Tag Archives | challenges
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7 Types Of Effective Communication And Why You Need To Know Them

By on February 1, 2012 in Personal Growth, Success, Tools, Wisdom

It’s not enough to know  whom you are talking to, communicate, influence, and in the case of our children perhaps teach. If you want to be effective in your communication, you need to understand the best way to reach them. This has been proven time and time again.

This is the key to success, better relationships, and higher productivity at work. In fact, this strategy has been shown to lower stress by minimizing conflict and encourage camaraderie and teamwork, whether personal or professional.


Roosevelt and Churchill in conversation (Zorba the Geek) / CC BY-SA 2.0

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a customer, client, child, spouse, co-worker, or members of a board or committee. You must connect in the manner that resonates with them. It sounds difficult, but it really isn’t once you start practicing it.

Types of communication:

Informing – Some people just want the facts laid out for them. They pay attention to facts and figures, studies and other concrete data.

Analyzing – These people don’t want specific facts, but rather a summary. You need to offer an analysis and boil down the information or request in a meaningful matter.

Persuasive – This type of person wants to know what’s in it for them. Why should they agree to act in a certain way or perform a specific action? They must be convinced. Present your argument.

Mediating – Compromise, compromise. With these people, you have to be willing to give a little. They need to feel heard and respected. Find the common ground and find the solution that satisfies you both.

Emotional – This kind of communication is all about feelings. Knowing what is important and what touches these people is the key. Appeal to their emotions and connect on a compassionate and understanding level.

Entertaining – Wit, humor and levity influences these people. Serious facts are useless, be interesting and lighthearted when possible.

Inspiring – Offer motivation, inspiration, and big picture results. These people need to feel as though they are making a difference, some kind of impact.

The way to practice communication that is more effective requires that you improve your observation and listening skills. Pay attention to the people around you and be more interested in general. We could all use a little more of that.

What type of communicator are you? It helps to understand that too.

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Tackle the time Wasters!

By on November 7, 2011 in Productivity, Simple Steps
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Image by openDemocracy via Flickr

Simple Steps

Weekly challenge: Tackle the time wasters!

Identify 5 time wasters that eat up your time, your focus or your energy.

Then choose one item to reduce or eliminate. (I know you’re ambitious, but making one change at a time yields the highest rate of success. You can build on that later.)

Care to share? What are your time wasters and which are you tackling this week?

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How to Salvage Even the Worst Day

By on October 14, 2011 in Sanity Savers
Child laughing

Image by cheriejoyful via Flickr

We’ve all had days when it seems like nothing gets done or everything conspires to get in our way.

It’s Ok. Really. Tomorrow is another day…Literally another chance to have a productive, meaningful day.

When you have limited energy, time and focus, just fall back to your “Good Enough” list.

My day is “good enough” when I:

  1. Make my bed (This is huge for me…always make my bed first thing or my day falls apart.)
  2. Write something…anything (This is my work and my passion…for you it might be different.)
  3. Talk, hug and play with my children and husband.
  4. Move a little bit – even walk or yoga for 10 minutes.
  5. Do one thing of value (Might be a work task, phone call, email or one step forward on a project.)
  6. Listen to someone and offer the most valuable gift of support and understanding.
  7. Appreciate the beauty around me (For me it’s nature, photography, plants, pets.)
  8. Expand my mind (Books and interesting conversation.)
  9. Create order (Clean my space, organize my work, home or technology.)
  10. Laugh (A chuckle can go a long way towards saving a horrible day. Better if you share it with friends.)

What do you do to salvage a bad day that has gotten derailed?

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How to Move Forward – Even if Your Team Won’t

By on September 2, 2011 in Productivity, Success
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Image via Wikipedia

Whenever you feel like you are stuck, at work or at home, at the mercy of others or fate, ask yourself these simple questions.

What can I do to solve the problem?

What is within my control?

What actions can I take without permission or input from others?

I can only control what is within my power. Often, especially when we are part of the team (or family) we feel hemmed in and held back by the actions or lack of actions on the part of others. But if we focus on what is actually in our control and what is within our ability, then we are able to move forward regardless of what those around us are doing – or are not doing (which is often the case.)

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Are You Prepared to Weather any Storm?

By on August 27, 2011 in Uncategorized
A cropped image of Hurricane Irene making land...

Image via Wikipedia

When crisis hits, will you be ready?

