Personal and business prowess just got better with lists. Key lists that work the magic

Improve your personal and business life with the right lists - 9 ways 

CONNECT WITH POSITIVE POSSIBILITIES
1. 10 IMPROVEMENTS.  Make a list of at least ten improvements you could make. Consider health and fitness, career, home, business, family, hobbies, education and training. Come up with at least 10 or more –things that would improve your life in some way. Putting them in writing makes them more real. Treat this as blueprint of your plans. When you need extra oomph – get your list out and count positive possibilities.

GET IT WRITTEN DOWN
2. EPIPHANY MOMENTS: When you have an epiphany – a flash of genius that bubbles in your mind – but if you don’t write it down it may flee away. Have a note book handy and put it into written form, otherwise it may disappear.

It is really important to keep a written record of significant thoughts and ideas. A written record of important thoughts and ideas will give you a good resource for future reference and action.

LIST IT DOWN
3. To do, goals and problem lists: Things you need to do should be listed. Goals should be listed and so should problems and challenges. Making a list sets in motion the powerful forces of commitment and control. Writing – whether in the form of pen or keyboard – is a solid physical action. It is a form of action too.   

IN CONTROL
4. IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT: Putting together a list of challenges, goals, or things to do also serves to put you in control. By putting your problems in writing, you assume control over them. By writing down your goals, they move from being things you desire to being things you’re bringing about.

5.     THE FIRST IMPORTANT STEP: What challenges do you need to overcome? What would you like to achieve? What do you need to do?  Make a written list – this is like starting the car’s engine and the first step to getting them done.

6. BENEFITS OF WRITTEN GOALS
More people spend far more time planning a purchase of XXXXX than planning their lives. Only if you have a clear direction can you clearly get to where you want to go. Clear, specific goals are very helpful to get what you want.

We all have an idea of what we want: money, love, accommodation or better accommodation. To empower our mind to create results, we need to get very specific. Sit down and list your dreams on paper. You should take at least 10 to 15 minutes putting in writing the things you want to have, do and be.

7. TIME LIMITS
Once you have your list – look at each item and think about how long it will take for you to achieve this goal – quickly estimate – anything from a month to 10 years even.
Write your estimate next to your goal. Goals should be divided into short term, medium term and long term.  Redo the list again and put the top five goals at the top of the list. These should be the ones you are most excited about and passionate about.

8. RESOURCES LIST
Make another list of your most important resources you have that will help you achieve your goals. Strengths, skills, education, time, finances, friends – in other words the tools to help you accomplish what you want. You also need to examine the type of person you need to become to achieve your goals too. It helps to put these in writing too.

9. LISTS TO MAKE YOU FEEL IMMEDIATELY BETTERList the skills you have. Leave no skill unmentioned. Think of all the skills you use in every area of your life. Think of the special skills you have. Make a list of all the relationships you have, from the people your work with, to your customers and networks, and everyone in your family. Keep the list handy and add to it. 

Be grateful for corrupt politicians. 10 reasons why you should be grateful for them from The Science of Getting Rich by William Wattles

THE BENEFITS OF BEING GRATEFUL
1. Grateful souls are closer to God.
Get closer to God when you are grateful. The soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than those who never look to God in thankful acknowledgement. The mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.

2. The whole mind benefits from gratefulness.
Gratitude keeps you in close harmony with creative thought. Gratitude prevents you from falling into competitive thought. You might think why is competitive thought not as good as creative thought. Think about it – creative thought adds something new to the world, while competitive thought tries to take what is there. Competitive thought thinks the supply is limited.

THE KEY TO SUCCESS
3. There is a Law of Gratitude – and it is 100 per cent necessary to observe if you want to get the results you want.  Thus the definition of success is getting the results you want to see in your life.

THANKFUL PRAISE
4. How do we show the right gratitude? It should be in thankful praise to the Superme. Draw nearer to God and he will draw nearer to you. This is what the Bible says.

STRONG AND CONSTANT GRATITUDE
5. Strong and constant gratitude leads on to strong and continuous movement of the things you want. Consider the gratitude attitude that Jesus took: “I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hearest me.” Gratitude keeps you connected with Power.

NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
6. Gratitude keeps you satisfied with the present and how things are plus getting more blessings in the future. It is about fixing your attention to the best and on the best that surrounds you. If you surround yourself with the best then you become the best.

WHAT CREATIVE POWER DOES
7. We all have Creative Power within us and it makes us into the image of that which we give our attention. We are a Thinking Scheme and thinking substance always takes the form of that which it thinks about.

WHERE IS THE GRATEFUL MIND?
8. The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best. When you are thinking of the best, the form or character of the best materializes and you will receive the best or the best that is possible at that time.

WAVES OF FAITH
9. Faith is born from gratitutde. The grtateful mind constantly expects good things and expectation becomes faith. A grateful mind expects good things. Expectation becomes faith.  Every wave of grateful thanksgiving increases faith.

HABIT OF GRATEFULNESS
10. Cultinvate the habit of being grateful. Give thanks continuously. Everything has contributed to where you are today so include all things in your gratitude.

YES YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR CORRUPT POLITICIANS
William Wattles says: “Do not rage against corrupt politicians. If it were not for politicians we should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity would be greatly lessened.”  Wattles goes one to say:  “God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work. There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared. In the meantime, behold they are all very good. Remember that they are all helping to arrange the lines of transmission along which your riches will come to you, and be grateful to them all. This will bring you into harmonious relations with the good in everything, and the good in everything will move toward you.”

Source of quotes:   http://www.psitek.net/pages/PsiTekSOGR8.html

Words, language and writing by the one of the greatest innovators in the English language. 7 ways to put a zing in your writing

The greatest words and writing secrets by Virginia Woolf (Part 2)

Woolf is considered one of the greatest innovators in the English language.

1. POWER WORDS: “When I cannot see words curling like rings of smoke round me I am in darkness—I am nothing.”  Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie: In the beginning was the word says the Hebrew Bible – words are powerful – make sure your words work for you.

2. RIGHT WRITING: “The most extraordinary thing about writing is that when you've struck the right vein, tiredness goes. It must be an effort, thinking wrong.”  Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie: In the day of the office, in the day of the internet we are all writers – let us all study what it takes to be the greatest writer.

3. DIGESTING WORDS: “She read everything.”  Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie:  Will anyone ever say that about you. They used to say that about one of my grandmothers. When you read you are reading the writing of others. Imbibe their spirit and message in your being when you read and you will understand so much more.

4. AGAIN THE POWER OF WORDS: “Nothing has really happened unless it's been described [in words].” Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie:  The Chinese have a proverb – a picture tells a 1,000 words but notice how all life is defined in words. Words define life. The beginning, the middle and the end are words. Helen Keller realized this too - that everything was defined by a word.

5. WE ARE ALL TEACHERS - “to teach without zest is a crime.”  Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie: We are all teachers and you should go through life being a teacher. They may not call you a teacher but teaching should be what you do best every day. What have you taught today? If nothing, find someone and teach something – even if you have to be teacher and student all wrapped up in one.

6. OUR CHOICE: “I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.” Virginia Woolf, Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters Of Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie: I have never been a fan of the idea that everything in our life is a choice but we do have some power of choice and one is the company we keep. When we need inspiration, we should choose our reading matter wisely.

7. STYLE MATTERS: “Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words. … Now this is very profound, what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than any words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it.”  Virginia Woolf

Susan McKenzie: Develop your own style. Style is how you present your message and add life to your words. Style is the finished product – everything put together.

Source of quotes: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6765.Virginia_Woolf?page=5

Woolf is considered one of the greatest innovators in the English language. She is in this picture - can you guess?

 

7 writing secrets from the greatest modernist literary figure of the 20th century (Part I)

The writing secrets of Virginia Woolf with comments by Susan McKenzie

1.  TREAT ALL WRITING AS AN ESSAY
A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Treat all writing including business writing as a form of essay writing – where you have a beginning, a middle and a great ending.

2.  WORK OF ART:   Almost any biographer, if he respects facts, can give us much more than another fact to add to our collection. He can give us the creative fact; the fertile fact; the fact that suggests and engenders. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: The biographer is the writer of another person’s life. He takes the facts and creates a new gloss and angle on the story – we get to see so much more. Do that with your writing too. You can create anew when you rewrite.

