by David Bohl

“This isn’t my dream job, but it pays the bills and it’s close to my house.”

“I’ve been here for ten years and the company is good to me. While things aren’t always great, I should stick it out when times are tough.”

If these statements sound like something you’ve said or what the voice in your head is saying, now is the time to take a serious look at whether or not you’re suffering from job complacency. Especially in rough economic times, like the ones we’re experiencing now, you’ve got to be hyper-alert to what is going on with your job, your company, and the job market in general. Complacency doesn’t mean it’s time to switch jobs. It may or may not be that you need a new job. It may be as simple as correcting what you need to while sticking it out with the same company.

3 ways complacency in the workplace can negatively affect you:

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Here are the 12 Most-Read Numbered Posts in 2008 at Slow Down FAST:

12.    5 Tips for Becoming a Better Listener
11.    5 Qualities of Successful Relationships
10.    6 Ways for Effecting Change in Your Life
9.      6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Busting Out of the Rat Race
8.      5 Signs It’s Time to Slow Down Fast
7.      6 Ways to Be a Friend Without Involving Money, Gifts or Obligation
6.      5 Ways to Reconnect to Your Inner Child
5.      10 Great Productivity Web Sites
4.      5 Signs You’re a Pleaser and What to Do About It
3.      5 Simple Tricks To Make You Smarter
2.      8 Essential Ingredients to Master Your Time
1.      The Causes and Cures of Procrastination

Thank you all for your support throughout the year, and best wishes in all your future endeavors.

I know it isn’t year-end yet, but experience and observation have shown that not many people want to begin the heavy lifting of reflection and self-assessment near the Holidays.

So, after 700+ posts in 2008, I’m publishing the 12 Most Read Posts at Slow Down FAST so we can all get a jump on the new year.

Thank you all for your support throughout the year.

Here they are:

1. The Causes and Cures of Procrastination
2. Mindhacks: 5 Ways to Increase Creativity, Productivity and Intelligence
3. How to Overcome the #1 Fear: Public Speaking
4. 8 Essential Ingredients to Master Your Time
5. Do Not Wage Psychological Warfare
6. Stuck in a Rut? Fire Up Your Creativity with These 7 Steps
7. What Are You Passionate About?
8. See How Easily You Can Handle Change
9. How to Maintain Professional Boundaries
10. 5 Simple Tricks To Make You Smarter
11. 5 Signs You’re a Pleaser and What to Do About It
12. From Greedy to Grateful - Appreciating What You Have

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by David Bohl

Being a leader in your field is a way for you to stand out from the pack, differentiate yourself from your competition, and create a bigger following for your business. You may be a leader of many or a leader of few. As a leader, you are expected to be knowledgeable in your field and demonstrate your expertise and credibility so people will believe what you say and have faith in you–whether you are selling a service or product.

Leadership means taking a position of authority where people look to you for direction– including your clients or a team of contractors or employees, and also including people in your industry who my be fans or students of yours. It means being an innovator, staying on the cutting edge, and initiating change. It means taking risks, speaking your beliefs, and leading and motivating people. You will need to make choices and decisions and take responsibility for each one.

Leaders are born but they also can be developed. In either case there’s a lot you can do to emerge as a leader in your field. Here are some tips:

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by David Bohl

Amazingly, the holidays are upon us again. It feels as though this time of year comes so fast, turns our lives upside down and is over before we know it. Sometimes it’s hard to be fully present in the moment when we’re overwhelmed and stressed about gift giving, tons of parties to attend, and juggling our families through it all. It helps to step back and take it all in. Slow Down and enjoy the holidays.

Giving is better than receiving…

Make time for others. The good deeds you do will not only help others but really allow you to experience the true meaning of the holidays. Why not volunteer at a soup kitchen, organize a toy drive for underprivileged children or even make time at your child’s school for fun activities? Even simple gestures like baking cookies for your elderly neighbors or inviting those without families to visit during the holidays can be ways to give to others what they would have missed this year.

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by David Bohl

Are you aware that you are at choice in every area of your life?

When I ask that question of my personal coaching clients they sometimes get very quiet, then say, “No. I don’t feel like I make all my own choices.” That’s a very common response. Many people feel like other people make choices for them, dictate what they “should” do, how they should do it, when they should do it, what they should eat, what they should wear, etc.

It begins, of course, with our parents. Until we’re at an age where they can trust us to make our own, correct decisions, they make our choices for us. If they were controlling, over-protective parents, they may not have instilled in us the opportunity to develop our ability to make our own wise decisions. Thus, we may have grown into adults still looking to others to choose our life situations. Or they may have taught us how to choose and take responsibility for our choices and we became confident, self-assured adults.

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by David Bohl

Setting your goals on January 1 is a great way to start your new year with direction and motivation. Of course, you can set goals any time of year. However, after you set goals, your next step is to take action. And, then you need a goal setting checkpoint to monitor your results.

As you take action on your goals, you will most likely encounter obstacles, resistance, and detours, as well as small and large successes. The challenges will force you to make adjustments, and maybe even change the goal or take new actions. The successes need to be celebrated and new goals established to replace the ones achieved.

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Are you constantly redoing things to make sure they’re absolutely perfect? Do you find yourself noticing pictures on walls that are slightly crooked and straightening them, even if it’s not in your own home? Are you consistently late and always have a pat excuse? Do you criticize and find faults with others, but in your mind, you’re always right?

All of these behaviors are signs you might be a control freak! Yes, you! A control freak is someone with a need to control other people, situations, and environments to create a sense of security, false though it may be. This is ultimately to cover their own insecurities and fears. They become perfectionists because they can’t stand being wrong, inferior, or criticized. They have a need to be the best, and to avoid failure at all costs, again to cover up insecurity within themselves, which often they do not even recognize.

To keep from letting their anxieties overwhelm them, they control their life and keep their fears at bay. They’re often critical of themselves as well as others, because few can meet their expectations and high levels of performance. Needless to say, they are difficult to be around since there’s usually little room for compromise or communication. If you even suspect that you may have control issues, here are 6 signs you might be a control freak:

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From my article Get Prepared to Streamline Your Life at Dumb Little Man:

“As a business owner, I’ve learned about several effective tools needed to run an efficient business. I utilize systems, strategies, and support, to keep my business running smoothly and profitably. And I’ve seen how if I apply some of these same tools to my personal life, I can streamline it as well.

So whether you have your own business, work for a company, or run a household, if you manage your life like a business, I can guarantee you’ll be surprised at the results. Here are some tips taken from my experience that can be valuable for streamlining your life:”

Read the rest of Get Prepared to Streamline Your Life.

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by David Bohl, Life Coach and Lifestyle Designer

Have you ever gotten an idea to do something, or go somewhere, and the idea seemed to appear out of the blue? Maybe it was a strong impulse that went against your typical style, but you felt it so deeply that you went ahead. Sometimes these gut urges just feel right, so although we have no idea where they come from, we trust and go ahead. Listening to your gut, or your instincts, can actually be honed to a skill. Intuition comes from an inner voice, one that lives inside all of us but one which few of us pay much attention to.

If you treat intuition as a part of you, it won’t seem so foreign or scary. If you see it as a part of you that is an invaluable assistant to help guide you through life, you’ll take the time to learn its language and understand its messages. For its messages can be quite useful. If you’re stumped on an answer to a challenge, if you’re brainstorming a problem, if you’re stuck making a decision–your intuition can be the perfect partner to help you out.

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