By Success Expert and Motivational Speaker, Sharmen Lane

Hello World and Happy New Year!

No matter how you rang in the new year, there is no better time than the first day of the year to get started on making this an unforgettable, unstoppable year.

Most people set New Years Resolutions on New Years Eve, unfortunately they are quick to be forgotten by the end of the month… if it takes that long. What can you do to make this year different?  Here are a few tools and tips to give you the edge and make what you want happen.

1. Write your goal down. Don’t just say "I’m going to do blank."  Say, "I’m DOING blank."

2. Tell everyone you know.  Make a list starting right now of all the people you can share your goal with. Then call, email, text, twitter or whatever else you want but tell anyone and everyone you know about what you are DOING!

3. Create a vision board.  I do this every New Year’s Eve and now have vision board parties on New’s Year’s.  Cut out pictures of what you want and post them where you can see them often.  If you want to be an author, cut out a book cover and put your name and face on it.  If you want a lean, 10% body fat, size 8 body, or 34 inch waist, cut out a picture and put your face on it.  Make it real and see it so you can be it!

There you go, three simple steps to making what you want, real.  Remember, you have to make a plan and take action and these first three steps will start your journey.

Have an extraordinary year! Now get to it!

For more information visit ww.sharspeaks.com or email shar@sharspeaks.com. Also keep an eye out for my latest book, Giving You the WOW and the HOW, due out in early 2010!

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Dr. John Demartini author of From Stress to Success. Who can’t relate to that? In this day and age where just about everyone is surrounded by stressors, wouldn’t it be nice to find a way to use that stress for something positive? Perhaps we can channel that stressful energy into our business to help get it off the ground and make it fly. Dr. Demartini has 31 useful tools and tips that can help turn your stress into success. If you apply just one a day, in 31 days you will have less stress, and more success.

The first Five Secrets of Success that Dr. Demartini outlines in his book are:

1. Write and read your goals.
2. Clear away your goals obstacles.
3. Prioritize your activities.
4. Act on top priorities.
5. Visualize your success.

There are 26 more in his book From Stress to Success

To find out more please visit his website www.drdemartini.com

This is a really beautiful poem that I think everyone can learn from. Enjoy

This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer.She wants to see how many people get her poem.
It is quite the poem Please pass it on.

This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital .

It was sent by a medical doctor -Make sure to read what is in the closing statement AFTER THE POEM.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading light?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say,’Hi’

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….Thrown away.

Life is not a race…..
Do take it slower

Hear the music
Before the song is over.

FORWARDED
E-MAILS ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL
COUNT.

Dear All:
PLEASE pass this mail on to everyone you know -even to those you don’t know! It is the request of a special girl who will soon leave this worlddue to cancer.

This young girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will.

She’ll never make it to prom, graduate from high school,or get married and have afamily of her
own.

By you sending this to as many people as possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with every namethat this is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people! So I know that we can at least send it to 5 or 6. It’s not even your money, just your time!

PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST.

Dr. Dennis Shields, Professor
Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology

1300 Morris Park Avenue
Bronx , New York 10461

What a great day!  On Wednesday I was invited to speak at the Sotogrande Women’s Club. This was an incredible group of ladies.  If you want to find out more about this group, you can visit their website, www.sotograndewomen.com. The event was held at the San Roque Golf and Country Club and this venue was nothing short of spectacular.  The Spanish truly know how to work and play!  I did my 7 Secrets to Success presentation and am thrilled to say that it was a raging success.  After the event my friend Masha Malka, who is the author of the best selling book: "One Minute Coach, Change Your Life One Minute At A Time", heading back to Marbella where she lives.  Oh! and if you would like to find out more about this amazing place you can go to this website www.marbellas.com  It will show you all the goings on in this beautiful city. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Spain you must fit this city into your schedule. I had the pleasure of meeting Louise Cook Edwards the creator of this website and she is as fabulous as her site is… if not more!

In the evening we went to a delicious restaurant, Picasso (Italian obviously) and boy was it tasty.  I have yet to have a bad meal here and I am sorry to say that I don’t think any of my clothes are going to fit by the time I get home!

Today we are thinking of heading to Gibralter and perhaps making a stop in Morocco, Africa! 

Have a great Thursday and may all your dreams come true!

Its Tuesday afternoon in Spain and we are heading to TalkRadioEurope where I am being interviewed by Hannah Murray. if you want to listen you can just go to their website or (as it is early in the states) you can request the recording.

After my interview I will be broadcasting my radio show, Now to WOW on WBLQ 96.7FM or live online at www.wblq.net. 

After that we are heading off to the spa where we will be getting our hair, nail and toes done for a party this evening.

That’s a wrap for today.
Ciao!

I am here doing some work and some pleasure. Im staying with a friend (and author of The One Minute Coach) Masha Malka and her family.  My flight was 8 hours and I don’t think I slept a wink! Thank goodness for coffee to keep you going.  My  first night (Saturday) here we went to an opera concert in the park.  The weather is beautiful. Like a perfect Spring day in the states.  On Sunday we all slept in and I woke up at 1:15 in the afternoon! Malaga is 6 hours ahead of New York, 9 ahead CA. 

Tonight Masha and her three kids and I are going to play miniture golf and shuffleboard!

Stay tuned and we will keep you posted on Shar’s Spanish adventure!
Bye for now,
 

According to Social Media expert, Peter Shankman, the entire point and purpose of social media is to listen to your customers. You have their attention and you can find out what they want and how to they want to receive information about it.
 
At a recent event in New York City put on by American Women in Radio and Television Organization, (www.awrt.org) Shankman said there are four key elements to maximizing social media.
 
