Sometimes, more is not what you want or do you..

"Fitting in more than anyone else" doesn’t work, even in high school. Seeking to be the most average, the most non-descript and the most inoffensive doesn’t lead to growth. School never has or did promote the gifted..I may be wrong now but it was a burden to be different or better.

"More informed" wears out too. If you get more news, faster, via Twitter, say, you’re not going to have a significant advantage over someone who has just enough news. Understanding what every single person is saying about everything, all the time, leaves you little opportunity to actually make something.  More news or information has to be what you need to grow, not the stuff that sells papers!

Having more on your to-do list probably isn’t the best idea either. Or is it?

Never enough

There’s never enough time to be as patient as we need to be. Not enough slack to focus on the long-term, too much urgency in the now to take the time and to plan ahead. That urgent sign post just ahead demands all of our intention and attention, and we decide to invest in, "down the road," down the road. This error is not new but needs attention if YOU are to succeed

It’s not only more urgent, but it’s easier to run to the urgent meeting than it is to sit down with a colleague and figure out the truth of what matters and the why of what’s before us.

And there’s never enough money to easily make the investments that matter. Not enough surplus in the budget to take care of those that need our help, too much on our plate to be generous right now. The short term bills make it easy to ignore the long-term opportunities.

Hope is the dream of a man awake. French Proverb

Of course, the organisations that get around the universal and insurmountable problems of not enough time and not enough money are able to create innovations, find resources to be generous and prepare for a tomorrow that’s better than today. It’s not easy, not at all, but probably certainly worth it.

We’re going to spend our entire future living in tomorrow—investing now, when it’s difficult, is the single best moment.

A little job well done is the first step toward a bigger one.
Success is more of a process than an event. Great success is achieved after a long string of small successes. Most of us earn our stripes one step at a time, and we work our way up through the ranks. When we begin our careers, we are given assignments that are commensurate with our skill and experience. As we prove our worth to the organization, we are gradually entrusted with more responsibility and increasingly larger projects. As you assume responsibility for one position, do so with an eye toward the next one. Do your absolute best every day in your job, but always plan for the future. View each day as an opportunity to learn something that will make you more valuable to the company or organization so that when the time arrives for promotions, your name will be the first one that comes to your boss’s mind. Napoleon Hill

Gray Lawrence
Ambitious Networker
Your vision is in Your Mind

From a beautiful writer Sarah Peck where I get some inspiration from Thus this has not been altered          PMA messages & links are added

Are you too in love with a dream to make it real?

What’s your big, scary, hairy, crazy, totally unrealistic dream? The one you wish for fervently and find yourself thinking about on and off while wandering?

Where does your mind go when you daydream?

That big dream, that thing in your mind–the really big one. Yes, that one.

Have you thought about making it real? Making it actually, seriously, part of your life?

Taking a dream to reality is risky.

It requires the real risk of failure and discovering whether or ,not you’re capable of what you believe. Whether or not you can actually accomplish all of the steps towards making it real. Whether or not you’re willing to do the work and go through the (sometimes painful) process of getting it to real.

Attempting to make a dream come true is a reality check. The possibility if a different reality is painful. It is quite possible that along the way towards going after your dream, you find out that you won’t get there. It’s too late. The pieces didn’t work. You don’t make it.

Behind the course of taking a dream to life is a possibility of not getting there.

To protect ourselves, we cling to the dream. We stay behind, saying wistfully to ourselves and others the story of the dream, but we don’t chase the dream itself.

Our words start to sound familiar. We tell stories that sound like were going to so that or we could have done that…

To take steps towards your dream requires uncertainty courage, bravery. You might discover that your dream window has expired. You might discover that you’re no longer in love with the fantasy you created. You might discover that the person you were has changed.

Taking the journey will change you. Taking the journey is unpredictable, uncertain, and scary.

You will emerge a different person. Your solace is that the other side of this today is a new place, and we are creatures that require change to grow.

