How to Leave Your Baggage Behind in 2015 -- and Become a Better Leader...

As you look forward to 2016, think about what you want to leave behind in 2015. It's one thing to set goals for yourself, your team and your organization. But what are the things that you must release in order to allow these goals to actualize? 

The pain of these experiences is basically negative energy that is holding you back from being an even more effective leader. It's difficult to lead if you are seeing others through the filter of your past negative experiences. But how do you release them? No doubt you have tried, and thought you had, yet they keep surfacing. Perhaps it's time to forgive. You need to do away with your Old Negative Values and Belief system... Set a Goal for 2016, wright out the new Values and Beliefs you want that will help you to achieve this Goals in 2016.

All this exploded when I came across the following quote and realized that forgiveness is all about me, and no one else:
"Forgiveness is a selfish act that frees you from being controlled by the past."

Here's what I now do each morning:

What Is Your 2016 Playbook for Growth?...

Business Entrepreneur or CEO's  entering 2016 convinced they can succeed by doubling down on what worked in the past may be reading from the wrong playbook.

How will they get there?

How to Get Out of Your Own Way and Finish What You Start...

You don't see yourself as lazy and you don't consider procrastination to be one of your downfalls but yet you identify with people who struggle finishing what they start. So what's going on and how do you get out of your own way? 

Below are some few tips  to Get Out your Own Way and Finish What You Start...

Expressing Your Intent Makes You Feel Good Enough for a While:

How to Get Your Prospects to Know, Like, and Trust You...

There are three components to a successful sale. First your prospect needs to know that you exist. Second they need to like you enough to reach out to you for their work. Third they need to trust that you're giving them the best advice possible outside of the financial upside your business may see.

If you're missing the first one then you don't have a sale because the prospect won't ever reach out to you. If you're missing either of the other two items then the value of the work won't be as high as it could be.

10 Marketing Startups to Pay Attention to in 2016...

Marketing agencies and startups come and go, but even the good ones don’t necessarily stick around. Instead, successful marketing startups are those which evolve with the ever-growing demands of marketing, whether they be in the digital or off-line categories, or in the rapidly growing area of content marketing.

Successful marketing looks toward current and shifting trends to figure out where the demand is headed and how to best connect companies and target markets in a meaningful way.

How to Repel the Wrong Customers -- and Attract the Right Ones for your Business...

Most businesses focus on converting prospects into customers. But it’s just as important to determine who is not a good fit for your business -- to repel as well as attract as you will always want to attract "Only Quality People (OQP).

This may seem counterintuitive. You might be thinking: Hold up. We have a fantastic product, and we want everyone to like us! We want everyone to buy right now!

4 Smart Business Decisions That Withstand the Test of Time...

It has been said that good decisions come from experience, and experience typically comes from bad decisions. Fortunately, history is riddled with examples of good and bad decisions that we can all learn from and apply to our own situations,  so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel of bad luck.

However, don’t get frazzled into thinking you need to grow your business or company overnight. Be patient. There are certain decision criteria that withstand the test of time that any organizational leader can adopt for one’s own. 

Here are four of them.

8 Steps to Keep Your Company or Business Growing...

Running your own business as an entrepreneur can be the thing that really forces you to sharpen your sword and truly define your purpose and commitment to greatness. After starting my first business, going through months of failure and then finally figuring out a formula that started getting me customers and results -- I was on track and very eager to take my company to the next level.

No matter what type of business you’re in, now is the moment to expand and take the market share by forging your own path, away from what’s “reasonable” or “popular.”

Here are the most important steps to expand your Business or Company:

10 Questions Every Aspiring Millionaire Should Ask...

An intelligent student at a seminars inquired, as a tenacious and successful business entrepreneur at a rapidly expanding company, are there any particular questions that I should be asking myself?"

Great question!
He answered and said, Before i become millionaire at 24, I learned to ask some serious questions that allowed me to become who I am today. Some of the questions that I had asked were not generally asked by the majority of people. Because of this, I believe that questions are the sole promoter for the mindset of any aspiring millionaire. He told Dan how he started his journey to becoming a Millionaire.

7 Ways to Bootstrap Your Business to Success ...

Most first-time entrepreneurs seem to believe the myth that they need a minimum of a half a million dollars to start a business. At least that is usually the lowest number I see requested from our local angel investment group. In reality, over 80 percent of successful new businesses are self-funded for much less -- often as little as $500. I’m convinced this also reduces risk.

Starting a new business on a limited budget without investor involvement is called bootstrapping, and it’s the only way to go if you don’t want to spend months on the investment pitch preparation and delivery circuit. Also, with bootstrapping, you won’t have the added pressure and risk of an investor boss hanging over your shoulder and second-guessing your every move.