3. YOUR WRITING DEFINES YOU:  Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: You are your writing. You are your writing so make sure it reflects the best of you.

4. FACT AND FICTION: Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Actually we get a lot of idioms and examples from great literature and we can use these to give examples. Think the hare and the tortoise. The lessons from fiction can have an impact on the real world. Also many writers draw upon real life when writing their fiction. Think of the adage – Fact is stranger than fiction. Both should be considered and used as a tool when appropriate.

5. Language is wine upon the lips. (Viringia Woolf)
Susan McKenzie: Wine for millions of people has a sweet taste, a beautiful taste. The language that comes out of our mouths should have a beauty to it. We cannot be truly beautiful unless we taste beauty as we speak. I wonder how many people consciously try to only let beauty come from their lips? Do it more – it is beautiful.

6. Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice. (Virginia Woolf).
Susan McKenzie: Consider learning as a building up process – Rome was not built in a day – is a famous adage that anything great takes time to build. Another adage is Practice Makes Perfect – and again requires daily or regular practice. In other words as Virgina Woolf says – masterpieces are the outcome of many years – thinking, doing, creating, honing, refining, reworking and thinking.

7. We write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fibre of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.” Virginia Woolf,Orlando, A Biography.

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Virginia is so right – we write with our whole being. Make sure you realize that and consciously put your whole being into all your writing – and your writing will be so much more lively, exciting, polished and hitting the spot of the reader.

SOURCE OF QUOTES:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/virginia_woolf.html#BUvmGwFYOrrls1Tv.99and http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6765.Virginia_Woolf

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works. (Virginia Woolf)

The writing secrets of Virginia Woolf with comments by Susan McKenzie

1.  TREAT ALL WRITING AS AN ESSAY
A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Treat all writing including business writing as a form of essay writing – where you have a beginning, a middle and a great ending.

2.  WORK OF ART:   Almost any biographer, if he respects facts, can give us much more than another fact to add to our collection. He can give us the creative fact; the fertile fact; the fact that suggests and engenders. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: The biographer is the writer of another person’s life. He takes the facts and creates a new gloss and angle on the story – we get to see so much more. Do that with your writing too. You can create anew when you rewrite.

3. YOUR WRITING DEFINES YOU:  Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: You are your writing. You are your writing so make sure it reflects the best of you.

4. FACT AND FICTION: Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners. Often the attachment is scarcely perceptible. (Virginia Woolf).

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Actually we get a lot of idioms and examples from great literature and we can use these to give examples. Think the hare and the tortoise. The lessons from fiction can have an impact on the real world. Also many writers draw upon real life when writing their fiction. Think of the adage – Fact is stranger than fiction. Both should be considered and used as a tool when appropriate.

5. Language is wine upon the lips. (Viringia Woolf)
Susan McKenzie: Wine for millions of people has a sweet taste, a beautiful taste. The language that comes out of our mouths should have a beauty to it. We cannot be truly beautiful unless we taste beauty as we speak. I wonder how many people consciously try to only let beauty come from their lips? Do it more – it is beautiful.

6. Masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice. (Virginia Woolf).
Susan McKenzie: Consider learning as a building up process – Rome was not built in a day – is a famous adage that anything great takes time to build. Another adage is Practice Makes Perfect – and again requires daily or regular practice. In other words as Virgina Woolf says – masterpieces are the outcome of many years – thinking, doing, creating, honing, refining, reworking and thinking.

7. We write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fibre of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.” Virginia Woolf,Orlando, A Biography.

SUSAN MCKENZIE: Virginia is so right – we write with our whole being. Make sure you realize that and consciously put your whole being into all your writing – and your writing will be so much more lively, exciting, polished and hitting the spot of the reader.

SOURCE OF QUOTES:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/virginia_woolf.html#BUvmGwFYOrrls1Tv.99and http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6765.Virginia_Woolf

Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind is written large in his works. (Virginia Woolf)

Better business writing – 13 ways

EFFECTIVE WRITING IS A LEARNABLE SKILL

THE FACTS OF THE BUSINESS WORLDThink about it – a significant part of your job consists of communicating with others. This communication will be both speaking and writing. Email, letters, memos, proposals, office materials, promotional copy and a wide range of other documents.  Here are 13 tips to improve your writing impact.

