Why Successful People Love Bad News

Source: Bernard Marr,

Everyone loves good news because they make us feel good. News like getting a promotion, winning a new contract, receiving positive feedback, whatever it might be, gives us a buzz. Good news release the happy hormones in our body which lift our mood and provide a natural antidote to stress.

The reverse it true for bad news. We naturally don’t like bad news. Nobody wants to hear that things are not going well, that something hasn’t worked, or we have failed. When we get bad news we often try to push them away or ignore them, because they do the opposite of good news – they naturally trigger worries, stress us and make us less happy.

In this post I want to discuss why we should learn to love bad news. I am concentrating here on bad news in the work and business environment. My argument is that if we learn to embrace, and to some extent ‘love’ bad news, we will become more successful.

At work, bad news are often hidden, brushed under the carpet, or ignored. The reasons for this are that no one wants to admit they made a mistake and we often believe that the bearers of bad news put themselves in the firing line. In the interest of our own career progression and to keep the general mood up, we don’t talk about bad news.

It’s like when we were children. We couldn’t wait to come home and tell our parents any good news. I see it in my children today, they are literally bursting with excitement when they have something good to tell me. However, bad news don’t come out that easily. With my own children I can often tell from the way they behave that something went wrong and it takes me a little while to tease out what the bad news are. As a parent I try to create an environment where my children are not fearful to tell me bad news and where they see it as an important first step to dealing with the issues.

The same is true in business. Leaders are often sheltered from bad news. People around them protect them, because like our kids, they love to only tell the good news, and because this makes everyone feel better. In many instances it is personality or the company culture that make it difficult for anyone to bring bad news.

What we have to do is to change our responses to bad news. Instead of the more natural “oh no, I can't believe it. I don’t want to know” reaction, we have to force ourselves to respond more positively along the lines of: “thank you so much for telling me. I really appreciate that.” This does take some conscious effort and requires extra efforts the higher up you are in the organization because of all the people that might 'filters' the truth.

Many of the most successful CEOs and senior leaders I have worked with over the years are able to react positively to bad news. They create an environment where it is okay to bring bad news. Not only that, the most successful ones proactively encourage people to talk about the things that are not going so well.

They understand that there is a greater danger in not sharing bad news because it hides the things that often need the most immediate attention. The most successful people understand that the result of hiding or sugar coating bad news are that important issues are missed, decisions are delayed, or the wrong actions are taken.

Obviously there is a natural limit to how much bad news people can bring and we need to apply common sense, we don’t want to create a fake environment where bad news are loved too much.

There are three things that really good (and successful) leaders do when it comes to bad news:

1. They work on the way they personally react to bad news and make a conscious effort to react positively.
2. They create an environment where bad news are welcome. Where people are expected to rise issues as soon as they appear, rather than hiding them. They often create an environment where the consequences for not telling bad news far outweigh the potential consequences of telling bad news.
3. They make sure to celebrate turnaround stories: where people have come up and told the bad news, and were the right actions were taken straight away to contain or eliminate the problem. Sharing these stories will help to create the right environment and will send out the signals that it is not only important to share bad news, but that the reactions and consequences are positive.

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Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

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How to Trick Yourself Into Building Wealth

By BYRON L. STUDDARD

Dedication and self-discipline are key to building wealth.kali9/Getty Images  

Many make New Year's resolutions to save more money each month, but actually following through on this requires a lot more attention than a mere notion amid the heady optimism of New Year's Eve festivities.

As in many challenging endeavors, the devil lies in the details. It's one thing to decide to save and invest more, but it's quite another to muster the month-to-month discipline and take concrete steps to make good on this. At this point in 2014, you may have a creeping awareness of your lack of progress in realizing your saving/investing resolution.

To keep this resolution from winding up in the dustbin of unfulfilled promises to yourself, consider these points:

• Dedicate yourself. Putting money aside for savings and investment takes discipline — the discipline to not spend it. Some who haven't been saving can change their ways by pure force of will, while others need a coach or advisor.