And what if it does work out? What if your wildest dreams actually could come true?

Would you have the courage to go free them?

Or are you enjoying the dream more?

Not to be outdone!! This one is all mine please enjoy and use:

The yellow brick road is paved with gold, all you have to do is open the right door in your mind..Gray Lawrence

Gray Lawrence
Ambitious Networker
Your vision is in Your Mind

Today’s Inspiration: The Spirit of Memorial Day

I have decided not to add additional information here as I think it speaks well for itself with a good reason to remember:   No matter what country!

I admit my 22 years in the British Forces will never be remembered to the level those that live or die for ‘World Peace’ starting life in the USA  I applaud you!

Celebrate Memorial Day as a day of peace and celebration!

If I could share 500 words to inspire, this is the important wisdom I’d want to pass along to others…

Today we celebrate Memorial Day in the United States. When we hear "Memorial Day", most Americans think of it as the beginning of the summer, a day filled with picnics, parties, warm weather and fun times. Yet when we look back to the origins on this holiday, the way we celebrate it is quite different from the original intent.

According to History.com, Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, commemorates the men and women who died while serving in the American military. First observed in 1868 as Decoration Day, it was designated for the purpose of strewing flowers and decorating the graves of comrades who died in defence of their country. It became an official US federal holiday in 1971.
Recognizing that our InspireMeToday.com family is a global community that far exceeds the borders of the United States, let’s use this day to honour all those who have given their lives to protect all of our families and our homes. In today’s day and age, with the inner-connectivity we enjoy through fast modes of travel and instant communication through the Internet, we are now one global community. Our economies and cultures blend in a way like never before.
Today, as we recognize and honour those who lost their lives serving our countries, let us also take this one step further. Let’s join together to create a day when we will lay down our swords and meet to settle differences in a more civilized fashion. Our fallen soldiers have paid the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives for their country. We are truly grateful for their service and honour their memory with respect and appreciation.
Let us learn from the past and grow in knowledge so that our children and grandchildren can celebrate this day as a day of peace and celebration.
No matter where we are in the world today or the country of our origin, we are all part of the same global family sharing one home on planet Earth. In that way, we are all the same. We are all children of God. Let us look for and celebrate all the ways that we are alike rather than quarrel over our differences. So let us take today and be thankful for life. As WWII General George S. Patton said, "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
The fact that we are here in this very moment, that we are alive, is cause for celebration. For what is the purpose to mourn those who died to give us the right to live, if we then fail to live our lives? The best way to honour those who died so that we may live, is for us to live our lives fully and with celebration!
Today, take a moment to be grateful for those who have come before you. Honour what once was. Then go enjoy and celebrate life. Celebrate the reason you are here. Connect to and celebrate something bigger than yourself. Go reach out to your global community, share love and make a difference. Give your life to something bigger than yourself, in honour of those who came before, those who will come after, and in honour of this amazing gift of life itself.

The Power is from within, the choice is yours
Gray Lawrence
Successful Networker

"Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Nido Qubein

Make time for the people you work with – especially those that work for you. The more attention you pay, the more important they’ll feel. — Eric Harvey

Never wait to be picked for anything, you must make the first move! A positive attitude and belief in yourself is all it takes!!

This requires quite an abrupt shift in thinking if you were brainwashed like many of us as it was done in my school years, It was and still is a shame because once you volunteered you had the nasty school remarks from Every One..often including teachers, I hope times have changed and ‘Health & Safety’ have not removed our individuality! Our own self belief not doubt.  Personally I always volunteered as I did not want to be good enough to be picked, I wanted to prove I was!!

If you have a desire, a dream and ambition (yes as a child it is not forbidden) GO for IT, no matter what, if a sports team; to be a prefect (I not sure if they are still around)  or even for college or university and as you grow in life ‘The Dream Job’. Often here you are picked by, training, expertise or even enthusiasm, this shows interest ambition and ability.