1. Transparency- Be honest and forthcoming. Lay all your cards on the table. If you screw up admit it, apologize and do better next time.
2. Relevance- Use social media to ask your clients and customers what they want. Find out how your customers want to hear about what you have to offer. Do they want you to Twitter it, email it, IM or text it? Then give the information they want, the want they want it.
3. Brevity- Shankman says that the average attention span of people today is 2.7 seconds. Therefore, you better get to the point, and get to it quickly. If you don’t grab their attention you will lose their attention, and likely their business.
4. Top of mind- How are you different? Be different and be first. Be the first person, company, product, etc, that your customers think of.
 
Social media grows your brand. It is an extension of you and your customer service. There is no better way to grow your brand than to have people recommending you and your product. The best way to do that is with social media.
 
Peter also mentioned a very cool new device called the Poken stick… check it out!
 
To find out more about Peter Shankman visit www.shankman.com
 

As an entrepreneur, most will face as some point, and possibly many times, the desire to quit.  Starting your own business can be a long and tumultuous ride.  However, it can also be one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences of your life.  It’s probably safe to assume that if you decided to leave or avoid Corporate America to be your own boss that you choose to start a business doing something you had a passion for or interest in.  Even when you do what you love, you may still feel like tossing in the towel when times get tough.  To help you through those tough times, we have provided five tips to help you stay motivated and on your path to success.

Always have something you are working towards, a goal on the horizon.  Having something to aim for can be enough to get you through just about anything.

Know when to back away.   Many times when you are pushing and pushing and things just don’t seem to budge, you may need to just walk away from what you are doing for a little while. This can be difficult I know because sometimes you just want to muscle through it.  But if you find that you are getting increasingly frustrated and things just aren’t going the way you want, then it is time to take a break.  Take a walk, listen to your favorite music, call a positive friend, go to the gym.  You know what things make you feel good so have a few things in mind that you can do when you need to get away from your work.

Remember why you started in the first place.  Sometimes when we are frustrated and things just aren’t going our way, it’s good to take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Why did I want to do this in the first place?”  There was some reason that you chose this path, remembering it can help keep you on it.

Throw a temper tantrum.  If enough is enough and you are fed up to the gills, throw a fit.  Most of us did this when we were kids, and it’s a great way to release that pent up frustration from our minds and our bodies.  Get a pillow and beat the poop out of it.  If you need to use your voice scream as loud as you can until you feel better (although if you are in a place where others can hear you, and you don’t won’t anyone to come running, I recommend screaming into the pillow) If you have a gym or place that has a punching bag use it.  Getting the feeling out of your body can be a great release and open your mind at the same time.

Lend a helping hand.  Getting out of your negative space and giving assistance to someone else can give you a great high to get you back on track.  Think of someone you know that could use a hand at something.  Check with a charity or something of the like and volunteer.  Helping others helps everyone.

I hope these tips give you the strength and determination to get past those rough patches.  Remember tough times happen for everyone, it’s what you do to get through them that says a lot about who you are, and what your made of.

To your success!

Why is it that some people get to wake up and do what they love while others get up to the grind?  How does one find their passion in life, much less get paid for it?

Surely, once upon a time you knew your passion. You know, that thing you did, that when you did it hours passed by in what felt like minutes. I believe everyone has a passion or many of them.  The trick gets to be how to you find it if you lost it in life and how do you make money at it too?

The first trick is to find that lost passion. There are some questions you can ask yourself to remember yours. Things like, “If tomorrow were my last day on Earth, what would I wish I had done?”  Or, "Name one thing I do that makes hours go by in what feels like minutes?"  Or maybe, "If I had unlimited time, money, and resources, and could do anything I wanted, and would not fail, what would it be?” (for a worksheet on how to find your passion, email  inspirational expert, Sharmen Lane at shar@sharspeaks.com)

After you find your passion the question becomes, how can you make money at it?  Well, here are a couple of examples that can help you think outside the box to make your passion your profession.

One woman I know loved to read.  So she started getting paid to proofread books for publishers. Another example is a person who loved to knit.  She could do it in her sleep. So she wrote a “how to” ebook and created a website where for a few bucks people could buy and instantly download it. Then she started to hold six week classes at a local yarn store.  Last example is of a man who was a personal trainer. He knew he could make more money if he could find a way to train people without being in front of them.  He put together instructional videos and again made them available for download on his website.

These are just three examples of ways to turn a passion into a profession.  Look outside the box and think of creative ways to make money at your passion.

What is rejection?  Isn’t it really just some big scary thing that we have created in our minds?  Is rejection really all the bad?  When it comes to business in the end it all comes down to sales.  If people aren’t buying your product or service then you aren’t closing the sale and you likely aren’t making any money. Anyone who has even been in sales knows that selling is a numbers game.  The more you ask the more sales you will make.  The bad news is that the more you ask the more rejection you will be faced with and you have probably heard that it takes about 10 no’s to get to a yes.

The good news is, the faster you get through those no’s the sooner you will get that yes.  So, how do you reject, rejection?  Change your perspective.  Be excited every time you get a no because that means you are that much closer to a yes. Put yourself out there. What’s the worst someone can say?  No? Okay, that’s not so bad, is it? Sure you would rather they say yes, but if they don’t you can simply move on.

Many times people will let the fear of rejection stop them from taking action to get what they want. Rejection is a fake fear.  What is a fake fear?  A real fear is something that could cause you physical harm or death.  A fake fear doesn’t.  A fake fear is something that only exists in your head.  If you are rejected you are not going to end up in the hospital or die. So what do you have to lose?  Absolutely nothing!

From now on see rejection as a good thing.  The sooner you get through those no’s the closer you are to getting that yes.