• Pay yourself first. If the money is out of sight, it's out of mind, so you're not as inclined to spend it. Setting up a monthly automatic checking account draft is one of the best ways to save money because it's passive: You don't have to do anything. Instead of making 12 monthly decisions to save money every year, make one decision and set up an automatic bank draft each month. Too many people regard all of the cash in their checking accounts as cash on the launching pad for spending. But by using bank drafts, you can build up a surprising sum over time, especially if you increase your monthly contribution periodically. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Little strokes fell great oaks."

You can authorize a draft to a savings account or directly to investments, such as mutual funds and brokerage accounts; many of these arrangements allow drafts as low as $50 per month. If you would prefer to buy individual stocks, you might choose to direct your bank drafts to services like Sharebuilder.com, which enables investors to contribute small amounts toward whole or even fractional shares. This enables people who can't afford many shares of stock — or even one—to incrementally work toward stock ownership. Whether your incremental payments go into a fund or individual stocks, make sure that commissions and expenses aren't eating too much of your return. Be sure to read the prospectus and annual reports before you invest.

This arrangement has the advantage of enabling dollar-cost averaging — the practice of regularly investing a set dollar amount in a given stock or fund, rather than regularly buying a set number of shares. This means that investors buy more shares when the price is low and fewer when the price is high. Dollar-cost averaging reduces the risk of buying a large number of shares at the wrong time. Over a couple of years, dollar-cost averaging can smooth out returns because if the price is fluctuating, you are automatically buying more when it's down and less when it's up.

• Another "out of sight, out of mind" practice is making monthly contributions to a 401(k) account. This money doesn't even make it into your take-home pay because it's deducted off the top of your gross pay, so you don't pay taxes on this money until you take the money out during retirement. Despite this and the benefit of matching money that some employers put in these accounts as a proportion of your contributions, many Americans don't contribute the allowable maximum amount to their 401(k) plans, and they forgo substantial amounts of employer matching money. 

If you're not sure about investing in the stock market, and your income is below $129,000 ($191,000 household), the new MyRA might be right for you. You can contribute up to $5,500 after-tax per year and the money invested grows tax free; but, if you withdraw the interest before age 59 1/2, you may be subject to tax and penalties on the gain. Unlike other investment plans, this new MyRA limits your options to a single fund that invest in governments bonds, which currently earns an annual interest rate of around 2.5 percent.

If you find yourself unable to save money and keep it saved, then you might want to hire a wealth coach or financial advisor to help you find money inside your current budget to save and more importantly, to hold you accountable to reach your goals. The key to not spending your savings and investment money is to set and steadfastly stick to a budget. Just as a personal trainer can help you realize fitness resolutions, a financial coach can help you reach your financial goals.

For extra motivation, you might want to read "The Millionaire Next Door." This is a classic book about attitudes toward money, financial discipline and the personal qualities that make the difference between acquiring wealth and having little to show for years of work--regardless of your income. The concept of discipline is reflected by the title, which indicates that these self-made millionaires don't seem different from people of lesser means because they live in modest homes and drive inexpensive cars. Who knows, with a little discipline, maybe you'll end up the next "Millionaire Next Door."

This column is the opinion of the author and in no way reflects the opinion of  StrategicAdvantage

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Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

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The 7 Things Successful People Never Say

Source: Ilya Pozin CEO of Open Me.

Things successful people never say

You want to be successful. Everyone does. But your actual words might be undermining your chances of success. The things you say in the office, no matter how innocuous they seem to you, might be knocking you down the career ladder and putting the top position you dream about out of reach.

Your career is too important to be tanked by a few negative phrases. Here are the seven things you should strike from your workplace vocabulary if you want to achieve the success you richly deserve:

1. “That’s not in my job description.”

When you accepted your current position, you had a good idea of what the responsibilities and workload of the role would entail. Throughout the months or years since you settled into your job, however, your role has expanded and changed shape. Some of these changes have probably been good, while others have made you wish for simpler times. When a boss or manager piles another responsibility on your already sore shoulders, it might be tempting to pull out this classic gem of work avoidance.

