is simply—change the actions and your decisions. The gift of choice and a free will are the crown jewels we should cherish and value and irreplaceable. Why not spend time thinking and formulating goals you truly desire to achieve? Make detailed action steps for their achievement. Don’t quit until you reach your destination. And, along the way, always remember that you have a free will and can make choices to adjust the journey and guarantee success. What a bargain!

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About the Author Billy Arcement is a professional speaker/author, MEd—The Leadership Strategist, shares his messages on common sense leadership and personal development with business, government and education leaders. He authored Searching For Success, now internationally published. His newest book, Journeying on Holy Ground, provides insightful guidance for establishing priorities on life’s journey. His website, www.SearchingForSuccess.com provides information about his services.

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Bonnie Snyder Ugly Duckling or Swan? Who thought swans would be the refresher with a message? After going to the dentist, I decided I needed to recharge my batteries and enjoy a bit of nature before my next couching session. I stopped by a nearby park with a lake and a lovely view. I found a towel in the car. (I had my husband's car so I didn't have my beach chair in the trunk.) It was one of those beautiful days of spring before the heat of our Florida summer. I thought it would be lovely to just sit and enjoy some peace and quiet. As I headed to a familiar part of the park, I heard the laughing and playful voices of children, many children. I love the sounds of children's voices but after hearing drilling at the dentist I just wanted quiet. I headed towards the other end of lake. As I sat down on my little towel, my attention was caught by the swans. At this lake you can rent swan boats and you usually see swans, but the swans I saw first were in pairs and they were black! I had never seen black swans before. Maybe I just live a sheltered life. Who

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knows? They were a beautiful sight. I enjoyed the swans that, on this particular day, were traversing the water in pairs. Two pairs of black swans and next a pair of swans with black necks and white bodies both perfectly matched. Then finally I saw the white swans. It was lovely to watch them gracefully float on the water. I have never seen birds so gracefully catch and swallow fish. Although I only stayed a short while, I felt a welling up in my heart of joy, just watching the ease and loveliness of the swans. As many of you know animals can be symbols and represent certain ideas. I thought about the traditional ugly duckling story that recognizes they are a beautiful swan. That is a wonderful metaphor for our ability to really recognize when we accept ourselves we become ‘beautiful” and graceful because we aren’t trying to be something we aren’t. Being yourself is much easier. I also wanted to know more so I looked up the animal message of swans. So here they are: “begin to realize your own true beauty”. Then I looked up black swan: “represents love, both self love and romantic love, happiness in yourself, the healing power of love and miracles”. I think the message is obvious but maybe not. You choose – no one else does. Are you

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an ugly duckling or a swan? Be your authentic self without hesitation. Your journey will be easier and more grace. Wishing you the grace of the swans.

About the Author Bonnie Snyder, Ed.S., CPC is an Energy Alignment, Life Balance Coach and graduate of the Authentic Happiness Coaching program. She was trained as an Educational Psychologist with an M.S. in Education and Ed.S in School Psychology. In her counseling practice she found the number one problem for her clients was stress. Bonnie discovered that reducing the stress response in the body opened the door to release what was keeping her clients stuck. Visit www.serenitypathways.com for the first and only Online Spa, where you can destress in 10 minutes or less.

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You are one day closer to a better you!

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Donna Satchell

Good Habits ... Essential For Personal & Professional Success In today’s busy world, more so than ever, habits are key for personal and professional success. Habits are essential because they allow us to do things without thinking about it. What would your life be like if you had to think through everything you did through every moment of every day? Just imagine actually having to think through all the decisions you made about driving to work...inserting the key into the ignition, turning the key, releasing the brake, checking your rear view mirror, checking your side mirrors, backing out of the garage. Our minds would be overwhelmed with regular everyday activities if we had to make moment-to-moment decisions about everything. Webster’s dictionary defines a habit as an acquired mode of behavior that as become nearly or completely involuntary. Notice it does not indicate whether it is good or bad. That is determined by the habit itself. If the habits are good they are short-cuts to