7 Mental Shifts That Helped Me to Become a Millionaire and Qualified for the Trevo Brand New New Car in just 3months...

After reinventing the wheel for myself time and time again I’ve come to realize that the secret to millennial success in the business world is a combination of grit and creative thinking. As for me I Bless God for everything because of a truth all i have today i Owe to God Almighty... Perhaps i will be sharing my story in the next edition. 

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. Seriously you've got to have a Sense of Urgency in whatever you doing, you can actually compress that effort depends on how much Hungry you are. As for me, i was always hungry, determined, focused, self motivated, goal Oriented and success driven plus prayers... 

Here are the seven of other few Mental shifts I implemented to achieve great results in my first 3months in my Trevo Business...

7 Ways to Shift Your Perspective About the Dreaded 'No' in Sales and Business

There’s an old saying: The strongest fish is the one that swims upstream.

When you're rejected in a business context, it can feel as if things have come to a complete halt. But in reality these rejections give you something to push against. Rejection is an opportunity to grow stronger even when it seems like everything is working against you.

As a salesperson, you're forced to cope with the less than desirable and perhaps unexpected. In this way, rejection gifts you with resilience. And resilience is what gives a sales professional longevity and the determination to come out on top.

Below are the 7ways to Shift your perspective....

8 Daily Habits That Will Make 2016 Explosive...

The new year is almost here and most entrepreneurs are looking at how they will raise their game in 2016. Many of you may want to ramp up your personal development and productivity to a whole new level to reach some major goals.

 When it comes to finding success and achieving your goals, many times the most important struggle is the one that you encounter in mundane daily life. To truly find success in your life, it is important that you take the time to do the little things that matter most. Small changes to your daily routine can translate into monumental success in all of your endeavors.

Here are eight things that you should be doing, if you aren’t already, habitually.

The 3 Personal Development Goals Successful People Pursue Habitually

So how are any of us supposed to figure out which daily habits are critical to success, and which are personal preference and idiosyncrasy?

If you take a look at all the different lists of habits, routines, principles and priorities among successful entrepreneurs from Ben Franklin to Mark Cuban you’ll find these three universal success factors.

Below are the 3 personal development goals

7 Characteristics of Inspiring Leaders...

Effective leaders inspire movements that exist only when people choose to move in the same direction. Without a leader, movements fragment and get nowhere. The leader's job is to inspire people to work together in the service of something greater than themselves.

Unfortunately, there are a great many bosses out there leading companies, and not enough leaders. The title of “boss” only signifies power over others. To be called a leader, your must inspire your team through your actions and words to believe in a common vision. The mark of a true leader is the ability to encourage the employee commitment and engagement that is the foundation for continued success. 

To start leading and stop bossing, emulating the habits of inspiring leaders.

7 Mindsets at the Foundation of Entrepreneurial Success,,,

Do you ever wonder why some entrepreneurs have the ability to bounce from success to success, without falter? To be clear, no one has that ability, but from afar it can seem like that.

There are many, many skills and attributes required for success as an entrepreneur. Fortunately, most of them can be learned, strengthened and nourished through diligence and a willingness to grow. Having the proper mindset as an entrepreneur will allow you to deal more effectively with the day-to-day of your business because you will be thinking like a successful entrepreneur.

Take 4 Steps Back to Move Your Small Business Forward...

Startups are small but mighty -- that’s no secret. They fight for their marketplace positions by being scrappier and nimbler than their behemoth corporate counterparts. But that doesn’t mean they’re impervious to the need for support.

 

Until 2008, there were about 100,000 more new startups than business failures every year, but that ratio has nearly reversed itself in the last seven years. This steep decline in entrepreneurship makes it clear that startups require support -- but in fact that support can also come from within.

3 Secrets to Effective Communication During Rapid Business Growth...

The secrets to effective communication

In the early days of a startup’s life, communication is easy; founders can sit around a table with the entire team. But once the team reaches double digits -- often abruptly, and with dozens of new initiates -- entrepreneurs may find it challenging to communicate high-level visions with each member.

Luckily, there are ways to promote effective communication during your startup’s growth spurt.

How you grow your finance without quitting your job, by Pat Utomi...

Professor Pat Utomi is not only a role model for the Nigerian youths, the political economist and business angel has continued to engage the Nigerian system through discourses, lectures, seminars and webinars. Recently, at a forum in Lagos on network marketing, the co-founder of the Lagos Business School wowed the audience with what he called his testimony. Beyond that, he unfolded the limitless possibilities of network marketing and the necessity for individuals to always have multiple streams of income.  Nigeria Political Economist was there and captured his thoughts.