The better option, however, is to schedule a time to talk to your boss about your role. A specific conversation about your place in the organization is a good time to bring up the particulars of your job description, not when you’re asked to get something accomplished. No matter how stressed you are or how valid the complaint, dropping this phrase only makes you look lazy and unmotivated.

2. “It can’t be done.”

Throwing in the towel makes you look like a quitter -- and quitters don’t get promoted. Instead of giving up on a project entirely, frame your response in terms of alternative ways to get the work accomplished. Very little is truly impossible, and most managers and executives want forward-thinking problem solvers to climb the corporate ladder. If you offer solutions instead of giving up, you’ll be seen as a valuable member of the team.

3. “It’s not my fault.”

No one wants to work with a blame shifter. After all, it’s just a matter of time before this person eventually shifts the blame onto you. Take ownership of your mistakes instead of pointing out where others have fallen short. Admitting to a mistake shows character and the ability to learn and grow from problems. Pointing the finger at someone else strongly implies you’ll never truly learn from your errors.

4. “This will just take a minute.”

Unless something will literally take only 60 seconds, don’t overpromise and underdeliver. Saying something will only take “a minute” also has the side effect of undermining your efforts. Most likely the reason the particular task won’t take long is due to the benefit of your professional experience and acumen. By saying it will “just” take a minute, you're shortchanging what you bring to the table.

5. “I don’t need any help.”

The rugged lone wolf type might be the hero of most action movies, but they’re unlikely to become the hero at your company. You might think you can go it alone on a project or in your career, but teamwork is essential. Being able to work with others is the hallmark of a good leader; you’re unlikely to climb your career ladder always flying solo.

6. “It’s not fair.”

Life isn’t fair, and often your career won’t be as well. Instead of complaining, you should look for specific and actionable workarounds to the problems you encounter. Is it unfair a coworker got to run point on the project you wanted? Maybe, but instead of complaining, work harder and go the extra mile. Finding a solution will always be preferable in your professional life to whining about a problem.

7. “This is the way it’s always been done.”

Doing things the way they’ve always been done is no way to run a business. Just ask some of the companies which toed the line, accepted the status quo, and went under. Adapting to an ever-changing marketplace is really the only way to survive in an economy constantly being disrupted by the next big thing.

You don’t have to be a slave to the trends, but you also can’t stick your head in the sand and hope things go back to normal. Instead, come up with creative solutions to new problems and innovate, and you’ll soon be in the driver’s seat taking your organization into the future.

Everyone wants to be successful, so make sure your words aren’t holding you back. These seven phrases are career kryptonite -- by avoiding them, you can fly into your future and become a successful superstar.

What do you think? What phrases do you avoid on the job? Share in the comments!

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Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

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The One Thing Successful People Never Do

one thing successful people never do

Success comes in all shapes and colours. You can be successful in your job and career but you can equally be successful in your marriage, at sports or a hobby. Whatever success you are after there is one thing all radically successful people have in common: Their ferocious drive and hunger for success makes them never give up.

Successful people (or the people talking or writing about them) often paint a picture of the perfect ascent to success. In fact, some of the most successful people in business, entertainment and sport have failed. Many have failed numerous times but they have never given up. Successful people are able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and carry on trying.

I have collected some examples that should be an inspiration to anyone who aspires to be successful. They show that if you want to succeed you should expect failure along the way. I actually believe that failure can spur you on and make you try even harder. You could argue that every experience of failure increases the hunger for success. The truly successful won't be beaten, they take responsibility for failure, learn from it and start all over from a stronger position.

Let's look at some examples, including some of my fellow LinkedIn influencers:

Henry Ford - the pioneer of modern business entrepreneurs and the founder of the Ford Motor Company failed a number of times on his route to success. His first venture to build a motor car got dissolved a year and a half after it was started because the stockholders lost confidence in Henry Ford. Ford was able to gather enough capital to start again but a year later pressure from the financiers forced him out of the company again. Despite the fact that the entire motor industry had lost faith in him he managed to find another investor to start the Ford Motor Company - and the rest is history.

Walt Disney - one of the greatest business leaders who created the global Disney empire of film studios, theme parks and consumer products didn't start off successful. Before the great success came a number of failures. Believe it or not, Walt was fired from an early job at the Kansas City Star Newspaper because he was not creative enough! In 1922 he started his first company called Laugh-O-Gram. The Kansas based business would produce cartoons and short advertising films. In 1923, the business went bankrupt. Walt didn't give up, he packed up, went to Hollywood and started The Walt Disney Company.

Richard Branson - He is undoubtedly a successful entrepreneur with many successful ventures to his name including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Music and Virgin Active. However, when he was 16 he dropped out of school to start a student magazine that didn't do as well as he hoped. He then set up a mail-order record business which did so well that he opened his own record shop called Virgin. Along the way to success came many other failed ventures including Virgin Cola, Virgin Vodka, Virgin Clothes, Virgin Vie, Virgin cards, etc.

Oprah Winfrey - who ranks No 1 in the Forbes celebrity list and is recognised as the queen of entertainment based on an amazing career as iconic talk show host, media proprietor, actress and producer. In her earlier career she had numerous set-backs, which included getting fired from her job as a reporter because she was 'unfit for television', getting fired as co-anchor for the 6 O'clock weekday news on WJZ-TV and being demoted to morning TV.

J.K. Rowling - who wrote the Harry Potter books selling over 400 million copies and making it one of the most successful and lucrative book and film series ever. However, like so many writers she received endless rejections from publishers. Many rejected her manuscript outright for reasons like 'it was far too long for a children's book' or because 'children books never make any money'. J.K. Rowling's story is even more inspiring because when she started she was a divorced single mum on welfare.

Bill Gates -co-founder and chairman of Microsoft set up a business called Traf-O-Data. The partnership between him, Paul Allen and Paul Gilbert was based on a good idea (to read data from roadway traffic counters and create automated reports on traffic flows) but a flawed business model that left the company with few customers. The company ran up losses between 1974 and 1980 before it was closed. However, Bill Gates and Paul Allen took what they learned and avoided those mistakes when they created the Microsoft empire.

History is littered with many more similar examples:

• Milton Hershey failed in his first two attempts to set up a confectionary business.
• H.J. Heinz set up a company that produced horseradish, which went bankrupt shortly after.
• Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, the company he founded. Only to return a few years later to turn it into one of the most successful companies ever.

So, the one thing successful people never do is: Give up! I hope that this is inspiration and motivation for everyone who aspires to be successful in whatever way they chose. Do you agree or disagree with me? Are there other things you would add to the list of things successful people never do? Please share your thoughts...

Source: Bernard Marr

Do you agree? send in your comments and share ( also G+ it if you like it)  with your friends and family members.

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Do you know that you can organize a team and walk in large groups in order to raise money for a community, charity or someone in need? see how it works .,  .

Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

Note: If you are an entrepreneur (create your own business) , creative (projects )or need money for an important cause (hospital bills, school fees, birthdays parties, funeral, marriage etc) you must understand how to raise funds via social network see  Crowdfunding sites 

Dogs can detect emotion in human voices, study shows

Fox info

• 

  Emotion and dogs

  Walter, a Golden Retriever, lies in a MRI scanner in order to help researchers understand how dogs can be so remarkably good at tuning into the feelings of their human owners. (REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)

Think your dog can tell when you’re feeling sad or happy? You may be right.

Dogs are sensitive to cues of emotion in human voices, according to a new study from Current Biology. Researchers suspect the area of the brain responsible for voice and sounds in both dogs and humans evolved at the same time, 100 million years ago, when the two species shared common ancestors.

