Success in Business Success in Life

Guide Yourself With Strong Resolutions

Here we are again at the time of the year when we’ve spent time reviewing the previous year, and in this case … decade.  It’s now time to chart…

Personal Branding Success in Business

Encourage Personal Branding to Build a Strong Company

I've spent quite a bit of time lately thinking about personal branding and what role it can play in the overall business strategy of a company. Each time I think about it I continue to do so in terms of how it plays a role in sports. I'm sure that just like me, when you played any type of organized sports when you were young, the coach constantly talked with you about the importance of the TEAM. I'm sure you all heard the saying, "There is no I in team" a million times as you came up through the ranks. This type of message is predominant even at the college level. I recently read a transcript of a speech given by the University of Michigan football coach, just before a game versus Ohio State many years ago. In that speech Bo Schembechler stated (I'm paraphrasing), "This is the last time you'll ever truly play for a team. Even if you happen to go on to the NFL you won't be playing for a team ... you'll be playing for a contract, or you'll be playing for the longevity of your career."

Success in Business

Owning a Small Business Can Be Like Living Alone On An Island

Can you remember when you decided to start your business? I am sure you felt the same nervous excitement I did! I remember when I first told my plans to my Mom. She said, "That sounds exciting Pete, but wouldn't you rather get a job with a big company so you can work hard and have a pension some day?" :) My response was, "No Mom, I don't want to be in a position where I know exactly what my paycheck is going to be each week." I wanted to know I had the ability to build something that would produce a large income, and perhaps one day I would build it to a point where I could sell it for enough money that I could retire to an island somewhere and drink pina coladas in the sun every day. That was it. I made up my mind to hang up my shingle and get started. Wow was I in for a surprise! :)

Personal Growth Success in Business Success in Life

Everybody Gets Down At Times … Successful People Don’t Stay Down!

I work very hard to maintain a positive attitude and a positive outlook on life. The longer I've focused on this, sometimes elusive goal, the easier it has become to maintain a positive outlook on my life and the challenges I am faced with. Although it has gotten easier with time, it can still be difficult. I used to think people who constantly preached the importance of being a "Positive Thinker," were strange. I always thought these people needed to wake up and smell the coffee! It seemed as thought they bought into some "cult-like" belief that if they said, "Everything is great" ... that somehow they could trick themselves into some delusional belief that everything was "ok" no matter how much crap they had to deal with. I've finally arrived at the point in my life where I understand the value of maintaining a positive outlook, but I am also a realist.

Personal Growth Success in Life

Experience Your Surroundings As If You Are A Tourist Seeing Them For The First Time

Since I started my experiment I've realized that I'm paying much closer attention to my thoughts, my actions, and also my surroundings, and I have to tell you it has modified the way I look at things in a big way. I've been fortunate to do quite a bit of traveling in the past few months and have seen some incredibly beautiful and interesting places. Whether it was the beauty of the amazing people I met while in the Dominican Republic, the majestic mountains of Colorado, the awesome coastline and cliffs of Laguna Beach, or the history and beautiful monuments I visited while in Washington DC. No matter how diverse and incredible those places were, while focusing on my experiment and developing the new habits through my action focused goal setting, I found that none of those places were any more amazing and beautiful as the place I call home ... Grand Rapids, Michigan!