1. Brief is best
Concise is what it is all about. You have heard how cover letters of resumes should be limited to one page. You should embrace the spirit of this rule with all your writing – keep it successfully short (KISS). Get to your point quickly, make your pitch and finish.

2. Ditch jargon
This applies even if you are writing to people in the same industry. Jargon is usually the specialized language used by people in the same industry or profession. Jargon can also mean language that is long-winded or has difficult words. If you think someone’s writing is full of jargon, this means you think it could have been written more simply and in a sharper way.

3. Check, Check, check again
I am always amazed at how many typos I make when I first write. All my writing is checked and checked again. Even if you think you are one of the world’s best writers, you should still check again. People judge and will think there is something wrong with your English when the only thing wrong is that you did not check enough. You should check again immediately after writing but you should build in time where you can come back later and check again.

4. TONE TUNE UP
After checking for typos, you should read again and consider tone. There is what you want to say and then there is how (tone) you want to say it or should say it before you hit the send button.

5. NAMES AND TITLES
Don’t get past the hurdles of typos and tone to fall and fail at names, genders and titles. Find out names and double check. This is an area of sensitivity. For example, I am Miss Susan McKenzie not Mr S Mackenzie. Notice my family name is Mc with then a capital K. When people lower case the K I feel it. When you add an ‘a’  you have not taken the time or the care to spell it correctly. I may still do business with you but I am not totally happy.

6. GENDER NEW ACCEPTABLE GRAMMARHe/She is sometimes too long-winded and many women get hot under the collar when they see words such as ‘he’ but she is the reader. The words ‘They’ and ‘their’ are plural pronouns (words used instead of nouns) but are becoming acceptable gender-neutral singular pronouns. This is where people power triumphs over crusty grammar rules.

He/She is sometimes too long-winded and many women get hot under the collar when they see words such as ‘he’ but she is the reader

7. Developing templatesSave all your letters, emails, memos and other documents where you feel you have written well. You can then use them as the basis for future writing. However, do make sure you have removed the earlier information that was specific to the earlier recipient. If you don’t then this idea will not work for you. Only do this if you are the type of person who carefully removes the specific information from the earlier communication.

8. Professional yes, but not overly formal in day to day emails.These days not all business communication is totally formal, especially where you have long-standing business connections and are using email. These emails may be more conversational. However, informal does not mean unprofessional. Racy jokes would be an example of going over the line to unprofessional.

9. Who, what, when, where, why and how!Essay writers and journalists are encouraged to consider the five w’s topped with a how when writing. This formula  also works in a lot of business writing.

10.Powerful PurposeBusiness communication is about achieving a purpose – so make it clear as to what the reader is expected to do and by when.

11. NO MORE THAN TWO OPTIONS
Ironically giving too many choices may confuse and lead to indecisiveness. Choose the best two options and only offer more if those two are rejected. This applies from product and service offerings to setting up a meeting.

12. BENEFITS PARADIGM
Think benefits. Demonstrate how this will make life easier, more efficient and more successful for the reader.

13. BACK TO THE STRUCTUREOne last check – have you put key words into your writing? Put key words and ideas at the beginning or end of a sentence. Also state the main idea of a paragraph in the first sentence. It is called the topic sentence.

That’s interesting – tell me more. Never be lost for words again when you use these four phrases

Four phrases that help you communicate more effectively – with these four phrases you will be a savvy communicator

You can reply to anything with these four phrases

1. That’s interesting – tell me more.

2. That’s interesting – why would you say that?

3. That’s interesting – why would you do that?

4. That’s interesting – why would you ask that?

Interesting communication tips

Dan O’Connor says you can use these four responses in all situations.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5RknemM8Hw&feature=related

These four phrases work in both the business and personal world.

EMPOWERING WORDS
Keeping a power phrase list helps you to improve your word power and your word effectiveness. Some words and phrases are not effective and should be put on a danger list.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqQe82zRvI&feature=relmfu

POWER WORDS THAT WORK IF YOU SAY THEM SINCERELY

1. I AM PROUD OF YOU

2. What do you think?

3. Will you please.

4. Thank you.

5. Using the other’s persons name

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZeKQQcv-zk&feature=related

USING THE WORD BECAUSE CAN INCREASE YOUR REQUEST SUCCESS RATE

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfbH3r-A7mw&feature=related

CREATE A MIRACLE WITH YOUR LANGUAGE

The miracle of the short word

There is no law that says you have to use complicated, long and big words.

