How to Improve Your Innovative Skills

By Paul Baker  

Photo: workawesome.com
 
Start by deliberate innovation practices
Don't wait for innovation to strike you as you go about your daily life. Innovation is a skill that needs you to practice it all the time. If you read these tips and make yourself a promise that when you wake up tomorrow you will try and do all of them, you will have started being innovative.
Challenge the ways things are done
This is a big one and is the easiest way to identify innovative people because they are always looking to see if things can be done better. They are always challenging the traditional way of performing and unfortunately fired from their jobs because of this.
Employers should embrace these people because it is only by challenging how things are done that we can do them better. If you hear anyone tell you "It has always been done this way." then you know this is an area that desperately needs some innovation.
Practice by looking at all the steps involved in the activity and see if any are wasted or done better with current technology.
Become a child again
Children have a great knack for getting to the heart of the matter quickly, and so can you. If you follow this simple technique.
When faced with an activity or task ask why it is done this way. Then for each answer they give you, ask why at least four more times.
This will drill down to the real reason why something is being done and surprisingly it is not always what you think. This type of questioning is useful in uncovering and removing the "always has" responses.
In some cases even giving the product or items to children and allowing them to play with it can highlight factors that adults miss.
Break your own routines and habits
To become innovative you need to freshen up your creative juices and experience new things yourself. This means you need to stop doing what you always do and apply the following practices in your daily activities.

• Change the way you go and leave work
• Travel to another nearby town for the day and just watch people do what they do
• Eat at different restaurants or dining rooms
• Find a recreational activity that you haven't done before and go do it this weekend
• Read a book that you normally would not ever read
• Open the dictionary to a random page and memorise at least five new words you did not know
• Join a social group that you wouldn't normally join and listen to their ideas

Overall innovation is about experiencing different and new ways of doing activities so you can see if any will cross over to your activities.
Get involved in learning for life and challenge yourself to do at least thirty new things every year.

Information supplied by Paul Baker
Over twenty years of business development & change management strategies successfully used in National organisations across Australia. The focus is on continuous improvement of business systems to stimulate growth through our principles of Initiate, Inspire, Innovate.
Customer-centric focus using our extensive experience in consumer behaviour and business process operations to find ways to help business owners manage their organisations.
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It's OK to Be Different - Learn to Accept Yourself!

 By JoAnne Ceccarelli-Egan 

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Have you ever been judged? Have you ever been made to feel "odd" or "different"? We all have unique personality traits which go against the norm. Because of these differences, we are sometimes judged and made to feel odd or that there is something wrong with us. Because we live by set of rules and expectations, we in turn judge others by our standards. Our invitation in life is to be authentic and to operate under values that are true for us and allow others to do the same. This genuineness might make us unpopular and misunderstood but it will liberate us to be the person we were created to be. In order to be authentic, we need to understand and accept our distinctive personality style and feelings. We need to have the courage to believe that it is "OK to Be Different".
As children, we have learned to survive by being conventional; most of us gave up our right to be who we are in order to accommodate those around us. We ceased to be authentic because of a desire to please those we love and the comfort in the familiar. Being a conformist certainly made it easier for our teachers and parents but was it easier for us? By minimizing or dismissing our preference, we pretend that our inclination is "no big deal" but conforming and denial of our true self comes at a cost. The cost is that we step back from what is true for us and we use a great deal of energy to maintain the pretense that everything is fine. We disassociate from our feelings and hinder access to the Divine.
Through my training, I have discovered that some of our idiosyncrasies have more to do with our innate personality, upbringing and culture than obstinacy. For example, my Meyers Briggs Personality Style TM is often judged "cheap" by others. My personality type values conservation, minimalism and thriftiness and avoids frills and extravagance. As a result, there will always be "enough" food for a gathering, but it will be a moderate presentation, as opposed to overload. The preference is to choose modest and practical over lavish and abundance, especially when it comes to oneself. This moderation is then judged by others as "stingy or cheap".
In reality, my personality type is generous but the gift of giving is done privately and without fanfare. Not only do I come to my approach in life innately; I also come from it culturally. I was raised by a humble father, who grew up in the depression and taught us to utilize everything and never waste. His philosophy is perfectly in tuned with my Myers Briggs personality because it honors the conservation of resources. As you can see, my "cheapness" is part of the fabric of my being, in the same way that the person who judges me may be extravagant and lavish due to his personality type or family background. The challenge in life is to suspend judgment. When we begin to accept that it is "OK, to Be Different", we can accept people as they are and learn from their different type of behavior.
We are all human and because of this condition, we are imperfect and at times we disappoint others. If our intentions are pure (and we know if they are or not), we need to ignore judgment and criticism and accept ourselves. The clincher here is that we also need to do the same for others; to accept their difference and allow them idiosyncrasies. The one exception being that we are entitled to step back and disengage from people who misuse or abuse us. For the most part, people are benevolent, lack malice and are doing the best that they can. We need to become conscious when we judge others' peculiarities and differences. This can include physical appearance, such as tattoos, unusual mannerism or behavior. Years ago, my husband and I were in a supermarket checkout line. The woman in front of us was poorly dressed, wearing a thin cotton dress with bare legs and sneakers despite the fact it was snowing out. She had 3 food orders that she was paying for with food stamps. The transactions were taking a long time and the people behind us were quietly grumbling. When she came to the last order, everything stopped when she realized that she did not have enough money. You could have heard a pin drop as the cashier paged the manager. We quietly handed the cashier the amount that was needed. She thanked us with a toothless grin and explained that the food was for her 2 foster children. The judgments that we make! Here was this poorly dressed woman using food stamps in order to feed 2 foster children. How many of us would take in foster children?
Diversity is the spice of life, yet we allow people to judge our behavior and influence our actions while we do the same to others. When we are authentic, our energy is no longer being stymied by a public façade and we release extraordinary power. By accepting who we are, warts and all, we model acceptance for others and help them to feel more comfortable in their own skin. This month, in order to live a life of peace, love and serenity, I invite you to notice when you judge others, suspend criticism and remind yourself that "It's OK, to Be Different".
"It took a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes" Sally Fields

