“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.” Winston Churchill

You will encounter failure, that cannot be avoided. It is your actions following failure that will determine your ultimate destination. Success comes from learning and bouncing back from a failure. Keep your energy up and never lose hope. Do not let failure discourage you, yet learn from failure. A failed situation is really a learning situation, the knowledge you get from it will get you closer to your success. Good luck with your success and keep your enthusiasm high! 

You wake up at dawn just like every day, take part in your daily morning dose of coffee and news. Your family is still asleep, the argument you had with your son is now just a blur in your memory. The thoughts of your current project at work are the main things on your mind as you think of your busy day. You walk out towards your car and you notice the glass on the driveway. As you look up the body of your dark-green Infiniti Sedan is covered with deep dents, windows broken, and smashed taillights. The shock pauses your thoughts of the day ahead and you wonder who could of possibly done this to your car? This is what happened on a spring morning in 1998 to Dominic Orr, CEO of Alteon Websystems of that time.

Around here we preach that hard work is needed in order to attain our goals. Without putting in work you will get no where. However, as with all things you have to set a healthy limit for your self and always be in control. Dominic Orr worked eighteen to twenty hour days on a regular basis. His wife, Teresa, and his two children, Alvin and Adria, did not see very much of him. Dominic Orr has had an incredible career working for HP and taking Alteon Websystems public, which was bought for nearly $8 billion. He prided himself on being “ruthlessly aggressive” at work. He climbed up the corporate ladder quickly and took charge of his career. Without long hours and hard work would he of gotten as far as he had in his career? Most likely not. In our competitive society it is the ones who put in the most effort and most dedication that come out on top. This can easily be a scary society to be a part of as it can overtake you and you can lose control of your life.

Dominic Orr’s marriage had fallen apart, him and his wife constantly argued about his lack of a relationship with their children and how he was always working. His son, 15 year old Alvin, was very distant and kept to his teenage cell phone conversations. Knowing his time was limited with his children he demanded everyone to join together at the table for dinner. His son, caught up in his long distance cell phone conversation, did not meet the family at the dinner table. Dominic threatened to take away Alvin’s computer away for racking up another $200 long distance bill and for keeping his family waiting at the dinner table. He lost his temper with his son and had a horrible argument. Arguments were not uncommon in his house and this was just another night. His son Alvin was full of rage, not only was his home life a mess, but his long distant relationship with his girlfriend had ended during the cell phone conversation that made him miss dinner. Angry at his father not only for stopping his cell phone conversation, but for not being there and causing havok in his family. He took a fireplace poker to his dad’s car, when the fireplace poker had had enough, he followed with his skateboard.

“I was going for maximum cost of repair by damaging separate parts of the car” said Alvin. “I tried to destroy something that mattered to him.”

Dominic was extremely successful in his corporate life, had a great position and made a lot of money. However his family had fallen apart. Had he not worked so hard and put it so many hours, his family could of possible escaped some of these problems. Does your hard work get in the way of your personal life? Have you had fights with your significant other been caused because of your long hours at work?

Dominic Orr found himself in a therapist’s office not knowing what to do about his broken home. With the help of a therapist and a decision to put his family first, Orr slowly got his life back. He know has a healthy relationship with not only his son, but the rest of his family.

Hard work is needed to succeed in our society, however, success at work alone cannot bring you complete happiness. Do not forget about your personal life and the people in it. Whether it is your family or your friends make sure you do not compromise those relationships because work has consumed you. Work hard, but work smart. Life is more than just work, success is measured by how content you are. Success is knowing what happiness is and being able to smile everyday.

*information for this story was inspired from Fortune Magazine Confession of a CEO article.

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70 thousand dollars a month is a very nice monthly income. Whateverlife.com, owned and created by 17 year old Ashley Qualls, is a site aimed at teenage girls and provides free myspace layouts….The site generates about 70 thousand dollars a month mainly from advertisements on her site. We previously wrote a
post about the site. Today we will look at whateverlife.com from a business point of view, so that you can apply a similar business model for your success. Whateverlife’s owner may be 17 years old, however she handles her business in a very business savvy way.

Whateverlife may offer completely different services and/or product than your company, but the way you should sell your product/services should be the same. Whateverlife knows its audience very well. It caters specifically to teenage girls and knows what they want. How can you sell anything if you do not know what your potential customer wants? Put your self in your customers’ shoes and ask what it is you want. Adjust your marketing to reflect who you are trying to bring in as a customer. Know your audience like whateverlife and your customer base will increase.

