From my guest post How to Take Life in Stride at The Next 45 Years:

“For someone with a flair for the dramatic, or for those of a sensitive nature, life can feel like a roller coaster run amok. At first, this sort of high-drama life can feel exciting, exhilarating even.

But before long it just becomes an unending cycle of exhausting effort. Unfortunately, by the time it gets to this point few people remember that their roller-coaster lifestyle is a ride they actually control. Don’t let life jerk you around like a runaway midway attraction. Here are several tips to help you get off the scary-go-round for good:”

Read the rest of How to Take Life in Stride.

Click HERE for details.

For one time only, I’m offering the Intensive Empowerment System workshop FR.EE !!!

Do you have a personal plan for success?

Most people today are completely overwhelmed by everything that life throws at them on a daily basis. Because the boundaries between work and personal life have become so blurred, we become lost, confused and derailed from our goals.

Personal success is attained in gradual increments by setting and achieving goals.

At SlowDownFast.com, we have developed a comprehensive, customizable and highly flexible program which addresses such a need: The Slow Down Fast Intensive Empowerment System (IES).

The Slow Down FAST Intensive Empowerment System helps individuals achieve their goals.

Here’s how you can benefit from this program:

• You’ll realign yourself with your purpose.
• You’ll once again connect with your values and talents - and this will ignite your passion and drive to succeed.
• You will leverage your own, unique learning style for quicker retention and more rapid advancement.
• You will be empowered in your personal life, which in turn fuels you professionally and brings you greater commitment and dedication on the job.

For one time only, I’m offering the Intensive Empowerment System workshop FR.EE Read Post

Sometimes it’s hard to set boundaries with others. We all want to be liked and to be considered open and friendly. However, people who fail to set and maintain boundaries in their life and work often find that it’s much harder to meet their own needs, and to prevent others from imposing their needs onto them.

Life coaches are constantly teaching their clients that setting boundaries is important to maintaining strong relationships at work and at home. After all, it does no one any good if one part of a friendship, marriage or work situation feels put upon, resentful or over-burdened. Setting boundaries prevents misunderstandings, hurt feelings, awkward situations, grudges and other interpersonal torpedoes from endangering your relationships. And it’s as simple as taking a few easy steps: Read Post

I’m presenting tomorrow at the Biz Tech Expo in Milwaukee. Topic: Personal Development in a Professional World.

Here are the details:

For some people, aging is not a positive experience. I remember hearing one senior saying, “Aging is not for cowards!” Yet, for some, aging is a rewarding experience. For those are people who have learned to age with dignity.

No matter how we look at it, aging is inevitable. Look at the alternative–not being around to age. So if it’s going to happen to us anyway, why not make the most of it.

In the next few years, the baby boomers will be reaching senior status in record numbers. Yet, who’s to say what’s a senior? Does it begin at 50, when you can join AARP? Or is it 60 when you can get a senior discount at the movies? Or do you become a senior at 70 when you can start collecting the full value of social security benefits?

We often hear, “You’re only as old as you feel.” I agree with that statement. Age is more a state of mind than a state of body. Yes, the body does start to wear down, but you’ll find lots of “seniors” doing things their younger counterparts can’t. In other words, how you age is up to you. I know an 89-year-old who hits the dance floor at least three times a week, while many people his age are waiting to die in nursing homes. And some people half his age are complaining about this pain and the other and haven’t danced in years.

So is there a secret to aging with dignity? Read Post

When you were younger you were able to achieve many things because you had to be accountable to people like teachers, parents and coaches. They expected certain things from you, which motivated you to achieve that which you might not otherwise have accomplished if left on your own.

However, when we go out on our own, we often fail at reaching goals we set or don’t reach our full potential. This is because we’re not accountable to anyone but ourselves. And let’s face it; sometimes, we can be pretty lousy at motivating ourselves because we too easily let ourselves off the hook when things get tough.

Here are 5 signs you may need an accountability partner to keep you on track with your goals: Read Post

It’s at once the simplest and the hardest question you can ask someone: What do you want? On the surface, it seems easy. We all know what we want, right? At least we feel we do. But when asked to articulate those wants, few of us can be clear and specific about our goals, our dreams and our desires. But if you can’t be specific and clear about what you want, how do you know if you’re doing what you need to do to get it? The answer is, you can’t.

Being able to clearly, specifically and definitively articulate what you want out of life is the first step to achieving those desires. Without that, everything else you do is simply hit or miss, trial and error. Sure, you could actually end up getting some or even all of the things you want. But if you do, it will almost certainly be a matter of pure luck and serendipity, an accomplishment that is neither repeatable nor predictable.

Give yourself the best chance you have to get what you want out of life by asking yourself the following simple questions:

“What does what I want look like in action?” Read Post

From my article The Causes of Stress and How to Overcome Them at Dumb Little Man:

“Stress is one of the greatest causes of illness in our society today. It is possible that as much as 70% of all trips to the doctor can be attributed to stress. Stress is the great pretender, mimicking or contributing to nearly every ailment imaginable. In the interest of your own personal development, you need to be able to identify your sources of stress so you can control them.

In order to get control over your stress, something in your life must change. We all live with a certain degree of stress in our lives, but there is a point at which it becomes unmanageable, causing physical and mental illness.

Causes of stress can be broken down into internal and external stressors. External stressors are those things which we have no control over. Physical stressors can include a noisy environment, being overly hot or too cold, or feeling confined.

Major changes in your life can also cause stress, such as a lost job, the birth of a child, or a death in the family. Even that promotion you have been wanting will cause stress. Daily inconveniences create stress in our lives: rudeness of others, unreasonable rules at work or inefficient business practices, commuting, and deadlines.

Finally, you also have personally imposed stressors, such as a negative attitude, perfectionism, setting unrealistic expectations, self-criticism. As you can see, stress is hitting you from all angles.

Stress manifests itself in various ways, but there are three main categories where stress will begin to appear.”

Read the rest of The Causes of Stress and How to Overcome Them.

Being a friend is a serious, but welcome and pleasant, responsibility. And it’s one that shouldn’t rely on the burdens of expense and obligation. True, friends often exchange gifts and go to expense for each other as a matter of course. But this isn’t, or shouldn’t be, perceived as a requirement.

True friendship is a combination of support, encouragement, pleasure and relaxation. Friendship is a consciously created environment within which two or more people can help each other, enjoy each other’s company and free themselves from the cares and pains of the outside world. It is a source of accountability without judgment, love without presumption and peace without neglect.

Being a good friend isn’t always easy. But it is always rewarding, and often returns far more than any effort you put into it. You don’t have to have money or power to be a friend. In fact, here are several ways you can be a friend for free, and without any strings attached. Read Post