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So, Let's consider: Being Average vs Being Great! 0

Posted by on in Family, Health, Let's Consider..., Life, So





So, Let’s consider: Being Average vs Being Great!

OK, so, let’s take a few minutes to look at and consider our lives and where we want to take them.
Nobody wants an average life or to be an average person. Frankly, there’s just too many of them and they generally don’t go anywhere. We all want to be GREAT! We want to be ABOVE AVERAGE. We want to succeed and make good things for ourselves and our families. So, let’s consider a few things we can adopt in our lives that maybe can help us move in that direction.

Turn OFF the TV

Fewer things waste more of our time that just passively watching TV. There is NO such thing as “must see TV” regardless of how much we’re bombarded by that slogan from the networks, etc. Frankly, just watching the tube for the sake of watching the tube, watching “your show”, etc., is a huge waster of your time that could be spend helping to develop and better you. Instead, read something daily. It can be a book, newspaper, periodicals that help to build you. And, I’m intentionally excluding things like: romance novels, trash and gossip magazines, porn, etc. You need to be reading things that will BUILD you up…not keep you at the same level or worse yet, take you down.

Make some goals

Set some goals for your life. What do you want to do with your life? Where do you want to be? Where do you want to go? Think about these things and set some goals to work towards achieving. This doesn’t mean you may change them later, you can, and you will, but you have a direction for your life, and that’s incredibly important.

Compliment people vs criticize

Think more on the positive side of things than the negative. This doesn’t mean that you give up your standards. Nor does it mean that you allow yourself or your beliefs to be walked on. But a more positive person goes places further and faster than a negative one.

Respect Change

There are those would admonish us to “embrace” change. Frankly, change for the sake of change is totally counterproductive. Evaluate what is changing and what needs to be changed. If something needs to be changed or if change is inevitable or good for you, then go for it! Make sure that the changes are in your favor, not just being done for someone else’s benefit or for being politically correct. If you don’t see a benefit for you, then that change may not be for the good.

Be forgiving

It’s important to accept that we’re all human. We all make mistakes to one degree or another, and in one kind or another. Be willing to forgive the honest mistakes of other people. I’m not saying here that you should accept malicious attacks, but when someone makes an honest mistake or mistakes out of sincere best mutual interests, accept it and move on.

Develop ideas and people

Instead of talking about people, develop them. Instead of saying everything is wrong, develop ideas. Show that you not only care about making things better but that you have positive input into the processes involved.

Be a continuous learner

Always be learning and bettering yourself. None of us know it all, and nobody likes a “know it all”. Learning is easy. There are many web based classes, youtube lectures and presentations, community colleges, even joining a local trade or hobby association can be incredibly good resources to continue your learning as well as personal and professional development. There is no such thing as standing still. You either move ahead or you fall behind. This is very true in the use and development of knowledge. Don’t stop growing.

Take responsibility

Some people like to limit this concept to just take responsibility for your failures. To me it’s more than just that. If you make a mistake, OK, own up to it and hopefully move on. Don’t blame someone else for your failures. But also take responsibility for helping other to NOT fail. Be a coach, a mentor, as well as a teacher. Also, don’t be afraid to be the student. It’s very important to know what you don’t know. Accept that. Build on it. Don’t blame others for it, but use it to identify where you need to be looking to expand.
OK, we’ve hit on a few topics. I’m sure you could probably think of a few more. If so, add them to your own personal list and build on them as you move forward to being someone great!

I’m Don Rima and that’s the view From Where I Stand.



So, Let's consider: How can you be more confident with that presentation or in what you do? 0

Posted by on in Business 101, Let's Consider..., Self Improvement, So






So, Let’s consider: How can you be more confident with that presentation or in what you do?
OK, so you’re having to do a presentation of some sort. It could be to the client, the boss, your church, some small group, or where ever you find yourself. It could even be an informal meeting in the hall. Then, you feel yourself and your voice start to shake. You look them in the eye and your whole mind goes to yogurt. So, let’s take a look at this.
Confidence in yourself goes a long way in selling your message and getting it and you accepted by your target. The nice thing is that confidence can be learned, developed and even faked. So, let’s look at a few ways to help you believe in yourself and by extension, others will believe in you.
Slow down…
You’re generally not being timed with a stop watch and you’re not calling the race at the dog track, so you don’t have to talk fast. Slowing down gives you more credibility and your audience has more time to understand and digest what you’re saying. If you talk too fast your audience will think you’re nervous and it lowers their comfort level with you. Speaking slowly and deliberately will tell people that you’re thoughtful and what you have to say has credibility.
If you have notes, bring them…and use them…
If you think that having and using notes will compromise you and your position, it won’t. Even the most experienced speakers and presenters use notes and keep supporting information handy in case they have to refer to it. It’s part of being prepared and it shows strength in your position.
However, having said that, don’t read from them as you would a script unless you have to quote a specific passage to support your presentation or answer a question. Notes and reference material are with you to help support your presentation, not be your presentation.
The audience is your center of attention…
The people that you’re talking to and working with need to be the focus of your attention. They’re your audience. Look at them when you’re talking to them, even if it’s just one to one.
Looking at the audience gives you the chance to read them and to judge how they’re receiving your message and if you need to make any mid course corrections. Are they confused? Does something need to be clarified or expanded? Establishing and maintaining eye contact builds rapport with your audience and with that confidence in your presentation.
By focusing on what their needs are and what’s important to them, so take the attention and emphasis off of you and place it on to them and your message. If their attention is wandering to counting ceiling tiles or what’s for lunch then you need to be moving to either get more enthusiastic and involved in your topic, move on to the next line item or order lunch.
Speak to the point…
Some people call this being direct. Get on topic and stay on topic. If you meander, hem and haw, pause, stumble about or starting using what is clearly filler, then you can expect to not only lose your audience, but your credibility and confidence.
Practice delivering what you want to say without distracting verbiage that trends away from the message you want to deliver. The higher comfort factor you have on fluid delivery of your presentation, the better both you and your audience will feel.
Be what your audience looks at…
OK, sometimes presentations requires visuals or what you’re presenting needs to have large pictures for people to see. That aside, YOU need to be what people see when they look at that stage. You need to be that center of focus that the audience thinks is as large as life. Stand and walk confidently. This may take some practice but it’s time well spent. Presenting a confident image of you as authoritative in what you are presenting will make or break your presentation.
Be mentally ready and strong…
The old adage of “if you think you can, you can; if you think you can’t, you won’t,” is as strong here as it ever was. You have to be in a confident frame of mind to deliver a strong, effective and credible presentation. Believe in yourself and others will as well. Show that you believe in yourself, what you’re doing and others will believe in you as well.
I like to watch how others do their deliveries. Youtube and things like TED talks are great examples to use to study delivery styles and methods. You also get to sometimes see how people recover from a mistake. Learn from other peoples successes and failures. And, always, feel free to improve and make their methods fit your mold.
Vene Vidi Vici…
Now, it’s time to go forth and conquer. Expect to stumble a time or two, that’s all part of life and learning. It’s not stumbling that’s important, it’s getting up and continuing on that is.
I’m Don Rima and that’s the view From Where I Stand.