The whole thing is constructed to make it clear that ALL we should care about is getting ourselves picked by someone who has more authority than we do.  “WHY?”
When you step out of that dream and realize that no one certified the people in charge to make the rules (in other words, the people who got the ball rolling picked themselves), pretty much everything crumbles. You realize you’ve been playing in someone else’s game since you were born.

The best part of being a leader? Dealing with people! The worst part of being a leader? Same answer!  — Eric Harvey

And that’s when you go from being a sheep to a wolf. And that’s when you find your power.
Going through life hoping to get picked by clients and prospects by saying the right things and doing the right things is just an extension of our company training.
Put those days behind you and step into freedom, it is your choice!. Say goodbye to trying to get clients or customers by fitting into their box, listen to their needs and yours will follow. Do you really want to spend your life trying so hard to fit into other people’s boxes?
The very act of you trying to do that is just another way to give all of your power away.

Wikipedia provide us with the following reason for information :

Communication is a process whereby meaning is defined and shared between living organisms. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender’s intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the receiver has understood the sender. I think this is a ‘Perfect’ reason to be accurate!

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. — Leonardo da Vinci

The most important tips for getting the best out of Business emails.

We all use email, and we use it all day long. It’s both a great help and a great hindrance. Great for some tasks, massively overused for others. In many ways, it has changed the way that we work, and the speed at which we correspond.

The reality is that email is as much a part of our working lives as the telephone is, in fact it has even taken over a lot of what really should still be done by telephone (but I’m not going to get on that high horse today).

So why is this hugely valuable, and indispensable business tool so badly used? Do people respond to your emails in the way you want them too, or do they miss the point? Are you making the best possible impression every time you press the send button?

Make most of your email with the following top tips for business email, to ensure that you get the most you can, every time.

A. Subject lines are headlines

Newspaper headlines grab people attention, they help you decide whether to read the article or not. A well written headline draws you in. The same can be said for an emails subject line.

Decide on a few well chosen words. Remember that everyone is trying to reduce the amount of spam they get everyday, so an appropriate subject line will increase the chances of someone reading further.  NEVER leave the subject line blank. Emails with blank subject lines are usually seen as spam.

B. Make only one point per email

If you need to communicate on a number of different things, use separate emails for each subject.  This is my problem!!

This is a really great way to help your reader reply to each individually and in an appropriate time scale. You will get clearer answers and increase the chance of each point being adequately addressed. Also, this means that a quickly answered point is not held up by another that requires more attention or research.

With traditional letters, you need to be clear and concise, with the purpose of the message detailed in the first paragraph. Sentences should be short and to the point.  Difficult? Try it!!

C. Specify the response that you want

You must let the reader know what you want from them in return. This means ensuring that you include any call to action that you want, be that a reply, phone call or appointment.

Make it easy for them to reply.  If this a call to action is call back, be sure to include your contact information including name, title and phone number. Make it easy for them to reply. If a reader has to search for this information, they almost certainly will not bother.  Do this on internal email too. The easier you make it to respond the more responses you will get, in the time scales you would like them in.  Links have to be accurate and as part of the subject matter, many of my emails relate to my Network Marketing  or Multi Level Marketing Opportunity

D. Be a good correspondent

Make sure that you go through your inbox regularly, and respond as appropriate. It is so easy to let email messages slip, and once they are no longer visible at the top of the inbox page, they may be forgotten altogether.  This is really just simple courtesy, and will encourage others to reply to you in a timely manner too.

If a detailed response is required and you don’t have the time there and then, send a holding email saying that you have their email and you are dealing with it. You will be surprised at the difference that this little tip makes.  Manners Maketh the Person!!  Written or verbal..

Food for thought! 

Aim for service and success will follow. — Albert Schweitzer

Your Vision of the future, lies from within
Gray Lawrence
Successful Networker

The Greatest leaders of the world were men and women of quick decision -Napoleon Hill