I will take a personal perspective in sharing this topic.

I will give my personal testimony and how I have been able to organise my life which in the long run gave me soft-landings at every point in time.

The Secret to Successful Goal-Setting (And Having Your Best Year Ever... #2016 Loading...)

If you haven’t gotten pumped about next year yet, today’s episode of  The School of Greatness is going to change that.

I am a BIG believer in goals.

So I wanted to interview an expert on goals and how to best achieve them.

There’s no better person than today’s guest, Michael Hyatt.

The 10 Biggest Productivity Killers and How to Overcome Them...

Procrastination is no one's friend. While some people are more prone to it than others, even those who strive to be as focused and productive as possible can find themselves navigating an obstacle course of workplace distractions.

  Read on for more about how to stop those time traps in their tracks.

10 Skills That Are Hard to Learn But Pay Off Forever...

The best things in life may be free, but that doesn't mean they won't take time, sweat, and perseverance to acquire.

That's especially the case when it comes to learning important life skills.

In an effort to ascertain which talents are worth the investment, one Quora reader posed the question: What are the hardest and most useful skills to learn? We've highlighted our favorite takeaways.

The 7 Gifts of Adopting a Personal-Development Mindset...

There is no greater path to success than through your own self-development. Those who are radically successful are immersed in themselves. 

They are endlessly curious and passionate about self-education. To rank among them, you must invest in yourself so you may manage your actions effectively, regardless of what life places in your path.

Cultivating The Mindset of a Successful Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur doesn’t need an MBA to be successful but there is a certain mindset an entrepreneur must cultivate to grow, understand and lead their business.Business leaders who attain this mindset are the ones who ultimately succeed.

 This mindset has four, intertwining aspects.

To Be a Brilliant Leader, Mindset Is Everything...

When it comes to brilliant leadership, there's no cookie-cutter mold for success. Vastly divergent styles can work equally well, which explains why many of our most respected leaders in business and tech often fall on opposite sides of a large number of spectrums. (Some are introverts, some are extroverts, some inspire through warm encouragement, while others do so through the strict enforcement of exacting standards, etc.) 

But while their styles may vary, successful leaders share very similar mindsets.

The 3 Personal Development Goals Successful People Pursue Habitually...

If you Google “daily habits of successful people” you’ll find almost every business-focused media outlet represented in the results. But if you’re looking for a guaranteed roadmap to success, don’t get excited just yet. If you read all of those articles, or even a few of them, you'll soon realize that successful people have a wide range of daily habits.

5 Ways to Build Your Business Instead of Being Trapped By All Those Freakin' Distractions...

What you need are clear methods for rising above the fray and focusing on the business. What you need is some solid advice on building your business instead of scampering around putting out fires. 

Get ready for five game-changing tactics.

The 10 Communication Skills Every Entrepreneur and Leaders Must Master...

Contrary to their portrayal in pop culture, entrepreneurs aren’t purely “idea people,” dreaming up revolutionary new concepts and introspectively coming to profound conclusions about their industry -- though they are that, at times. Instead, entrepreneurs spend most of their days in the trenches, working hard with others to make those ideas a reality. How entrepreneurs and Leaders communicate tends to dictate whether or not they are ultimately successful; even great ideas can flounder if a leader isn’t communicating effectively.

That said, there’s more to communication than just “communication” -- there are actually several distinct skills within the subject that you’ll have to master, sometimes independently:

50 Rules for Being a Great Leader...

Becoming a great leader isn’t something that happens overnight, but it can be achieved through discipline, hard work and a commitment to improvement through experience. Great leaders aren’t born, as some people suggest; instead, they are shaped over time. And, while what makes a “great” leader in one application doesn’t always apply to others, there are some general rules that all great leaders follow.

If becoming a great leader in your own business or organization is your goal, these 50 rules are a good place to start:

3 Traits All Effective Leaders Possess...

Titles don’t define leadership. A certain title may have others calling you their boss or you may be referred as one of the leaders of the organization on the company’s website, but true leadership is much more than just a title.

True leadership involves the execution of a grand vision, where leaders enroll others to get passionate about seeing that vision through and then joining on the ride to bring that vision to reality. The hard part is actually getting your team members and employees to buy in to where you want to go and then working relentlessly to move that vision forward.

50 Steps Every Entrepreneur Must Take to Build a Business...

Starting a business is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you’ll ever do. The process is simpler than you might imagine, but to try to boil it down to five or 10 steps is an underestimation and an injustice. The following 50 steps to start a business are, for the most part, necessary -- though some businesses may be able to skip several steps, and others may be able to accomplish them completely out of order.

Take these steps to start your business, however they suit you best:

The Best Strategy for Developing Leaders Is No Strategy...