My website, http://www.TryaNewPerspective.com, is a combination of Clinical knowledge and Spirituality. Learn strategies to deal with adversity by using affirmations, visualizations and humor to develop inner strength and balance in your Mind, Body and Spirit. Since "one's words and thoughts become one's reality", allow me to teach you simple ways to re-frame your thoughts into a positive thinking pattern, in order to decrease stress and enjoy life more fully.

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Add Self Esteem to Your Basic Needs

 By Wendy Collier 

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From the first workshop I took, I knew that I wanted to teach children and their families everything I was learning about self-esteem and personal growth. All I could think about was; why aren't we teaching this stuff to children in the schools?
I found it so empowering that I almost didn't believe it. It seemed too simple, too good to be true. Really? All I had to do was learn to change my thoughts.
And thus began the journey of my life, the journey of a thousand lessons, with thousands of challenges and roadblocks along the way. But there were also some pretty amazing scenery and experiences, too.
My mission is to teach you what I've learned in the hopes that it will improve your life and change it for the better.
Choose to make the journey the destination. It is a choice. Making each step of that journey as amazing as you can make it is the key. The true destination is to take each moment and fill it with the most spectacular things that you can.
Whatever it is that you want to be, Just Be It! If you want to be happy, then Just Be Happy. If you want to be healthy, then Just Be Healthy. If you want to be successful, then Just Be Successful! If you want to be free of fear, then Just Be It!
Life is so much more about just being rather than this big, long, grueling marathon. I truly believe that God, the Universe (whatever you call your 'higher power') didn't want us to work this hard, to be this hurt, miserable and unhappy.
I read a quote from Doreen Virtue's, Healing With The Angels Oracle Cards, that stated: "Imagine if your purpose was to simply experience joy." So, I thought about it, I imagined it, I owned it, I chose it, I lived it, I felt it,... I believe it! Joy, Joy, Joy. Focus on it, breathe it, live it!
Early on in my journey, I discovered that the key to personal growth and self-esteem education was to incorporate these concepts into my life. I used tools I learned, I revamped the tools, and then I created my own tools. But what made the real difference was actually using the tools and finding ways to implement them into my day-to-day life.
Many of the articles and books have an A.C.T.I.O.N. step. Don't just say, "yeah I'll do that!" Make a plan on how you'll do it, really think about this question: how will you make it part of your day-to-day life? That is what will significantly improve your life. I guarantee it. If you truly want your life to be better and more positive, then you must do the action step. The mere commitment to the action is the foundation of building your confidence, self-esteem and self-worth.
You don't ever forget this stuff. Even when you read a book, the parts you don't need right away, will come back to you when you most need it. It's a wonderful surprise of how this works. Most personal growth books you can read over and over and over. Every time you will get different gems from them that you need at that specific stage of your life.
Self-esteem and life skills education is a fundamental basic need. These are things that all of us needed to learn as children but no one knew how critical it was until recently. I believe it is as critical as learning to read and write.
This is how you take care of your mind and heart, the two driving forces of being human. Until you master being human; you will be a slave to it. This teaches you how to be your highest best self. I believe it is the key to becoming your highest best self. This is not an option and not a luxury; it is a basic need for everyone. At some point in everyone's life there is a need for self-esteem skills.
After many years of personal growth, we have arrived at the conclusion that the real secret to becoming empowered is combining self-esteem and life skills. One inspires the other. When you have strong self-esteem you can handle life and when you learn to handle the many challenges of life your self-esteem goes up.
Be proactive and commit to learning now. Watch your life soar to a whole new level of joy, happiness, peace, health, and wealth. It is truly an amazing journey and a destination that will rock your world!