Whateverlife offers FREE Myspace layouts. Keyword is free, obviously. We all love free products. Free is nearly impossible to turn down. Especially if you are looking for something specific, you find exactly what you want, and you get it for free! This is exactly what Ashley Qualls’ “customers” get. They are looking for the hottest Myspace layouts, find them on whateverlife.com, and are available for free. Whateverlife makes money from the advertisers on the website. The advertisers love the amount of traffic her site gets, and they know the audience they have to cater their ads to. If Whateverlife charged for every myspace layout, users would rather go to other sites who offer them for free. So by providing a great product for free, Whateverlife creates customers without the customer knowing it. Offer something to your customers to bring them in and then make your new relationship profitable for you. Give something to get something in return.

Whateverlife’s users can identify with the look and design of the website. They feel at home when they visit the website. Creating an identity that your customers can feel comfortable with or even a identity that they would like to have is necessary for a successful business. Look at Apple,  Who almost went bankrupt in 1997, they designed the Ipod. The Ipod didn’t necessarily do anything different from other portable mp3 players, but what it did do, it did it with style and function blended together. Everyone wants to look good. Two different products with the same features, the one that looks the best and is easier to use will be the one you buy. Create a look that your customers can identify with, throw in easy and simple functionality and your customers will pick your product/service over the competition.

Apply these tips to you and your company and you will only benefit. Whateverlife is a perfect example of a successful company with a successful business model. Quick summary:

•  Know your audience and cater to them.
• Give something for ‘free’ to your potential customers.
• Create a look that your customers want and can identify with, and keep it simple.

To visit Whateverlife click here www.whateverlife.com

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I hear many people say their life sucks. I know that is something none of us ever want to say, but the reality is that hardships can come that will make us feel that way. If your life currently “sucks”, then let us see how we can make it not suck. First, of all we need to realize that everyone goes through difficult situations. Now that we realize that we all go through bad times we can stop feeling pity for our selves and make our lives not suck. Ask your self the question, Why does my life suck? Once you know what makes you not like your life, then we can begin to fix those things. Figure out exactly what bothers you and think what changes you could make to change your life. Write out a plan and start working on it today. If you simply accept that your life sucks, then it will continue to suck. If you hate your job and it makes your life suck, then get a new job. Be happy already, start enjoying your life. I see miserable people every day and it is sad to see someone that does not enjoy their life. Write down all the situations in your life that are affecting your happiness. Write down what would make those situations better. Now that you know the causes for your sucky life and you also know the solutions to fix your sucky life, all that is left is putting in the work and effort to make those solutions a reality. So your life does not suck, it is the situations that you are in that suck, fix those situations and then enjoy this beautiful life. Be happy!

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“Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.”

by Dorothy Thompson

 Simple quote, yet very true. Do not be afraid to take a risk. Reach outside your boundries. Failure is not trying. Do not live your life in a way that when you get older, you will look back and regret not going for what you really wanted. Start today, take a step forward, if you do not start living your dreams, then you will never see your dreams come true.

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“We are always getting ready to live but never living.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote means a lot to me, as it describes myself just a little while ago. I dreamt all day about succeeding and living my life as I pleased. I day dreamed about what I wanted, while I worked my regular job and not living that way I wanted to. I had great ideas and definately knew that I had what it takes to have my dreams come true. Yet, I quickly realized that my ideas and my dreams would not come to be unless I put some work it. I was always getting ready to live, but never living out those dreams. Success does not come with out hard work. Today is the day to start, not tommorow, not later, but right now! Do not cheat yourself and lose out on living your dreams. Take a risk, work hard, and enjoy your success. Start living today.

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Those butterflies that stir up the anxious feeling in your gut when something feels exciting and, at that moment, right. It could be the first date with someone who your heart skips a beat for. It could be the last seconds of a championship game when you know your team has won and you wait for the buzzer to make it official. Those butterflies sure do excited when something great is around. I started to think about the time when I got an idea made me a lot of money. I remember the feeling of the butterflies in my stomach as I stayed awake thinking of how to implement my great idea. I was so excited and felt very anxious to start working on this idea. I’ve had plenty of ideas, but very few had butterflies. The butterflies were right, success came with the idea. So many times in life we ask ourselves, what do I want to do in life? We wonder what career we would be happy in. I say you should really enjoy your job. You will work harder and be more successful.  Easier said than done right? Well figuring out what we want to is half the battle, the other half is the hard work to make the idea a reality. What in life excites you? Do you have a hobby that gives you butterflies? Do you have a subject that you can’t stop reading about and excites those butterflies? Those are the things that you should concentrate on. Happiness and success isn’t necessarily making money, but happiness is being…well…happy. First, get to know what really keeps your interest. Once you know what it is that you truly are interested in, then you can concentrate on how to make a career out of it. Do not be afraid to take a risk if the end result could be you being happy. The ones who take risks are the ones who ultimately see the most success. Live your dreams and follow those butterflies.

