No Time? Focus on the Important.

Busy people have two options when they decide how their workdays will go: they can choose to be reactive to urgent demands on their time, or proactive about focusing on what they decide is important. The only way to actually get things done is to mitigate the urgent to work on the important. Let's differentiate between what I call urgent and important.

Urgent tasks include things like that frantic email that needs a response RIGHT NOW; a sudden request that seems like it'll only take two minutes but often ends up taking an hour; a report you've got to write up before a meeting. More often than not "the urgent" is putting out fires, or busywork, or tasks that you'd rather do first because they're less intimidating than your current project list.

Urgent tasks are usually short-term and we're drawn to them because they keep us busy and make us feel needed. (If we're busy people, we must be important people.)

But dealing with a constant stream of urgent tasks leaves you wrung out at the end of the day, wondering where all the time went, staring at the undone actual work you've got to complete.

On the flip side, important work moves you and your business towards your goals. The important stuff doesn't give us that same shot of adrenaline that the urgent requests do. It can involve thinking out long-term goals, being honest about where you are and want to be, and just doing plain hard work that feels boring and tedious. On a personal level, important stuff may include making time to get to the gym every day. On a business level, important stuff may be devising your yearly plan, breaking it down into quarterly and monthly deliverables, and evaluating your current performance against last year's plan. (Doesn't the mere thought of going to the gym and deciding on this year's goals make you want to check your email? Still, that's the work that will help you meet your goals.)

If your workplace encourages that frantic vibe of headless-chicken running and constant urgency, it can feel impossible to focus on what's important versus what's urgent. Still, an awareness of the difference and a few simple techniques can help.

Choose three important tasks to complete each day. Write them down on a slip of paper and keep it visible on your desk. When you have a moment, instead of checking your email, look at the slip, and work on an item. Keep the list to just three, and see how many you can complete.

Turn off your email client. Shut down Outlook, turn off new email notifications on your BlackBerry, do whatever you have to do to muffle the interruption of email. When you decide to work on one of your important tasks, give yourself an hour at least of uninterrupted time to complete it. If the web is too much of a temptation, disconnect your computer from the Internet for that hour.

Set up a weekly 20-minute meeting with yourself. Put it on your calendar, and don't book over it — treat it with the same respect you'd treat a meeting with your boss. If you don't have an office door or you work in an open area that's constantly busy, book a conference room for your meeting. Go there to be alone. Bring your project list, to-do list, and calendar, and spend the time reviewing what you finished that past week, and what you want to get done the following week. This is a great time to choose your daily three important tasks. Productivity author David Allen refers to this as the "weekly review," and it's one of the most effective ways to be mindful about how you're spending your time.

by Gina Trapani at HBR.

Grow Your Business Tweet by Tweet.

Entrepreneurs are finding the fast-rising microblogging site to be a useful tool for reaching out to customers. By Jeremy Quittner at Newsweek

Here's what happened when Chris Savage, the chief executive of Wistia.com, searched for the phrase "private video sharing" on Twitter, a social networking site. One post he found read, "A teacher requested a private 'video sharing' Web site so that specialists can observe student behavior—can anyone refer one?"

That got Savage's attention. He e-mailed back: "Still looking for a private video sharing site?"

Minutes later came the reply: "YES! It's the first request for one—thought I'd hit up my tweets before [I] go digging."

Savage: "Cool. You may want to check out Wistia.com. Full disclosure, I'm the CEO; -)"

While this exchange may seem a bit cryptic, Savage is one of a growing number of business owners to whom it makes an awful lot of sense. Savage frequently trolls Twitter looking for sales leads for his five-person, $1 million company, which makes software that facilitates video sharing through a private network. Although Savage has been using Twitter for only a year, it's already helped him find 12 new clients for his Lexington (Mass.) company. "This is a no-cost way of marketing," he says. Because Twitter provides a public forum, each post becomes a form of promotion as other users follow Savage's posts. "You are building a reputation; people can go back and look at your Web site and the quality of your content, and you are becoming part of the community," Savage says. Other business owners are using Twitter for market research and to keep an eye on customer service issues. BREVITY'S BRAWN Twitter distinguishes itself from MySpace (NWS) and Facebook by relying less on picture-laden profiles and more on posts of fewer than 140 characters, referred to as "tweets" or "microblogs." Twitter's simplicity is paired with a powerful search function that allows users to mine others' updates in real time for useful nuggets. "Twitter lets you stay on top of what is happening within your client base," says Chip Lambert, owner of Network2Networth, a business development consultancy in Phoenix. "You can look at conversations and reposition yourself, your products, and your services in a way that appeals to the market you are reaching out to."

An estimated 5 million people use Twitter, according to Cambridge-based Forrester Research. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says businesses "that are not quite big enough to make an impact on the Web, or to spend resources there," have been some of the earliest users of the site. He says some San Francisco-based coffee shops and bakeries have sent tweets to tell their customers about specials or products they may be out of that day. One Los Angeles taco truck uses Twitter to tell customers where it will be that day. "Businesses use this as a hybrid between marketing and customer service," says Stone. "They use the Twitter Search to track mentions of their products and services and as a way to begin a conversation."