About the Author
Wendy Collier, B. Ed. is the Author and Illustrator of the Self-Esteem Angel™ Book Series for Children which are fictional stories with self-esteem concepts weaved into the plot. Collier's experiences as a former Teacher and Professional Speaker is evident in the effective tools and skills she shares. Download a FREE E-book, Watch Author Readings, Order the full series online at http://SelfEsteemAngel.com or Download E-Books at http://BarnesandNoble.com and http://Amazon.com

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Question for Men: How Do You Handle Stress?

 By Nancy Travers 

Photo:  thestarphoenix.com

Women support each other under stress. How can men handle it more effectively?
Lets start with some basics: Stress affects both men and women. But growing evidence suggests that women do a better job of getting support from others, and in general, they manage stress more effectively. Take a look around you in the workplace. With more women at work and in management positions, which sex does the better job of supporting each other? Hint: Would you be surprised to hear at work, "Let's meet at lunch and talk about it, girlfriend." Thought not. Yeah, guys sit down together too, but how often is it for emotional support.
In this era of seemingly unending financial and job uncertainty, how do men reverse the trend and begin dealing effectively with stress? The first steps are to recognize that you are stressed and then to figure out where the stress is coming from.
Your major stressors
According to recent studies, men are stressed most by the following:
Money. Duh! Who is not worried about the economy and our personal finances during these difficult times? Are you carrying these worries around like a piano on your back?
Work. The logistics and politics of our jobs have become far trickier as businesses cut close to the bone and ask for more effort and accountability from each employee.
Family expectations. Your spouse and children are depending on you to maintain the status quo. You can handle it in most cases, but stress and its effects-including irritability, anxiety, and depression-are the price you pay.
Marriage/relationship difficulties. Not smooth sailing between you and your S.O.? You can push it to the back of your mind when you leave the house, but relationship stress affects you all day long, unless you do something about it.
Health. Has your health been slipping over the years? This is often one of the areas you can address effectively-and it helps reduce stress in the other areas.
Not enough downtime. How much time do you give yourself to simply chill? Or are you stuck in your man cave wrapping up unfinished business after dinner? Read a good book. Watch a favorite show with a spouse. Walk or run in the woods. Take the bike out. Do you plan vacations, or do you get away briefly as an afterthought?
Sex. Is the physical intimacy in your marriage or relationship a stress reducer or does it add stress?
Little stuff. Taken together they add up, don't they? Your commute, the leaky faucet, household chores (which become harder to outsource as you look to save money), finding time to pay the bills and balance the checkbook-the list goes on.
How to cope-and thrive!
Most men experience stress from some of the areas listed above. The question is: what do you do about your stressors? How do you get unstuck and jump off the stress merry-go-round you ride on each day? Here are some healthy, tried-and-true ways to do it:

• Solve your financial problems. People worse off than you are taking big steps. Make a plan. Reduce expenses. Share the management of your finances with your partner. Put your plan down on paper and reserve a time-Saturday morning, Wednesday evening, doesn't matter-to spend a specific period of time, no more, no less. Get help from your bank, your creditors, or a well-respected credit counseling service. You will be surprised at how much they will cooperate and offer realistic solutions.

