Tips for Communicators

Let Hard Times Work for You

Listen to what a few of the great sages had to say about tough times.  And then resolve to make today’s challenging economic environment work for you:

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. (Henry Ford)

Tip:  Look for ways to re-engineer yourself and your business environment so that you can “take off” with maximum efficiency.

There is no education like adversity. (Benjamin Disraeli)

Tip:   Learn something from every situation, easy and harsh.

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. (Horace)

Tip:  Bring unused skills and talents of the people around you to bear on whatever problems face you.

Adversity precedes growth. (Rosemarie Rossetti)

Tip:  Remember that many of the world’s great accomplishments arise out of challenging circumstances.  You can sow the seeds of your future success right now.

 

Your Top Ten New Year's Resolutions

Here are ten great new year’s resolutions that can help you turn 2008 into your most productive and successful year ever:

1. Get to know the productivity-building software on your computer, such as search features, task and reminder lists, and noteware.
2. Identify at least three promising new contributors and solicit material from them.
3. Make a call at random to a reader once each month and solicit reaction to your most recent editorial content.
4. Take one step to boost your own career, such as participation in a conference panel or volunteer service in your professional organization.
5. Arrive at the office 30 minutes early once each week, and work on a value-added project that you’ve been putting off.
6. Ask your boss what you can do in the year ahead to make his or her role more effective.  And then, follow through with any suggestions you receive.
7. Begin or boost your personal networking program.  Make new contacts through your professional group, or through professional discussions online.
8. Identify one key technology skill you’d like to learn, such as a new software program, and set up a self-study plan to master it.
9. Improve your physical health by beginning a serious exercise routine.  If you’re already exercising at peak, vary your routine to build more personal flexibility and stamina.
10. Begin at least one new activity that takes you outside your comfort zone.

Words of Wisdom

• When people talk, listen completely.  Most people never listen.  (Ernest Hemingway)
• Be sincere; be brief; be seated.  (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
• The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.  (Hubert H. Humphrey)
• The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.  (Joseph Priestley)
• Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment.  (Pearl S. Buck)
• Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.  (Rudyard Kipling)