Re-invent or become obsolete and history

Is it time to re-invent or transition your business? 

The world is a different place than it was in 1980.  If you have been in business for more than twenty years and are dong things they way you did when you started or even just five years ago – beware – times are changing faster than at any time in history and it’s only going to get worse do you have a choice – circle the wagons and keep doing what you have been doing for years or let go of conventional wisdom, sacred cows and traditional thinking and reinvent – yourself, your business, your association, your church – everything – or accept being left behind and losing everything.

Over the years I have worked with many organizations who for whatever reasons, decided that they needed to re-invent itself in order to remain a competitive and profitable enterprise in the marketplace.

During the same period, I have also observed hundreds of organizations that obviously needed to re-invent themselves but for whatever reasons failed to do so.  Let’s take a brief look at five of the critical areas that will have an impact on this process and will determine whether your re-invention is an exercise in futility or a successful transition.

What do I mean when I use the term - re-invent/transition?

Re-invent, re-discover, re-new, start over, begin again – the terms do not matter, what does are the attitudes, values, prejudices, opinions, expectations, fears, needs, desires and values of the owner or senior management who will ultimately drive the process.  Having said that, to me, when an organization needs to re-invent itself, for whatever reason, it implies that what was or used to be, is no longer working, effective, profitable or competitive.  It is time for one or more new: policies, strategies, structures, methods, procedures, expectations, rules, behaviors, leadership, direction, focus and even employees –  and probably all of them.

When is the right time to re-invent/transition your organization?

My experience tells me, that, the pain for management or the organization has to be significant enough, however this pain is manifested, before executives or management becomes willing to set a new course and transition its organization.  Unfortunately, because of; arrogance, ignorance, ego or all of the three, many organizations either never do it or recognize the need far too late and become just another business statistic or illustration of a bad example in some author’s book.  The time to re-invent is before you need to.  The time to do it is every year - at a minimum and maybe even every month.  Better to regularly condition your employees for consistent constructive and positive change and growth than to try and turn a battleship (your organization) around in a small harbor in twenty minutes with a less than motivated staff because they are not ready, equipped, motivated or interested in doing so.

How do you re-invent/transition your organization?

Let’s see if I can summarize one of my all-day seminars here in just a few sentences.  If you are not willing to seriously embrace, at a minimum, each of these steps, I recommend you save your money and let the market place decide your ultimate fate.

1)    You must be willing to let go of the day-to-day details that will drive this process.

2)    You must lock your ego and your prejudices and expectations in the closet.

3)    You must be committed to see the process through to its conclusion, no matter how long it takes or what it costs.

4)    You must empower your management team to implement and inspect the transition process - you can’t do it alone and still run the business. If you can you have bigger problems than this transition, believe me.

5)    You don’t lose your tradition al or fundamental values.

6)    You must trust your employees to pull the transition off.

7)    You need to lead the process, not manage it.

8)    You need to accurately assess your; willingness to change, let go, delegate, empower and live with the consequences.

9)    You should hire an outside resource to ensure that the above items are adhered to.  Your employees are not going to do it all without some impartial guidance and/or creativity.

10)You need to be an encourager and a champion of this process in both easy         and hard times.

11)  There’s a lot more, trust me but you would be amazed at how few organizations can do most or even in some cases any of the above.

        

Who should be involved in the re-invention/transition process?

This one is easy - anyone who can contribute ideas, reality, information, inspiration, creativity, value, feedback, accountability, integrity or support to the process and I mean everyone.

What will the new organization look like after the re-invention/transition process is complete?

It’s anyone’s guess.  In a rapidly changing world it is becoming increasingly difficult if not impossible to accurately forecast future outcomes. All you can do is remain flexible, open, receptive and willing to make change your partner and the partner of your organization.

So, it’s a choice – stay stuck and hope you survive or reinvent and get ahead or at a minimum stay with the trends and the curves ahead.

Failure to have an exit strategy is stupid.

Exit Strategies or is it Time to Pull the Trigger

Tim Connor

I can’t tell you how many times I have observed clients; develop new products, create new policies, acquire other companies, expand to new market areas and promote certain people when these were destined to fail either dramatically over time or shortly after the new decision was made. Or, people make a decision not feeling sure of the outcome as planned or hoped. Very little in life always turns out the way we want, need or hope or even feel we deserve and why? Well, folks it’s called – life.

Sooner or later some of our initiatives personally or in our career or business will fail.  Nothing in the future is guaranteed.  The major question is however – if we embark on this – something new – what are our chances of success or failure and how will the critical aspects involved impact the outcome?

You would be amazed at how many decisions for doing something new or different are made every day by millions of people who lack an exit strategy in the event things don’t turn out as they planned or hoped.

Before I share a few insights let me share that during my life and career I can’t tell you how many things went wrong or ended badly - whether a new enterprise, a new product, a new marketing approach, starting a new relationship (business or personal) or as simple as on a few occasions just buying a new product.  Been there?  If not I’ll bet you are either in denial or you are just sitting safely in front of your TV day after day.

What is an exit strategy?

Some people might refer to an exit strategy as a Plan B or even C but I’m not referring here to approaches that keep you involved in the same journey or direction but of letting go of the plan or strategy completely and moving on.

Yes, sometimes all that is needed to make something work is a new approach or change in some of the details but in the end consider the possibility that the plan is not working because it is a signal that it is time to let it go and move on to something else or new.

An effective exit strategy should be in place as a part of the original plan that have benchmarks in place that tell you if they are not being met you have two options – change the plan or end it.  Ending it is never easy especially if you have your ego vested in it from the beginning and this is far too common when people can’t let go when it’s obvious they should.

Please keep in mind I’m not giving you permission to quit or move on too soon without adequate effort, commitment, resources having been invested but there are times when it is time to let go.  I’m also not suggesting that you shouldn’t start something new that you are not sure will end as planned – but that there are times when throwing more money, time, resources or people at an initiative is naive or just plain stupid.  So how do you know whether or when you should keep on keeping on or pull the plug?

It depends on three factors –

Do you have the continued resources to see this through to the end no matter what the outcomes or how long it takes?

Do you have the commitment to see it through regardless of the pain, disruption or disappointment you are experiencing or may in the future?

Do you have the confidence, courage and will to see it through regardless of the uncertainties along the way?

Why do you need one?

Starting anything without an exit strategy in place before you begin just sets you up for frustration, stress, disappointment or anxiety assuming that your plans or effort will achieve their desired results.  This is just plain crazy and how do I know?  I’ll bet during your life, business or career you have ended something to late or wish you had pulled the plug or maybe not even starting it knowing what you know now.  Therein lies the problem – we can’t guarantee outcomes – we can only plan, work and hope but in the end there are always circumstances we can’t control. An exit strategy just gives you the timing, approach or reasons as to when to end something.  Without this I will guarantee you will invest too much of something trying to make it work and let’s face it – some things just don’t work.  The question ultimately is – how much and what are you willing to lose if it doesn’t work out the way you need it to, to be ultimately a successful enterprise, decision or action?

“Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.”

 Aesop

How much time do you have left?

How much time do you have?

Tim Connor

And . . . I’m not referring to your “TO DO” list for today or this week or taking the latest and greatest time-management seminar to get tips on how to manage time (managing time - a myth by the way – but I’ll save that and your time for a future article).

Regarding the title - not teasing you with morbidity – just realistic, practical and/or as genuine as possible.

Last year I lost 4 close friends between the ages of 50 and 90 and none of them saw it coming.  How about you – could you be next? Again – not being negative or morose – just asking you to consider a simple question – if today was your last day – would/could you leave here; contented, without regret, peaceful, satisfied and with a positive legacy or the opposite of many of these?

While you are reading this, and I don’t really care whether you are 25, 50 or 100+ cause the question is the same for all of you – let me repeat – if today was your last one – how would you leave here and what would you leave behind?

“Tim, it sure sounds morose.” – sorry – we are all going to die and none of us has the privilege of knowing when, where or how.  So, let’s talk a little about how you are living so when it’s your turn, you’ll be ready if you aren’t today.

There are a few life fundamentals that everyone wants in life – happiness, security, health and love (given and received).  Yes, there are may others for some people – wealth, fame, power, control, reputation, lots of friends, nice cars and homes, beautiful and handsome spouses and perfect kids etc.  Problem is if you haven’t figured it out yet – you’ll never have everything or all of the ones you think you need - to have a contented, happy, peaceful life.  Bet I lost a few of you with this remark!

Don’t believe me – tell me one person you know that has it all (and with these people you think that do – do you know what goes on behind closed doors in their lives – do you know what they worry about – do you know their stressors?).

Or, maybe you think you have it all. Well if this is true 1) trust me - either have really low standards, needs, expectations in every or many areas of your life 2) you are perfect or just maybe – 3) you have figured out what it takes (FYI – this one puts you in the minority) to live a contented life and no matter when your time will be up – you will be ok with it.

Some of you might be interpreting this article from a spiritual perspective and that is perfectly legitimate but that is not my primary focus although it is a critical piece of living and leaving with an “I’m OK and ready to go” mindset.  But, I’ll save that one for another time.  For now, I want to focus on what I refer to as “Life’s Ten Essentials” for a contented life and a positive legacy.

Before I give them to you if you don’t know what they are, let me repeat - the spiritual piece of life is vital and even if you have all of the following without it you may find it difficult to live and leave peacefully but it isn’t my intent to preach in this article but FYI - I do in many others.  Ok, here are what I believe are the ten essentials for a contented life (and yes, there could be many others (these are just mine).  It’s not my intention to tell you how to live, (I don’t have - nor does anyone else have that right) for me - I am far from perfect or ideal. Having said all this, if you think any or all of them are on target and you are willing to take a few minutes to clarify them from your perspective – why not jot down a few notes or write a sentence or two about what these mean to you and generally how you think you are doing.  At the least a few additional trigger words that come to mind when you consider each of them.

Back to the title – regardless of how much time you may or may not have how do you want your legacy to read ? ? ?

They are in no special order;

Appreciation or I Deserve This –

Gratitude or You Owe Me –

Other or Self Focused –

Integrity or Whatever It Takes –

Giving or Greed –

Humility or Prideful - 

Forgiveness or Blame & Anger –

Letting Go or Staying stuck –

Balance or Single focused life –

Faith or It’s All My Doing –

Learn anything???  

The perils of comparrison

The Perils of Comparison

Tim Connor

 I can’t tell you how many people I have met during my world travels when only after a few minutes of conversation they started comparing themselves to someone or something else.  A competitor, a celebrity, a fellow employee or even someone they didn’t even know.

Why do we need personal validation by comparison? Why do we need to feel better or worthier than others?  And why can’t we accept who we are, what we have accomplished, our flaws and mistakes, our failures and disappointments without the ego’s need to compare and look better than others?

As a global speaker for many years I have observed this trait is especially true of many people in my profession, but believe me - we are not unique. I can’t tell you how many business people I have met who have to tell some story about who they are better than, smarter than and/or more accomplished than others they know and even those they don’t know in some way.

Trust me – you don’t have to be the smartest, best looking, wealthiest or most famous person in the room to feel good about yourself. So why are so many people stuck in this comparison mode whether subtly or overtly “in your face”?

Not to brag here (that is not my intent) but I want to make a simple statement – during my career as an international bestselling author (over 80 books) and a global speaker (25 countries) my intent and goal was never fame and let me state that I have been very successful in achieving this goal.  Go ahead laugh.

Life is not about what others think of you or you think of others.  And if it is - trust me you will never find contentment, inner peace or happiness because there will always be someone out there smarter, better and wealthier etc. than you in some way – always!

Have you ever noticed that when people generally compare themselves to others they either use someone less successful or someone who they can criticize whether this person deserves it or not?

I can also tell you that many of my heroes – to mention just a few – Og Mandino, Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Jesus, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa and Charlie Tremendous Jones - comparison was not in their DNA.

What they all had in common was the humility and the desire to contribute in their own special way to the value of humanity and life in general.

Let me ask you – have you ever compared yourself to others to try and convince yourself that you were better in some way or just to make yourself feel OK about yourself?  Come on – be honest here.

Why do we need to compare?  Is it insecurity, an overcharged ego, the need for approval, the desire to please or simply the fact that we can’t admit that we all have flaws and/or weaknesses in our thoughts, actions, decisions and behaviors in some way?

I challenge you for the next couple of weeks as you talk with others to observe their comparisons or your own during conversations and then ask yourself – why? Why do I need to do this?  Why do they need to do this?  Try it you will be amazed at how frequently we are all guilty of this simple yet rather stupid trait.  Stupid you say Tim?  Yep, cause what do you think you really accomplish with all of these comparisons? More or less respect?  More or less fame?  More or less self-satisfaction? More or less something_______?  Sorry!!!

What is the source of your personal value?

Your value – it’s source is –

Tim Connor

Each of us has a self-perception of our own personal value.  Some people use money, wealth and net worth while others use position, power or influence and still others us legacy, fame and reputation or status.  But there are also many who measure or value themselves based on service, humility, generosity and modesty.  Have you got an opinion which of these are better or more valuable to define you?  Better still – which ones do you use as a self-measurement?  Even better still (I know getting old) how do you think most people who know you reasonably well, would define you?  Could be scary.

As a global speaker in front of over several thousand people every year I have often wondered what categories many or most (not just a small few) people would put me in or use to define me.  Again, could be really scary.

“So, Tim, where are you going with this article – I’ve got other stuff on my plate today”. In a hurry?  Maybe we should add that one to your definition or one of your categories or how about - impatient, hurry-er, never enough time person, workaholic, Type A – I won’t bore you with others as I’ve either lost by now you or you are laughing).

OK to my point – we all have or use certain benchmarks, tools, definitions or values etc. we use to ‘self-value-measure’ ourselves – here are just a few to consider.  Why not ask yourself how you measure yourself or how does this area influence your life – could be an interesting exercise! PS: I’m not going into a lot of detail on these – they are just meant to be emotional or mental triggers to get you thinking or self-evaluating.

Here’s just a brief summary of a few of the more common ones;

-Who you are – Your birth date, where you grew up, education history, how you were raised, siblings, how you were treated as a child - etc.

-What you have accomplished – Education, degrees, inventions, businesses started, competitions, climbed mount Everest or done nothing significant – etc.

-Memberships – clubs, organizations, civic clubs, community organizations, school clubs or belong to nothing - etc.

-Your spiritual outlook – a Christian, agnostic, atheist, believer, Jewish, some other values, not sure – etc.

-Accolades or special awards – professional designations, special community awards or recognitions, retirement awards, military designations, political, special degrees or none – etc.

-Where you live – what state, city, special development, private lot, condo in resort city, farm or country – etc.

-What you own – size of your home, how many homes, how many cars, special toys (boats, planes, RVs) jewelry, wardrobe – etc.

-What you drive – vintage car, expensive car, piece of crap – etc.

-What you know – education, degrees, special courses, books you have read, special designations or awards, the size of your library – etc.

-Charities you have helped – or not helped, this one is obvious.

-What makes you happy or content – people, activities, sports, entertainment, family, travel, success, life in general or nothing – etc.

-How you have succeeded – could be financial, position, professional, age when you did it, a combination of accomplishments or accomplished little of value – etc.

-What you do – career, home body, mother, teacher, retired, volunteer, CEO, world traveler or couch and TV potato – etc.

-Where you are going – your future career, your next vacation, your next relationship, your next anything or your next nothing – etc.

-Where you have been – past failures, past successes, past mistakes, past anything – etc.

-Who you know – special friends, no friends, neighbors, famous people – etc.

-Who knows you – same as above.

-Your special skills/talents – music, hobbies, wisdom, talents, writing, artwork or you don’t have any – etc.

-Your beliefs/values – what are your standards, benchmarks, expectations, desires, goals, dreams, fantasies, hopes, fears, worries - etc.

-Who you are with – your spouse, your family, your friends, your employees, your customers, your business partners your or you are alone and have no one – etc.

-Who you have helped/guided – mentored, coached, counseled, children, family, friends, employees, customers, students or no one– etc.

-What you are worth – your stuff, your toys, your investments, your experience, your knowledge – etc.

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of these lists so let me leave you with two questions – if you finished this article – what mental triggers were created or tugged at as a result of anything you read?  What are you going to do about it and how it impacts your life in 2018 and beyond?

Ever been lost?

Ever been lost?

Tim Connor

As you begin another new year let me ask you – have you ever felt lost in any area of life?  Feel lost at some point last year? Don’t want to live the coming year lost?  I could go on, but I know your time and attention span is short so on to my purpose of this short article.

Years ago - without your GPS lady if you got lost you had to stop at a local gas station or some business to ask for directions or you just could have stayed wandering in hopes of eventually finding your way to your destination.

I recall a few years trying to find the rental car location at the Denver airport and driving in circles cause my phone had died.  Missed the flight and spent a lot of extra time at the airport.  Ever had a similar experience - and not necessarily at an airport?

What exactly does it mean to be lost? For help I turned to the dictionary – misplaced, vanished, missing, mislaid, no longer possessed or retained, lost friends, no longer to be found – finally – having gone astray or missed the way, bewildered as to place, direction etc.

So, let me ask you where in life can we be lost?  Here are a few – wrong career – lost? Bad or poor relationship – lost? Bad or poor personal habits – lost? Financial mistakes, too much debt or bad spending habits – lost? Confusion about what really matters in life – lost? Yes, there are many others but let me ask you – ever felt lost in any of these areas?  I know I have and I’m not ashamed to admit it - cause - till I did I was unable to find my way out of lostness (yes, I know that’s not a word).

Being lost in any area of life can waste time, energy, resources and life in general.  Ever stayed in the wrong job to long? Guilty!  The wrong relationship too long? Guilty! So, Tim where are you going with this?  OK, there are five things we need to consider when it comes to being lost; where are we lost, why are we lost, are we lost because of ourselves or others, have we been lost in this same area in the past and how do we get un-lost?

where are we lost – Lost is more an emotional than physical issue.  Generally speaking your GPS lady is not going to help you get out of a bad relationship or job.  The best way to determine if you are lost is to consider the following; if you are feeling a lot of - stress, confusion, anxiety, frustration, a lot of negative or invalidating self-talk, resentment, disappointment, unmet expectations, you are most likely lost – maybe not super lost but lost nonetheless. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a relationship, business, career or any other area – it’s most likely a time for – a change, letting go, surrender, new growth, acceptance, an ending, a new beginning or at the least some quiet introspection time.

why are we lost – well, a few taken from the above pretty much sums this one up. We are lost because; we feel stuck, feel obligated, are afraid we can’t handle change, don’t like uncertainty, are in blame mode, feel abandoned or just lonely - any or all of these and many others can contribute to lost feelings or actually being lost.

are we lost because of ourselves or others – there is little in life we can control, in fact the only thing we can control is ourselves – our decisions, choices, attitudes, mindsets, feelings etc.  You would be amazed, maybe not, how many people believe they can control – the weather, the traffic, other people, consequences and just about everything.  Got news for you – no can do – no matter how hard you try or how much you feel you should be able to control everything. So, if you are a control freak I’m guessing you are lost a lot and why? Because you are placing your destiny, legacy, happiness, health etc. in the hands of others or circumstances that you will never be able to control. So being lost is ultimately a decision we make due to any number of uncontrollable factors.

have we been lost in this same area in the past – This one is simple – if you have ever been lost a second or third time in the same life area – guess what?  Right, you didn’t learn what life wanted you to learn during the previous lostness so it’s giving you another chance.  And guess what?  If you don’t learn it this time it will keep giving you more opportunities to learn it until you finally do.  Boy, I am so guilty of this one that I hate to admit it in public.

how do we get un-lost – well there’s a book here but I’ll keep it short. In no particular order of importance;

-spend more time in honest self-examination and introspection.

-create an honest support group (3-10) of people who you can bring real issues to and they will be honest with you no matter what. Never rely on just one person because no matter how smart they are you will only get their opinion and trust me – one is never enough.

-Have a couple of coaches – never just one and make sure they have experience in the areas where you want or need guidance.

-Learn to accept the truth and not your version of it.

-Change your mindsets about change, uncertainty or new beginnings.  See them as positive, necessary and valuable.

-Get outside of your own ego-driven attitudes, paradigms and comfort levels.

-Admit failure, mistakes, poor choices and/or decisions.

-Don’t get stuck in other’s realities – stay focused on what is really happening or going on and not what others want you to see or believe.

As an author, I could go on for pages with this stuff, but let’s wrap it up with one key point.  Sooner or later in the adventure we call life - all of us are going to feel lost, get lost or be lost in some area of life.  If you live life to the fullest you can’t avoid mistakes, bad decisions or choices, failure etc. “lostness” but what you can do is learn from it or them, so you don’t keep getting lost again and again in the same life area.  There yet???

Is it ever too late to make a second impression?

Is it ever too late to make a second

first impression?

Tim Connor

Trust me, standing in front of 1000 people I can assume (I hate assumptions) that at least 10% of the audience doesn’t like me before I open my mouth. Never had that experience?  Well, how about meeting a blind date for the first time hoping that you don’t do or say something stupid?  Never had that experience either?  OK, how about waiting for an interview for a job you need to get for any number of reasons and you just hope they will approve of you and your resume, experience and yes, the color of your hair, the shoes you are wearing and how tall or short you are? 