• Develop a new interest. There's an adage in the business world: "If you want something done, give it to a busy person." Make yourself busier by finding time to do something for the pure passion and enjoyment. Take a course at one of your community resources. Join a meetup group. Whether it's hiking in the woods, writing that story you always thought you could write, joining the local sports enthusiast group-think outside the box and try new ways of bringing energy into your life. There's a payoff to doing something just for yourself. It makes your work and home obligations seem less daunting by changing how you think about them.

• Exercise. That thought that you have? That there's just no time? Let me tell you up front: that's a self-deception. Making it a top priority to exercise will reduce stress, increase your energy, and lead to a "take care of business" attitude that will get you moving in other areas of your life. Walk, jog, bike, get to a gym-whatever it takes, because this is a big one.

• Eat right. Recent studies have shown a correlation between weight gain and stress. Are you numbing yourself against the stress with thoughtless snacking or overeating at meals?

• Sleep. Get the sleep your body needs-7-8 hours a night. Sleep heals you both physically and psychically.

• Get yourself checked out. Research has shown that men delay doctor visits more than women, often waiting until major symptoms arise. Get to the doctor now, find out what toll your stress has taken, especially on blood pressure and your heart. Follow a good plan to reverse the trend.

• Kick the habits. Smoking, drinking, gambling. Don't be fooled. They may provide an illusion of temporary relief. But in the long run, they add stress. Develop a plan to quit your self-destructive habits.

• Get help. If you continue to be dogged by stress and need help to implement the steps listed above, talk with a counselor or therapist to isolate and work your underlying issues. With experience in stress management and the symptoms that stress can lead to-such as anxiety and depression, I can be an ally.

One thing you don't want to do-simply live with stress and hope it goes away someday, "when things get better." It's up to you to make it "get better." Know that you are not alone and have help from many sources.

Nancy Travers is an Orange County Counseling professional. If you need safe, effective counseling services, please get in touch. You can reach her here: http://www.nancyscounselingcorner.com/contact-us.

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Get Out of Overwhelm

By Frances Lucas  

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In order to keep up with all the things there are to do, leaders know the importance of keeping good records. Some of us have lists and lists of things we would like to do. Some of us have no lists but ideas and dreams in our heads of where our life needs to go. It is sometimes hard to keep up with it all. We need to be sure to write down what it is we need to do. We need to be sure we weed out some of the things which may not be that important or part of God's plan for us. We need to be sure we persevere and continue on doing what God is calling us to do.
Writing things down and sorting our thoughts and ideas out are good ways to bring structure to our plans. When we feel something is pressing on our hearts or minds to do, we should write it down. We should write out in detail what we feel is important about doing that particular thing and date it. Writing things down gives us confirmation that a plan is forming in our minds. Seeing that idea or thought on paper helps us plant it into our minds.
Not all ideas or thoughts we write down will be part of God's plan for us. We may write down 80 percent of ideas that never really come into fruition. We know we can't do everything in life and be good at it so we need God to help us weed out what things we need to eliminate or put off so we can focus only on what things we need to do right away. God can help us remove the things He doesn't want us to do. He can help us sort through the mess of ideas that come to us and focus on what His plan is for us.
Getting things on paper and deciding what is most important to work on is a great start. Some may say it's the easy part. The next step is to get started. The next step is not to give up. The next step is to stay focused and persevere so we can complete the tasks God has highlighted for us to do. There will be setbacks. There will be issues. There will be struggles. However, going in knowing God will get us through all things and teach us along the way will be incentive to continue on.
Leaders do have a great deal going on in their lives between home, work and other activities. However, writing them down helps to get the things they need to do off their minds and onto paper. Sorting them out helps us to see what things are most important to God. Persevering helps us learn along the way about what we need to do next and what things we need to change so we can keep going. Remembering these three things will allow us to make the difference God wants us to make and not get overwhelmed along the way.