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automatic decision-making, allowing us to move more quickly through life, accomplishing more leading to our success. However, if bad, they are short-cuts to automatic decisionmaking that can result in us accomplishing less and being unsuccessful. Let us look at three habits have can easily determine our success in life or lack there of: self talk, personal associations, food choices. •

Self talk is the inner conversation we have with ourselves at every moment of everyday. This conversation helps to determine our attitude and as the famous saying indicates “Our attitude determines our altitude.” What are your inner conversations like? Are they filled with lots of negative thoughts about things you feel you cannot do because of the lack of education, money, time or knowing the right people? Negative self-talk can become a habit, a way of thinking that is automatic and prevents us from doing the things we can do to achieve our goals and dreams. How can we stop that from happening? In the One Minute Millionaire, Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, write about a rubber band exercise that I believe can help us in that area. They recommend you

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wear a rubber band around your wrist for 21 days. Every time you find yourself thinking or saying something negative you slightly pull on the rubber band so that it pops against your skin. You do not pull on it hard causing a bruise or damage to your wrist. But rather just enough so you realize you are thinking negative. At that point you are to replace the negative thought with something more positive and affirming; a thought which can move you forward instead of holding you back. They indicate you should do the rubber band exercise for at least 21 days because it takes that amount of time to start to change the negative thought pattern. â&#x20AC;˘

Personal associations are the people we choose to interact with on a regular basis. The question is are they positive or negative. If they are negative, their limited way of thinking can rub off on us and then we end up thinking negatively. Like self-talk the type of people we choose to associate with can become a habit. So you should determine what your pattern is. Do you find yourself with friends who are pursuing ambitious and worthwhile goals and dreams? Or are your friends stuck in a rut of mediocrity. Be honest with yourself as you think about them. If you find they are more of the latter than the former, you will want to make some changes. Begin by

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broadening the people you spend time with. Join organizations of individuals of people are doing more with their lives, like an Optimists Club or Toastmasters Club. Start spending less and less time with those who are negative so you can create more time for those who are positive and moving forward. â&#x20AC;˘

Like self-talk and personal associations, food choices can become a habit. Those

habits can lead to a life-time of good health or bad health. With the alarming increase in diabetes and other food-related diseases, we cannot afford for bad food choices to become a habit. What do you find yourself eating everyday? Are fast-food restaurants where you usually go for lunch or dinner? Are you eating the recommended number of fruits and vegetables daily? Are you drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day? Consciously monitor your unconscious food choices by keeping a daily diary of what you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. After a week, check the listing, if you find your choices are less than you desire, start making better decisions your routine as opposed to the exception.

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Changing our habits regarding our self-talk, personal associations and food choices can help lead to having more successful lives.

About the Author Donna Satchell of STARR Consulting & Training is a achievement & business speaker, success skills trainer, author, and the creator of the Just Get SeriousÂŽ programs that inform, motivate and propel people into action towards greater success. She provides seminars on customer service, teamwork, time management, public speaking. She also delivers exciting motivational speeches which inspire individuals to live more rewarding, fulfilling and successful lives. Visit www.JustGetSerious.com for information about programs/products and to view videos of Donna's speeches.

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Robert Alan Black, Ph.D Being Serious Won't Make You Silly, Yet Being Silly Can Help You Be More Serious Over 35 years of working in creative fields and working with people striving to be more creative or use more creativity I have discovered that silly has its place in the serious workplace. Since first attending CPSI in 1978 I have met hundreds of consultants, business leaders, managers, trainers and educators that have shared how they use silly as a serious creativity tool. Silly putty, toys, props, balloons, water guns, noise makers, practical jokes, comedy movies, cartoons on the screen or the wall, TinkerToys, Zots & ????, Frizbees, clown noses, costumes, pinball machines, video games. These are only a sampling of what I have seen people use and have tried to encourage