Short words can be as good as or even more effective than big words. Short words can have a greater impact.  Short words are the words we have known from the time we have been born (started learning English) and thus are closer to our hearts. Words that touch the heart have a great impact.

WHY WE NEED TO LEARN BIGGER WORDS

The only reason you need to learn bigger words is because sometimes other people use them, so you need to know what they are saying. Also sometimes you might want to vary your language and then you can draw upon them. When you are communicating, small words are just as good and often are even better and more effective. The type of words book authors use are often not the most effective for the business world. In the business world being concise is the favored method of communication and small words are the more concise form of English too. Concise means being brief and to the point.

SUPER SOUND

When we read we are usually sounding out the words in our heads and when we speak we are making sounds in the form of words. Small words have more effect on our brains and the brains of others because they are shorter and are easier to be processed by our minds.

If a longer word is perfect – use it but make small words the main focus of your speech.

People will follow more easily what you have to say.  It will sound good to them and that is what effective communication is all about.  Many of the most profound proverbs are expressed in simple words. Only use big words in business writing and conversation when they express a meaning that no other word can. Thus two tips to use

1. Always use a small word, and only use a big word when a small word is not available to express the idea you want to express.

2. Express first. Write to express first, never to merely impress. Ironically if you write to express, you will leave a clear impression.

   
   

   

   Words are powerful says Dan O'Connor, so make sure you use the most power-packed words

That’s interesting – tell me more. Never be lost for words again when you use these four phrases

Four phrases that help you communicate more effectively – with these four phrases you will be a savvy communicator

You can reply to anything with these four phrases

1. That’s interesting – tell me more.

2. That’s interesting – why would you say that?

3. That’s interesting – why would you do that?

4. That’s interesting – why would you ask that?

Interesting communication tips

Dan O’Connor says you can use these four responses in all situations.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5RknemM8Hw&feature=related

These four phrases work in both the business and personal world.

EMPOWERING WORDS
Keeping a power phrase list helps you to improve your word power and your word effectiveness. Some words and phrases are not effective and should be put on a danger list.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqQe82zRvI&feature=relmfu

POWER WORDS THAT WORK IF YOU SAY THEM SINCERELY

1. I AM PROUD OF YOU

2. What do you think?

3. Will you please.

4. Thank you.

5. Using the other’s persons name

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZeKQQcv-zk&feature=related

USING THE WORD BECAUSE CAN INCREASE YOUR REQUEST SUCCESS RATE

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfbH3r-A7mw&feature=related

CREATE A MIRACLE WITH YOUR LANGUAGE

The miracle of the short word

There is no law that says you have to use complicated, long and big words.

Short words can be as good as or even more effective than big words. Short words can have a greater impact.  Short words are the words we have known from the time we have been born (started learning English) and thus are closer to our hearts. Words that touch the heart have a great impact.

WHY WE NEED TO LEARN BIGGER WORDS

The only reason you need to learn bigger words is because sometimes other people use them, so you need to know what they are saying. Also sometimes you might want to vary your language and then you can draw upon them. When you are communicating, small words are just as good and often are even better and more effective. The type of words book authors use are often not the most effective for the business world. In the business world being concise is the favored method of communication and small words are the more concise form of English too. Concise means being brief and to the point.

SUPER SOUND

When we read we are usually sounding out the words in our heads and when we speak we are making sounds in the form of words. Small words have more effect on our brains and the brains of others because they are shorter and are easier to be processed by our minds.

If a longer word is perfect – use it but make small words the main focus of your speech.

People will follow more easily what you have to say.  It will sound good to them and that is what effective communication is all about.  Many of the most profound proverbs are expressed in simple words. Only use big words in business writing and conversation when they express a meaning that no other word can. Thus two tips to use

1. Always use a small word, and only use a big word when a small word is not available to express the idea you want to express.

2. Express first. Write to express first, never to merely impress. Ironically if you write to express, you will leave a clear impression.

   
   

   

   Words are powerful says Dan O'Connor, so make sure you use the most power-packed words