What is your leadership development strategy?

It’s a question I’ve been asked scores of times. It often happens when someone gets close enough to the places where I’ve been privileged to lead, and they see many high-capacity leaders being challenged and growing in their leadership. They think: There must be a curriculum, some materials, an apprentice model or some type of leadership development model in place.

What is the secret?

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Bond With Your Team...

Here is what makes for a good relationship between employers and their employees.

1. Open communication.

Is Your Team Starting to Look Like 'The Walking Dead'? 3 Ways to Resurrect Team Morale...

Truth is, sometimes a few small changes will help improve morale in a big way. Here are a few places to start:

4 Ways Tech Leaders Can Focus on Customer Success...

As a startup executive with an engineering background, I know firsthand what it’s like to have holes in my knowledge base. I deeply understand product and systems design, but I’ll be the first to admit that most engineering curricula lack training in the customer experience – something that could be detrimental to a company.

10 Year-End Smart Tax Strategies for Business Owners...

The end of year is quickly approaching, and it’s time for taxes. Hundreds of business owners will turn to their advisors for tips and strategies on how to save money and they’ll all get the same time-worn response: Sell under-performing stocks to harvest losses or make sure you have spent the money in your flexible spending account.

Don’t fall into that trap. As a business owner you have at your disposal several money-saving strategies to consider before the year ends. Here are those top 10 strategies that can save your bottom line:

3 Practices That Will Help You Make This the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Crowded malls, screaming kids and frustrated shoppers are enough to make you want to lock yourself inside this month so you don’t go insane. Then add in the pressures on finances and trying to give your family the best celebration ever. Obviously, the holiday season can be stressful.

It’s important to take a moment, inhale and remember what the spirit of the season is truly about. Whatever your beliefs, they shouldn’t be dependent upon sales and materialism. 

Here are three practices that can help make this season the most wonderful time of the year for you and your loved ones.

How One Entrepreneur Grew a Global Business From Her Facebook Friends...

 Social media was the key to the group's growth. "There are so many social media outlets: Twitter, Periscope, Instagram. Instagram and Periscope- -- the live-streaming app -- allow anyone to follow along on our trips,'' she said. "If the Internet was a geographic location, Facebook would be the capital. It is where everyone is. If you can start someplace where everyone is and then push out from that point, you have the opportunity to do something special."

5 Ways to Take the Wind Out of Your Future Leaders' Sails...

I travel around the country every week facilitating leadership development programs. I find that companies of all sizes make significant mistakes when it comes to developing their leaders. If you want to make more money, increase morale and drive productivity, focus on your leadership team. After all, you can’t do it all yourself.

Here are five mistakes companies make that lead to less effective leaders and the solutions for each. 

7 Strategies This Loud Digital Marketer Used to Reach More Than 300,000 Subscribers...

If you follow digital marketing, Derek Halpern needs no introduction. The insightful, intelligent posts he publishes to his Social Triggers website are so widely recognized that he’s able to boast of more than 300,000 subscribers who anxiously await his updates.

But I wanted to know more about him than just the stats of his success, so I brought him in for an interview. Here are seven of the best lessons that came out of our conversation:

6 Crucial Characteristics of an Effective Tech CEO...

Every day, there seems to be a new article breaking down what makes a great CEO. Whether it’s a general piece or something related to Steve Jobs, the articles often focus on what makes these executives unique, not the winning characteristics they all share.

It’s no secret that being a CEO requires setting the overall vision of the company, hiring great talent and ensuring there’s money in the bank -- but without certain complementary traits, it would be difficult to run businesses that succeed. If you’re an aspiring leader in tech,

Here are the six characteristics I’ve noticed among the most effective CEOs in the industry:

4 Ways To Boost Your Social Media Presence...

You've taken the time to set up social-media accounts for your business on all the major sites. You're posting regularly, taking the time to interact with your customers and using your social-media platforms as an opportunity to share information about your products or services. Social media marketing, however, isn't just about regular posts; it's also about providing your customers with opportunities to interact with your business. Through that interaction, you'll be able to build relationships with your customers and increase their opinion of your business substantially. 

Here are four ways to boost your presence: 

Essential Information to Collect on Every Prospect and Customer...

Entrepreneurs running small businesses worry that if they don’t do this kind of expensive market research, they won’t know how to reach their prospects and will fail miserably. But for many small companies, the cost of even one study from one of the big market research companies would wipe out their entire marketing budget for the year.

Fortunately, there’s a low-cost alternative to focus groups and other formal market research studies: the BDF formula. BDF stands for Beliefs,Desires, and Feelings. The BDF formula says that you can understand your prospect by asking yourself three simple questions: