How To Control Your Stress In The Workplace

Pressure situations are present during both good and bad economic times. However, when times are tough the situations can be magnified. Problems at home can directly influence issues in the workplace. It is important as a manager to recognize that your team might have outside stressors affecting their job performance. It is your job to create an environment that reduces stress and promotes engagement. In a workplace environment like this, employees will be more apt to reach their full potential and drive results. Here are 8 tips to help you and your team control stress and worry in tough situations:

1. Live in a compartment of the present. The professional with a commitment to service seals off each interaction with a customer so that negative experiences don't poison future interactions. Don't allow past successes or failures or future anticipated success or difficulties influence your current performance. When it comes to customer service, live in the moment.

2. Don't fuss about trifles. A "trifle" is something that is insignificant in comparison to other things in your life. When you focus on trifles, you lose perspective. Keep the big picture in mind. Doing so will help you objectively sort out the small stuff from the important issues.

3. Cooperate with the inevitable. Realize when your situation is inevitable. If you can learn to recognize situations where you have no control, you can gain some control over the emotional aspects of the situation. By cooperating with the outcome, you are making a conscious choice about how to respond to an inevitable situation.

4. Decide just how much anxiety a situation is worth and refuse to give it any more of your energy. Once you make this decision, it is easier to find ways you can improve on the situation or let it go and move on.

5. Create happiness for others. This principle appeals to your nobler motives. It is difficult to sustain a negative attitude when you are doing something good or helpful for someone else. Simply put: Doing good for others makes you feel better.

6. Expect ingratitude. In your job, you provide many diverse services. When you do so, you probably expect in return some signal of gratitude for your assistance. This expectation is rarely met. If you do receive heartfelt thanks from someone, you should count yourself lucky; you are dealing with a grateful person. Most people are simply not accustomed to being grateful, even when you provide them with excellent service. You shouldn't let ingratitude deter you from providing top-quality service.

7. Put enthusiasm into your work. Enthusiasm is the positive energy and sustained effort that keeps you driving toward your goals. Making a decision to have a positive outlook can be critical in enjoying your job and working with your internal and external customers.

8. Do the very best you can. It can be difficult to deal with criticism, especially if you feel it is undeserved or if it hurts your self-esteem. One way to put criticism in perspective is to ask yourself if you are doing the very best you can with what you know and are able to do. If you are, then you can avoid taking the criticism personally. If there is room for improvement in your performance, you can look at the criticism objectively and take responsibility for improving your performance.


Contributed by Dale Carnegie Training.

8 Quick Tips For Building Your Networking Skills

Networking events can seem very intimidating, but they can be a resource that will help propel your career to new heights. It is always important to go into a networking event with enthusiasm and a set goal in mind. Use these ideas to help make your next networking experience a successful one.

1. Network online - According to recent research by The Institute For Corporate Productivity, 64% of business professionals network online. In today's Web 2.0 environment, you cannot afford to ignore this networking opportunity and potential leads you could generate via social networking sites.

2. Start with LinkedIn.com, the leading business networking - Membership is free, and you can pro-actively search for and connect with customers and prospects. Also, Linkedin.com users can post questions to the "Answers" section on the site. Make an effort to answer questions relevant to your area of expertise. Not only will you add value to your connections, but you will also get additional exposure and attract prospective customers who will seek you out!

3. Arrive early - Treat the event like an important appointment. By arriving early, you get comfortable in a more intimate setting with the other early arrivals. It can be intimidating to walk into a room filled with people, so go early and let the room fill up around you.

4. Show confidence - Speak confidently, decisively, and with authority. If you are confident in your conversations and support your ideas with evidence, people will take notice and respect that you know what you are talking about and that you mean business.

5. Circulate - Don't just talk to the people that you know. Get out there and go network!

6. Meet with VIPs or speakers - If there are VIPs or speakers at the event, prepare ahead of time. Do some research on the individual(s) so that you are informed when you talk with them. Compliment them on their speech or talk to them about how the topic of their speech or their field relates to what you do.

7. Stay late - When you stay late, the smaller crowd also gives you the opportunity to circulate in a more intimate setting. It also provides you with an opportunity to connect with the event's coordinator. Thank him or her for hosting the event. The event coordinator can give you some additional insight about who attended the event and who might be at the next event. It's never too early to prepare for the next event.

8. Have a robust profile on the networking site - Put in as much relevant information as you can that demonstrates the value you bring to your customers. Put in all the keywords you think prospective customers may use to search for a service provider in your field. Remember, on a social networking site, you want to make it easy for people to find you!


Contributed by Dale Carnegie Training.

Persuasion Tips To Help You Reach Your Goals

This article is all about goals and persuasion. I think the best kind of persuasion is to manage to persuade and motivate yourself to achieve your goals and dreams.

Having exceptional persuasion skills is one of the most essential abilities to possess in today's fast-paced society. We need the support and cooperation of other people to help us in our goal setting efforts. The saying "No man is an island" is an undeniable truth.

Here are some hot tips to effectively influence and persuade anyone you desire.

1) Be Nice and Friendly.

Smile to brighten up the day. Make a sincere compliment to encourage and raise their spirits. Simple little things like these count a lot.

Make them feel that whenever they need support or just someone who can give them guidance, you'll always be there to lend a hand. They would tend to be more receptive to people that they trust and respect.

If you want to ask your boss a favor, do everything you can to please him. Over-deliver and exceed his expectations. Soon, he will notice your efforts and can easily be receptive to your persuasion efforts.

2) Enter their world.

You must understand the situation according to their point of view. Set aside your personal interests and focus on them.

Just pretend that if you are them, what would you do? What would be your suggestion? Then take the appropriate action that would be beneficial to them.

Copy them. Observe how they act, how they speak, and how they think. If they rub their hands while they talk to you, act like them. If they speak at a clear and slow pace, try to do the same thing. This is called mirroring.

In due time, the people you're mirroring will subconsciously feel more comfortable with you. It's as if they see themselves in you.

However, you must proceed with caution. Mirroring is different from mimicry. Do not let them be aware that you are copying them. They might interpret it as mockery and you'll just get into hot water.

3) Provide them with undeniable proof or evidence.

Explain to them how your ideas or opinions could be the most effective methods to implement. Show them undeniable proof that you have the best product by way of testimonials, before and after scenarios, and detailed comparisons against your competitors. Just make sure that all your claims are true and verifiable. Always maintain a good reputation.

4) Satisfy their existing needs and wants.

People are self-centered. They are initially concerned with their own well-being before others. If you can prove that your proposal will provide more advantages to them than to your own, then they will probably accept it.

If you could concentrate more on their interests, desires, needs, and expectations, then you would satisfy their cravings for attention. Moreover, it would show that you really care about them. Mutual trust and respect would be established.

This is the most important thing to remember when persuading anyone. No matter how close you are to becoming like them or how compelling your evidence is, if it does not satisfy the "What's In It For Me?" test, your persuasion endeavors will not produce satisfactory results. Always bear in mind how they will benefit from your actions.

If you liked this article, you'll love how Michael Lee's "How To Be An Expert Persuader In 20 Days Or Less" can make you a better person. See for yourself.

Using Persuasion and Influence to Lead

Here's another article by Michael Lee and I think you're going to like it. It's about leading your life and others using persuasion and influence.

There is a direct link between persuasion and influence, yet they are not exactly the same thing. Persuasion happens with a person purposely or subliminally trying to get somebody else to agree with him or her. That is, there is obvious and deliberate effort.

On the other hand, influence happens when another person agrees with you, not because you deliberately took the effort but because he or she has confidence in you and believes your opinions and suggestions are of importance. You hold a great influence in the way other people think, probably because of your status or your reputation.

Leaders use both persuasion and influence to manage the people under them. It doesn't matter if this 'leader' is at the near bottom or the top part of the organizational hierarchy. As long as there are people whose job is to follow, there are people who lead—and the people being led expect to be given a plan toward success. This can be more effectively done using persuasive leadership strategies. For the person who has the influence, it is his or her game plan or program for success that is being sought and heeded.

It is a common misconception that only those who belong to the senior management team can come up with a vision for the company. In truth, studies show that rank and file members often turn to their immediate bosses to gain a sense of direction. Thus, even the small bosses can have influence over their staff.

When we really think about it, influence and power to lead are not exclusive to bosses. Anybody, even the office janitor, has the capacity to affect how the people around him or her think, feel, and act. If others view your opinion as valuable and are willing to stop for a while to listen to what you have to say, then you have influence over them.

For instance, toddlers are able to influence their parents to buy them new toys just by being cute and charming, and just by being kids. But if they attempt to get what they want by throwing tantrums, that's another story. It's called coercion and, well, just plain brattiness.

When you ask other people to do something for you, regardless how politely you ask, they will always ask "why". More often than not, they will also be wondering how they will benefit from following you, though most wouldn't say that out loud.

In order for you to influence people or persuade them to give their agreement, you have to be ready to justify the reason why what you want to happen should happen. After this, you should be prepared to negotiate and be open to compromise.

Some people confuse influence with bribery because both involve the offering of something to gain favor. However, it should be made clear that bribery always involves a payback or an offer, while influence can happen even without anything on the table. Influence can be based on good faith alone.

To be an effective leader, not only will you need to be good at persuading people, you must, at least, have enough charisma to influence them without much effort. The key to good management is to have people who will willingly listen to you and follow (sometimes without question or hesitation). You want to lead without having to coerce others to follow. If you have influence, order in the ranks will not be a problem.

If you liked this article, you'll love how Michael Lee's "How To Be An Expert Persuader In 20 Days Or Less" can make you a better person. See for yourself.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

My friend Michael Lee wrote this article today and I think you're going to like it because it's all about how to win friends and influence people.

People who know how to influence friends are usually the leaders of the pack. They're the ones who walk ahead of the group, the ones who aren't afraid to speak up first. However, there are also times when the person you least expect to be the leader is the one who manipulates all the strings.

Both types may be poles apart and yet their strategies have the same end goal. If you want to know their strategies on how to influence friends, read on!

Influence Technique # 1: Make Sound Suggestions.

A great way to exert your influence over your friends is by being the one who comes up with the best suggestions.

For example, when deciding where to eat for dinner, you can either be the first to say, "Let's have dinner at X restaurant and then dessert over at Y café," or you can wait until your friends throw a bunch of half-baked suggestions before swooping in with your own.

Once they see how decisive you can be (without being too controlling), they'll end up turning to you whenever a decision needs to be made.

Influence Technique # 2: Know What Makes Them Tick.

One effective way on how to influence friends is by paying them a lot of attention. Know what they like and what they don't like. Know their needs and their wants. Once you have all this information, you can use it to persuade them to do anything.

For example, if you know that Friend A likes dogs, you can use it to convince him or her to go to the annual country fair with you by saying that there would be an animal show there. Just make sure you're telling the truth, or you could lose your friend faster than you could say "sorry".

Influence Technique # 3: Be the One Who Listens.

Being a good listener gives you automatic influential points. When people feel like they can trust you (and that's what usually happens when you give them the chance to confide in you), they're also more likely to trust your judgment. After all, they've already poured their heart and soul out to you.

So the next time your friend feels the need to talk about her lousy family life, listen. It just might pay off in
the long run.

Learning how to influence friends can come quite in handy in the future. I'm not just talking about you having a say on this summer's road trip. I'm talking about being able to use your persuasion skills in a more professional setting. The influence you have over your friends can transcend over to a meeting with your client or with your boss.

If you liked this article, you'll love how Michael Lee's "How To Be An Expert Persuader In 20 Days Or Less" can make you a better person. See for yourself.

10 Powerful Success Principles

1. Recognize and tell the truth.
2. Market your talents shamelessly.
3. Develop more character than you need.
4. Unhook yourself from the future.
5. Add value just for the joy of it.
6. Thrive on the details.
7. Deliver twice what you promise.
8. Affect others profoundly.
9. Become unconditionally constructive.
10. Master your craft.

Source: Thomas Leonard, "The 28 Principles of Attraction", Nightingale-Conant.

Success without stress

Here are 10 tips for living less with stress, from "Loving and Leaving the Good Life" by Helen Nearing:

1. Do the best you can, whatever arises.

2. Be at peace with yourself.

3. Find a job you enjoy.

4. Live in simple conditions; get rid of clutter.

5. Contact nature every day; find the earth under your feet.

6. Take physical exercise.

7. Don't worry; live one day at a time.

8. Share something every day with someone else; help someone else somehow.

9. Take time to wonder at the world and at life; see some humor in life where you can.

10. Be kind.

36 Top Quality Self Improvement Products

If you've ever wanted to tap into a market where there's PLENTY of room to make some money online, with MILLIONS of people searching in this niche every day, then this message will cut to the chase and let you in on an AWESOME secret...

I'm going to tell you about a HUGE niche that you absolutely NEED to be a part of if you want to boost your chances of making money online.

What is it? It’s the Self Improvement Niche!

Listen: there are TONS of people making money in self-improvement every year...from big guys on infomercials to "underground" marketers in the comfort of their OWN homes.

Why? Because there's a HUGE demand for it. 36 top-selling self-help products that you can resell for profit—the work has been done for you already, including hot new graphic sets.

Check out Self Improvement Kits today!

What price success?

Would you like to know the secrets to success? If you had the power to control all aspects of your life, to become successful financially, personally and more, what would you do? How would your life be transformed?

Well I will let you into a secret...we already have the power. But what so many of us don't know, is how to use it, how to make it work for us, how to control our own minds.

But no worries, this extensive success video seminar package called "Master The Success Secrets" will show you:

* How to control & change subconscious habits.
* Character building techniques for powerful results.
* How to transform your mind to generate wealth & success.
* How to connect with your inner mind. & change negative mindset.
* How to generate wealth from nothing.
* The golden rules to making money. & the 13 steps to riches.
* Transforming failure into success.
* The secrets to setting goals that really work.
* How to create mental influence over others.
* How to mold your mind for success.
* How to incorporate visualization and belief to get what you really desire
* How to use your knowledge to get what you want professionally and personally

Discover the secrets to success now.

Have you ever gotten paid for telling your life story?

A few months ago I heard about a guy who was taking the world by storm. He came from nowhere and suddenly he was on Tony Robbins' stage and then sharing the stage with the Dalai Lama, all the while making millions through speeches, seminars, products, coaching, and memberships.

What's insane about his story is that 24 months ago he was in bankruptcy. Since then he's up $4 million by leveraging five little known "expert strategies".

Watch how he QUICKLY positioned, promoted and got paid like a "guru".

Anyone can take their life's story and their strategies for success and build a million-dollar empire—that's what Brendon Burchard believes and he's proven it himself.

Have you been paid yet for your story or how-to advice? In the video Brendon shows you 5 secrets for doing that.

- Tony Robbins thinks Brendon is "smarter than hell"

- Brian Tracy says Brendon is the "smartest, nicest, most creative marketers I've ever met".

- Paula Abdul says he's "captivating, present, magnetic and awesome".

- NY-Times best-seller Dr. Daniel Amen "wishes I would have met him 20 years ago...it would have put my business and myself as an expert in hyperspeed".

So just go to this site, watch Brendon's complimentary video, and ask him any questions you have on his blog. Brendon told me he's personally replying to as many posts as he can and creating more training videos answering the most common questions.