I know you might think I’m being a bit silly or even paranoid but believe me these and many more experience like this happen every day.  Want proof?  If you have never read any of my articles or books and are reading this one, I’ll guarantee you have already made a judgement – to keep reading or click on something else.  Am I right? Well, if you are in the second group you haven’t even made it this far.

The basis or foundation of all impressions is simply that a person sees something, meets someone, experiences anything and their first reaction is a – No, Yes or Maybe.  In other words, whenever or whatever comes into our life from any source we will on first reactions – resist it, accept it or decide to consider it.

As a global speaker I have watched thousands of people in my audiences have one of these three reactions. Why? Why do we react the way we do?  I’ll keep it short and sweet.  Let me explain.

There are over 300 billion brain cells/nerves in your head.  Every one of them has 5000+ neural connections and as a result there are over three trillion chemical reactions/responses every second in your brain. And what are these?  Well first do the math – a big number of stuff going on in your head while you jog, read, watch TV, attend a staff meeting etc.

In other words – every thought you have ever had, every experience you have ever had, every memory you have ever had – get it?  It’s all stored in that small device in your head – everything since your birth.

So, you meet someone new – during the first 10-30 seconds your brain is searching through literally quadrillions of facts and memories trying to decide how to react to this person.  And guess what – even if you have never met them before, know nothing about them – whatever – within 20 seconds you will form an opinion and a reaction that is not grounded in the present reality but years of past experiences and memories.

So, your opinion of this new person has nothing to do with them but your interpretation of them based on similar historical events, people or situations.

I know you probably didn’t want this much information and I’ll bet that if you formed an opinion before you got this far you have no idea what I’m talking about now cause you stopped reading a few paragraphs up – deciding that you didn’t like where I was going, you didn’t agree with it or it was making you feel uncomfortable or it wasn’t what you were expecting based on the title.

In other words, getting a second chance at a first impression is not you giving me another chance to be perceived better by you but you giving you a second chance to change your mind based on new information that is added to the mix of your history, therefore permitting you to see things differently, better or more relevant.

For those of you who want a simpler approach I offer the following.

There are ten primary areas that contribute to first impressions of others and often even lasting ones.  They are; your words, your actions, your decisions, your attitudes, your example, your congruence, your consistency, your integrity, your values and your beliefs.  I’m not going to delve into each of these – if you want to make better impressions on others – do the research, but I would like to cover briefly what I feel are the five most important ones.

Your congruence – Congruent is simply where two things mean the same thing or are consistent or in harmony with.  For example - if you say you will meet me for lunch at noon and you show up at noon – you were being congruent.  If you said you would and you got there a half hour late – you weren’t congruent.

If you keep saying one thing and keep doing something else – well – sooner or later first impressions will plague you for a long, long time.

Your words – Words matter.  When you say I will always and you deviate just once – always means nothing and so your words no longer have value.

Your attitudes – Attitudes are a reflection of beliefs, values and conditioned experiences.  We feel and think what we do and then express these with a variety of – yes, no or maybes – attitudes. What’s an attitude? It’s simply a consistent way of thinking about something and then responding accordingly.  For example, if you are a liberal – conservatives get on your nerves because they have bad attitudes and vice versa. If you are twenty and are having a serious discussion with someone in their eighties, I’ll guarantee that before the conversation is over sooner or latter one of you will get on the other one’s nerves and blame it on – you have an attitude issue dude!

Your consistency – I’m not going to explain this one as I’m sure you know what this word means.  All I want to say is that when you lose consistency in serious matters you lose credibility and often respect which contributes to poor impressions.  Don’t believe me – look up the acceptance level of the average politician.

Your example – Notice how all four of the previous examples are related?  Well, they are – deviate or swerve form any one of them and the other four are impacted – therefore your image and the impressions you make or continue to make.

Want to make better impressions – first of all you will never get the same reaction from different people on the same behavior because everyone’s mental barometers or expectations are unique.  So, stop trying to please everyone – it’s a waste of energy, time and life.

The answer is - be who you are not who others want you to be, expect you to be, demand you to be.  Period - stop working for other people’s approval – again – a waste of time and energy. Yes, we all need to keep getting better, wiser and smarter but until we are perfect we just need to chill, be and let other’s attitudes, expectations, rules, needs etc. be them and not us.

I was not put on this earth for your approval so get over it.  If you don’t like me or approve of me – Ok, but I am not going to change me to satisfy your expectations of me and as a result, lose myself in the process.