"Dogs and humans share a similar social environment," Attila Andics, of MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Hungary, said in a press release. "Our findings suggest that they also use similar brain mechanisms to process social information. This may support the successfulness of vocal communication between the two species."

For their study, researchers trained 11 dogs to sit still in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The researchers then analyzed the brain activity of both dogs and humans as they listened to 200 different dog and human sounds, ranging from crying to playful barking and laughing.

While the brains of both dogs and humans responded most strongly to noises produced by their own species, they processed emotionally-loaded sounds in similar ways. For example, both species experienced a greater activation of the brain’s primary auditory cortex when hearing happy sounds.

Some differences were noted as well: Dogs responded more strongly to non-vocal noises, compared to humans.

The researchers believe this study may lead to a better understanding of why dogs are so in tune with their owner’s emotions.

"This method offers a totally new way of investigating neural processing in dogs," Andics said. "At last we begin to understand how our best friend is looking at us and navigating in our social environment."

What do you think? send in your comments.. and share ( also G+ it if you like it)  with your friends and family members.

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Read : Walking helps you improve your  life

Do you know that you can organize a team and walk in large groups in order to raise money for a community, charity or someone in need? see how it works .,  .

Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

Note: If you are an entrepreneur (create your own business) , creative (projects )or need money for an important cause (hospital bills, school fees, birthdays parties, funeral, marriage etc) you must understand how to raise funds via social network see  Crowdfunding sites

Frequent headaches and migraines? It could be stress

By Nicole Kwan  -Fox info

• 

  Frequent headache and Migraine

New research lends evidence to the commonly held belief that stress leads to headaches.

Researchers analyzed data of 5,519 participants aged 21-71 years, and found that an increase in stress was associated with an increase in the number of headaches participants suffered each month. The findings were presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Survey participants reported their stress levels and headaches quarterly from 2010-2012, as part of the German Headache Consortium Study. A total of 31 percent had tension-type headaches, 14 percent had migraine and 11 percent had migraine combined with tension-type headache. Participants with tension-type headaches rated their stress at an average of 52 out of 100, while migraine rated at 62 out of 100. Those with migraine and tension-type headaches rated at 59 out of 100.

“Tension-type headache (TTH) and migraine are the most common primary headache disorders, affecting up to 80 percent of the general population— that’s why we choose to look at both,” study author Dr. Sara H. Schramm, of University Hospital at University Duisburg-Essen in Germany wrote in an email to FoxNews.com

The data showed that, for each type of headache, an increase on the stress scale was tied to an increase in the number of headaches per month. An increase of 10 stress points was associated with a 6.3 percent headache increase for people with TTH, 4.3 percent increase for migraine and 4 percent increase for migraine and tension headache.

It’s the first study to show that  stress has an influence on headaches, according to the researchers.

“To the best of our knowledge, prospective population-based studies evaluating the effect of stress on headache frequency, with regard to particular subtypes of primary headaches, have not been performed until now. In a prospective study we can confirm … what we always hear from our patients,” Schramm said.

TTH and migraine are characterized by different symptoms – TTH by mild-to-moderate headache intensity and dull, tightening pain and migraine by unilateral, severe pulsating headache accompanied by nausea, vomiting and light and sound sensitivity.  It’s not known if they have similar or different biological mechanisms in reaction to stress.

Researchers said their findings show the importance of stress management for people who suffer TTH or migraine.

“Psychological treatment, especially coaching for stress, is important,” Schramm said.

What do you think? send in your comments.. and share ( also G+ it if you like it)  with your friends and family members.

also see Myazpiration .,  : Crowdfunding websites

Read : Walking helps you improve your  life

Do you know that you can organize a team and walk in large groups in order to raise money for a community, charity or someone in need? see how it works .,  .

Do you wanna raise money, then read about Fundraising Ideas Click here : Myazpiration

Note: If you are an entrepreneur (create your own business) , creative (projects )or need money for an important cause (hospital bills, school fees, birthdays parties, funeral, marriage etc) you must understand how to raise funds via social network see  Crowdfunding sites