As we face the potential destruction of Hurricane Irene it’s a good time to assess our level of preparedness for an emergency, at home and at work.

Do you have an emergency plan for your home or your business?

How long will it take you to evacuate?

Where would you go?

If you are faced with an extended power outage do you have the necessary supplies?

Plan, prepare and pray you never have to use it!

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Why Do We Make it So Hard? Simple is Best

By on July 11, 2011 in Personal Growth

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We seem to have this innate need to make everything harder than it needs to be. We over-think, over-analyze and over-do. Perhaps we muse that if our solutions are more complex, they are somehow inherently more valuable.

I think we have it completely upside down!

My wisdom - SIMPLE IS BEST

Simple ideas are easily understood.

Simple solutions are easily implemented.

Simple changes are the most achievable.

 

That’s it. Why make it difficult if it doesn’t have to be?

 

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What if Your Ordinary Was Actually Extraordinary?

By on June 27, 2011 in Personal Growth, Success

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. – Patti Digh

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I have been following along with the Trust30 writing challenge, although I think that they should have called it a “thinking challenge.” There are many who do not publically share their written answers, but are instead quietly pondering the prompts in the privacy of their own minds.

Patti’s piece really struck a chord with me. (Read the entire commentary here.) Too often we get caught up in comparisons and expectations. We are so quick to judge and condemn our work and ourselves.

And what are we using as the yardstick?

Other people’s accomplishments or perceived skills.

External expectations thrust upon us by a misguided or misinformed public.

Internal stories, arbitrary standards that don’t really fit who we are.

What if our “ordinary” is actually exceptional? What if what we view as our normal, everyday behavior, thoughts and skills are truly extraordinary to the world at large?

We will never know if we don’t put ourselves out there. If we don’t pursue that idea we have, if we don’t share our wisdom, if we don’t offer our talents to others we will never truly know what we are capable of.

I challenge you all…

Be your ordinary, not my ordinary or anyone else’s and see what happens!

 

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What are You Tolerating?

By on June 24, 2011 in Life Balance

Everything you tolerate saps your energy and prevents you from moving forward effectively.

Most people tolerate more than 50 small, petty things in their life on a regular basis. It’s just ridiculous what we are willing to put up with and what we allow to hang over our heads.

Take 10 minutes to sit down and make a list of all of the annoying, nagging nuisances in your life, both at home and at work.

Then choose how you will eliminate them. Either set aside one  block of time (a mid-week afternoon or perhaps time on the weekend) to “attack” these annoyances that are hanging over your head and get rid of as many of them as possible; or choose to tackle one each day and slowly make your way down the list. Choose whichever strategy will work best for you.

You’ll find that the more annoyances you get rid of the more peaceful and energetic you’ll become.

So go ahead—make that phone call you’ve been putting off, clean out your desk, drop off your dry cleaning, call the plumber to fix that slow drain, purge some of your old clothes, buy a frame for that picture you have been meaning to hang for six months, fix the wobbling chair leg, fire that ineffective employee or let that time-eating client go; the list is seemingly endless –then go out and celebrate with all the extra energy you’ll have!

 

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Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams

By on June 3, 2011 in Personal Growth

If we have not achieved our early dreams, we must either find new ones or see what we can salvage from the old. If we have accomplished what we set out to do in our youth, we need not weep like Alexander the Great that we have no more worlds to conquer. There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on with it. – Rosalynn Carter

Take a look at your dreams and accomplishments. Do you need to revise and adjust based on where you are in life and the experiences you’ve had? This doesn’t mean give up, just regroup. And as Rosalynn so clearly says, “we had better get on with it.”

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Try a Daily Wrap Up

By on May 23, 2011 in Success

Weekly challenge:

At the end of each workday this week, whatever time that is,  take 5 – 10 minutes to go through a daily wrap-up routine.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What worked?
  • Where was your focus and what did you get done?
  • Where did you get distracted and what can you do differently tomorrow?

Finally, review the next day’s calendar, ongoing project statuses and tasks that are either due tomorrow or overdue. Set your top three priorities for the next day (three works for me; any more than that and my focus is scattered.) Now you already have a head start on the next day. Try it and see if you don’t find you are much calmer each morning.

This is one part of my 18 minute daily focus and planning routine. For a refresher read 18 Minutes to Managing Your Day.

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