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people to use. Lindsay Collier, creativity consultant, has shared often the efforts of his Creativity Room at Kodak. Dave Morrison and Frank Prince have talked about their work while inside Frito-Lay. Others have shared about their work at IBM, GE, Motorola, and endless other corporations. C. W. Metcalf, Malcolm Kushner, Matt Weinstein, Joel Goodman, Bob Basso Esther Blumenfeld and Lynne Alpern represent only a few of those who have written about their experiences as humor consultants. Annually Joel Goodman and his Humor Project holds a Humor Conference in Sarasota Springs, New York and Humor Development Workshops during the summer. In his recent book Faster Company, Pat Kelly, the founder of PSS, first nationwide medical supply distribution company, shares about many of the fun things they have done in his company to help increase the creativity of the employees. My 20 years has introduced me to officers, directors, managers and supervisors at poultry plants, sewing plants, clay processing companies, baby product producers, police and fire stations, libraries, school rooms, government offices where humor and fun are

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used to increase the creativity and lessen the stress of the daily pressures of today's workplace. The discovery I have made is that the companies that deliberately strive to make their workplace and their work fun and add humor intentionally are the ones who are more successful consistently over time. How can you add humor into your workplace? Cartoons, jokes, share humorous work anecdotes, dress up in costume at holiday times or in celebration of a great success. Pacesetter Steel based near Atlanta chose a baseball theme for a sales campaign. All the employees were taken to an Atlanta Braves game for the kick-off. The lobby of the headquarters was changed into a baseball field with a dugout that visitors sat in while waiting for their appointments. As a prize, if they increased sales to a chosen point, was a cruise for all employees. They did. They went. Ice cream and cake parties. Parades, props, posters, gag gifts. The AT&T Longlines plant in Norcross celebrated a great win by holding a parade

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throughout the plant. The floats were made from leftover supplies by the employees on their own time. The end of the parade was the operations manager, Lou Hatala and the president of the CWA local not just shaking hands but hugging in congratulations of their joint accomplishments. Why do these things? To increase morale. To lessen stress. To enrichen comradery and teamship. To make work fun and something people look forward to each day. How do you benefit? Lower turnover, absenteeism, lateness, error rates. Increased production, accuracy, finer quality. The overall results...higher profits and greater staying and hanging in power when things get tough. How do these increase creativeness? When people are having fun they will bounce back for misses, failures, mistakes easier. People work better in teams when they are having fun along with challenges. Conflicts will be resolved and benefited from more. People maintain higher levels of enthusiasm

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and motivation when they are having fun and find value in their work. Am I saying that everyone in your next board meeting should be given cans of silly string? Am I saying that everyone in your next planning meeting should be wearing clown noses? Am I saying that your sales force out to hand out humorous gag gifts to clients this quarter? Yes I am! Look at Southwest Airlines, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Thiele Kaolin, Duck Head Apparel and many other examples. When they spontaneously and deliberately strive to add fun and have fun at work they are more successful. When was the last time you toured a poultry plant and most of the employees and supervisors and the plant manager were dressed up in Halloween costumes? When was the last time you went your bank branch and the president was dressed up as Dracula? At Gold Kist Poultry they do. At First American Bank he does. These are a couple of local examples from my home town of Athens, Georgia. How about you? How about your department? How about your plant or organization?

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How can you add humor and fun this week? The results will be tremendous.

About the Author Alan Black S.P.R.E.A.D.s Cre8ng and Creative Thinking throughout entire organizations from their front doors to their executive floors. He works around the world through consulting, speeches, workshops, training programs, books, articles and his website to help as many people as possible tap into and develop their greatest gift -their creativity. Please visit Alan's website www.cre8ng.com. Challenge your visual skills today by visiting the following website focused on visual Logic Puzzles: www.brainden.com/logic-puzzles.htm

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Stacey Spiller The Tattoo Several days ago I returned home from a trip that left me physically tired and emotionally drained. When I walked into my home, I took immediate stock of what Kyle, my recent high school graduate, had done or more accurately had not done in preparation to leave for college in less than 36 hours. So I go to look for the little darling son and chide him for his lack of readiness. And then I find him. Still asleep, although the noon hour has already passed and I feel like a commercial for the armed services. That I have already done more before 12:00 than he is going to do all day. I take a deep breath. And then as nice as you please, (because I know I only have 36 hours before he leaves for college) I wake Kyle up and tell him this would be as good a time as any to begin doing laundry, packing, and shopping for his college dorm items. As he wakes up, he rolls over and I see it. I immediately begin interrogating Kyle like he is a wanted felon. “What is that thing on you, who did this, how did that happen?” You see