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In our journey to achieve success and reach our goals it is easy to lose our fire and get discouraged. At times we hit road blocks that can put us down and make it feel that we are not going to achieve success. Reaching our goals requires plenty of work, time, and energy. It is easy to get burned out, especially at the beginning where progress can take a long time to be seen. It is at these times that it is easy to quit and give up. Finding objects or situations that can motivate you will help you along the path until you reach your goal. For some it may be their dream car, picture yourself driving with the windows down and your favorite song bleeding through the speakers. Imagining something you want and believing you will get it, will drive you and motivate you to keep going towards your goals. It may be a house or a vacation that you have always dreamed about taking. Maybe even just the freedom of being your own boss and owning your business. Print a picture of the car or item you want and place it on your desk. This way you will be motivated to work hard for it. Motivation is the gasoline to your fire that will keep your engine running. Stay motivated. Work hard. Achieve Success.

Things that may motivate you.

• Cars
• Homes
• Vacations
• Jewelry
• Education for children
• Secure financial future
• Music

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Interesting question. In my line of work during one of my day jobs I talk to very many different types of customers. I appreciate when a customer, even in a time of stress or difficulties, is patient and respectful. I have experienced plenty of customers who scream, yell, and are even insulting. Some customers believe yelling and screaming will get them faster service. It is quite the opposite,  customer service agents will be less willing to help you out if they feel you are attacking them. I often questions myself when I see a rude customer in a retail store, how can they be that way? I see customers screaming at young cashiers, because their coupon expired and they cannot use it anymore. Things like that are completely the customer’s fault, yet they cannot take the blame. Consumers really are spoiled here in the United States. In other countries the customer is not always right. I am always very courteous with customer service representatives, because it is not directly their fault when something goes wrong. If you treat people with respect and give them your patience, you will receive better service. When you give off a negative attitude, then you will receive only negativity back. I understand it is easy to get upset, especially if the situation has to do with something dear to you…like money : ) We really have to hold back, take a breath, and just be nice. I have called some companies and have been giving horrible service, but I realize if I am rude to the person, nothing will change. There is a difference between being stern and concerned from being demanding and confronting. Plus the more mad you get, the more stressed out you will be. I feel bad when I see such a high strung customer yelling at a customer service representative. The customer looks so unhappy, and I get very happy that I am not them. Honestly, do not be a mad/rude customer, and you will receive better service. Sometimes yelling and screaming can produce results, but often those same results can be had by just being a nice and respectful person. Quit being rude and be happier!
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 Technology is great, we can be connected and in touch with our business at all times. At what cost though? Does your significant other get annoyed and/or upset that you are always responding to emails on your PDA or Blackberry? Does it keep you from paying full attention to your children? It is easy to get caught up with work, especially when you cannot get away from it. I know I get into trouble for being on the computer way too much. I won’t say I am addicted (denial is the first stage of addiction), but I do tend to ignore the world around me when my eyes are hypnotized by LCD screen in front of me. This is a problem many of us face. Is it worth any fights or arguements with your significant other? Is it worth not giving the children all the attention they need? Certainly not. Also, for our own sake, we need a break from work. Too much work can cause too much stress. It is no fun to work all day and have no fun. It is best to either turn off the cell phone/PDA right when you get home and take some time to talk to your family. If you really need to, then turn it back on after a scheduled time with your family. Later at night go ahead and turn it off again, plan to have at least two sessions with your wife/husband and or/kids without being interrupted by your mobile device. Your significant other will love you for it and your kids will incredibly happy to have more time with you. If you are single and have no kids, then take some time to relax, go to the gym, or hang out with some friends. There is more to life than work, learn to enjoy yourself and learn to relax. The more relaxed you are and the more you enjoy your life, the better work you will do. So let’s take a deep breath, put our crackberries down, and enjoy the wonders around us.

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