Need more motivation? Please visit http://www.a-plusconsulting.net and sign up for our free daily devotionals regarding how you can apply God's word to your life.
Want to make a difference in your life and the lives of others? Try Breadcrumbs. These motivational cards with action steps will help you to improve and you can leave them behind to help others do the same. http://www.leaveabreadcrumb.com
Order your FREE starter set today

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Improve Social Skills - How to Meet Friends

By Lisa Kearley 

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The technology of today has us practically a recluse in our homes and offices when it comes to talking with people face to face. How are you supposed to make that "perfect" connection on the phone, email, web or text? You take it back to "old school" and make an effort get out there and meet people in person.
Do you like to play golf? I bet someone in your industry does also. What about attending seminars? You probably see a lot of similar minded people out there looking for a personal connection too. Many business deals are made on the golf course, so you may want to look into taking some lessons. Plus, its a stress reliever. Win-Win.
You can add value to you and your business simply by knowing someone that will benefit someone else. In turn, they might know someone needing your service also. That's networking at its finest.
Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder & Chairman of Business Networking Institute, is quoted as stating, "Who do you work with on a regular basis that provides complimentary services to yours? A plumber needs to know a kitchen installer and a plasterer. Photographers, wedding car hire, florists and cake makers have a constant flow of referrals in all directions."
How do you take your "virtual" connections and translate them to personal connections? Try attending seminars that your colleagues and customers attend. A hugely beneficial site for you to commercially connect is LinkedIn. This is a wonderful site to promote yourselves, your business, provide a short resume, recommendations etc. In this site, you may join groups that interest your or your business.
Find groups to join and learn from on LinkedIn. A sample group is LinkedOC headed by Bryan Elliott. He started this group for business professionals in Orange County, CA. who wanted to learn how to better themselves and their business. Every month he schedules a guest speaker with a topic of interest at a local hotel. Each month, more than 200+ professionals converge in a conference room to meet each other, generate business for themselves and for others at the social hour held before and after the seminar.
Look also for business groups such as BNI-short for Business Networking International to join. This grouping of business professionals are amazing. Not only will you meet new people almost weekly, but you will be able to meet the people that know the people in our group. What a phenomenal way to expand your business horizons!

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Overcoming Awkwardness

By Trevor Johnson

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Awkwardness takes many forms. When we're a teenager, we often feel awkward because of all the changes that are taking place in our bodies. But there are also situations later in our life when that feeling of awkwardness crops up again. Here are some simple ways of overcoming awkwardness.

1. Start smiling

Smiles just ease tension. It really is that simple.


If you wander around with a look of doom and gloom, almost as though you're being followed by your own miniature version of Thor, then you will repel people or they'll feel awkward when they're near you.


But if you begin to smile more often, you'll more often than not get the same reaction from other people. Putting them more at ease will, in turn, help to put you more at ease being around other people.


2. Make eye contact


If you've made a habit of looking everywhere else in the room apart from into other people's eyes then this may increase your feeling of awkwardness at first.


It's worth persevering with this though.


Looking someone in the eye when you're talking with them shows that you are actually taking an interest in the conversation rather than staring at a screen or another person somewhere else in the room.


Don't worry if you don't get this totally right at first but do make a conscious effort to make - and keep - eye contact more often and for longer periods of time.

3. Memorize names

If you're currently no good at remembering other people's names then this should be high up on your list.


One of the things that makes is feel awkward is when someone approaches us and we can't remember their name. It sends a message to your subconscious that either you've just got bad manners because you've forgotten a name or, worse still, it can trigger a feeling of talking to strangers.


So work out a way of memorizing the names of people you meet. There are lots of different ways of doing this but one that works for a lot of people is to repeat back their name as soon as you meet them, a bit like a parrot would. Then weave it into the conversation a few times without sounding contrived. This will help reinforce the name associated with the face in your memory.

4. Make conversation
Even if it's polite, small talk, style conversation.


I find that the best way to do this is to actually rehearse what I'm going to say before a meeting that I know will happen. Run the conversation through in your mind or, even better, out loud.


The more you practice conversing with other people - ideally in an actual two way conversation - the better you will get. It's like any other skill, even if it seems daunting at first.

5. Be comfortable with yourself


The more at ease you are with yourself, the less awkward you'll feel.


So make sure that you're happy with the clothes you're wearing, how your hair looks, all those kind of details.


If you're not totally happy with the way your body looks, accept that it will take time to change this and learn to get yourself more at ease with this as time goes by. Do your best to reduce your feeling of being uncomfortable with yourself and you'll find your awkward feelings will reduce as well.

Get more help with overcoming awkwardness including how you can be less shy socially.
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