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I discovered that Kyle’s arm is now a billboard of his name, his birthplace, and his zodiac sign as if he may need a reminder of this information once he gets to college. “Now isn’t this a nice welcome home” I tell Kyle with all the sarcasm I could muster. I mean it’s not like he didn’t already know exactly how I feel about tattoos. Later in the afternoon, after I pulled myself off the ceiling, I knew the remedy for me to find peace was to spend some quiet time in prayer. Gradually I realized that no matter what I did or didn’t do, the permanent, very colorful and bright ink wasn’t going away. No amount of anger, time spent considering a consequence, or just sheer frustration could alter the situation. I began to think of the Serenity Prayer that asks God to grant me the peace to accept the things I can not change. Somehow that prayer always sounded like a good idea in the theoretical realm but now I realized that I needed to apply it in the practical realm. The Serenity Prayer for me had been about memorization but now I had revelation. I would like to encourage you to consider some people, some situations or some things in your life that require you to go to God for the peace of mind to accept them because there isn’t anything you can do to change them. I can honestly tell you, based on my

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own experience, that once you really get this concept deep down in your spirit there is a real sense of freedom. Yes freedom from wasting time thinking about it and/or worrying about it because you realize it already is what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be. You may have some permanent ink circumstances in your life and what I want for you is the wisdom to know the absolute one and only thing you can do is change how you handle it.

About the Author Stacey Speller is a highly sought-after author, lifestyle coach, columnist, and international speaker. She knows that all things are possible and passionately believes that everyone should discover their own unique gifts, talents and purpose. A people person by nature, it is readily apparent that Stacey is passionate about her speaking and coaching because she has such a heart-felt desire to help people become their best self. For more information or to contact Stacey please visit her website at: www.speak2stacey.com.

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Hal Coleman The Times They Are'a Changin'! For years I’ve spoken to folks about the importance of being able to change and adapt your life, ideas and actions to fit the circumstances. The vast majority of us Homo sapiens hate the word ‘change’. Man, once we get comfortable and cozy, we just don’t want anyone coming along and messing with us. No sir. We like things just fine the way they are thank you. The problem is that nothing is permanent and comfort doesn’t last for long. If you don’t eventually go find more wood, the fire will go out and you won’t have anything left to burn and you will get cold! If you can’t find more wood, you might want to think about switching over to gas or electric heat. Or maybe solar. But if you just sit there and whine about how cold it is and wait for someone to come along and stoke the fire and re-fill the kindling box……it most likely ain’t gonna happen and you are going to eventually freeze to death.

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Every day I look around me and see businesses collapsing and going under and people getting laid off and heading into financial oblivion. And the one common statement I hear more than anything else is, “If something doesn’t change soon, I am gonna go broke!” I just want to scream,“Wake up and listen to me. You can’t just sit around and wait for change to happen. YOU have to change yourself. YOU have to create the change in your life and in your work. YOU have to make things happen, or they won’t. Don’t you get it?” This is the most difficult challenge people face in their lives……changing habits and beliefs. Whether it’s in your business, your work, your marriage or a relationship with someone else…..if you can’t change, you can’t survive. Life is about change. Always. Bob Dylan said it best in a song, “The Times, They Are’ A Changin”. They always have been and they always will be.

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About the Author Hal Coleman is a successful entrepreneur, businessman and entertainer. He graduated from The University of Georgia in 1974 with a degree in Entomology. He has owned and operated 8 different businesses over the past 35 years, including a pest control company, which he grew from a “one-man-with-a-spray can” operation into a million dollar business using his straight forward, step-by-step approach to network relationship marketing in his community. Hal can be contacted at: www.thenetworkingninja.com.

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