Like any online forum, Twitter may not be for everyone. Its immediacy and conversational nature make it a boon to those whose products and services may take a bit more explaining or back-and-forth. And it can be a time suck. "One of the major drawbacks is that [Twitter] is very addictive," says Savage, who has 800 followers and in turn follows just as many. He uses a popular add-on called Tweet Deck, which lets members organize messages by category.

GETTING STARTED Joining Twitter is easy and free. You create a user name and password, then log onto the site. (You can also sign up to have tweets delivered to your mobile phone.) Once inside, there's a big box at the top labeled "What are you doing?" While you could start by typing something as mundane as "I am drinking my coffee and checking out Twitter," you'll see tabs on the right that say "following," "followers," and "updates," enabling you to follow others whose posts you find interesting. Once you've been posting for a while, people follow you too. A certain viral element takes over, and soon you may wind up in the middle of a Twitter community with common interests.

You'll also find thousands of irrelevant posts. "It is easy to get lost and sidetracked," says Lambert, who suggests entrepreneurs think strategically about how they might use Twitter. A mortgage broker, for example, could follow discussions people are having about new tax credits, learn what advice they're getting and which sites they're linking to, and then compose a suitable message to address them.

The viral component of Twitter has helped Andra Watkins, founder of Positus, a consulting firm based in Charleston, S.C. She joined Twitter about six months ago, and at first found it a bit daunting. "I did not grow up using these tools and it has taken me time to develop the voice and approach," she says. Still, she has built a following of 600 Twitterers—friends, colleagues, bloggers, and potential customers. She in turn follows about 600 other people, including a group from her home state of South Carolina—85% of whom she figures could help bring in business. She also follows influential bloggers and those with large Twitter followings, in hopes of establishing a dialogue with them, and keeps tabs on her competitors. Watkins sometimes sends out tweets that have nothing to do with her business, such as a few complaining about exercise. "It makes me more approachable," Watkins says. In the past six months, she's found 10 new paying clients through Twitter.

Other business owners, like Michael Coffey, chief executive of BlueCotton in Bowling Green, Ky., are using Twitter to enhance customer service. The 25-employee, $4 million company lets customers design their own shirts online. For the past two months, two of Coffey's factory workers have used iPhones to snap pictures of completed shirts, and then to send photo tweets to customers right before shipping. "Customers have some anxiety when they purchase shirts online," Coffey says. The tweets help alleviate those concerns—and have won new customers who spot the designs on Twitter. "Having people follow BlueCotton is a feather in our cap," Coffey says. "It helps create real fans of the company."

Want to keep your job? Be happy.

Study shows that a bright disposition helps workers navigate darker times. By Becky Fleischauer

Does the recession with its rampant layoffs and cutbacks make your job look better all the time? Believe it or not, donning a pair of "recession goggles" can be good for your career and your mental health. Research shows that an attitude of gratitude in trying times can not only help you keep your job, but get you the job you want.

It's a counterintuitive concept, for sure. In today's economic maelstrom, the most common responses are panic, fear, anger, distrust, and even hostility. But a Harvard Business Review article "How to Protect Your Job in a Recession" studied the characteristics of recession survivors and found that those who avoided being cut were cheerful, likable, generous contributors, and not necessarily the most skilled and proficient.

"Just don't be the guy who's always in a bad mood, reminding colleagues how vulnerable everyone is. Who wants to be in the trenches with him?" caution authors Janet Banks and Diane Coutu.

Workplace relationship expert Courtney Anderson agrees, and observes that tolerance for bad actors – particularly those higher up the food chain – is shrinking.

"The handwriting is on the wall for them in a lot of organizations," says Ms. Anderson, founder of Courtney Anderson & Associates, a human resources firm in Austin, Texas. "When times are good, companies will tolerate a lot. But in this economy, every single decision is double- and triple-checked. It will be tough for the really poor managers to make it through,"

This could explain why the ax is falling higher up the management chain. Companies are looking to save more money, and bigger salaries yield larger savings. Today's unemployment rate for college-educated workers, 4.1 percent, is the highest it's been since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the data in 1992. It is more than twice its prerecession level, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, putting the risk of being unemployed proportionately higher for college-educated workers than for less-educated ones.

When productivity is in decline, Anderson says, other factors gain more value in the decisionmaking process about who stays and who goes. "I used to go to organizations," Anderson says, "and they would describe a horrible situation: 'Felicia curses people out, she yells and is mean, but she delivers.' They would want me to figure out how to keep the person and be flexible because the person delivered. Now, with the current macroeconomic picture, they won't put up with it. There is a financial opportunity to get rid of the people who create problems."

Anderson says corporate leaders are now placing more value on workers who add positive energy to the atmosphere beyond increasing sales and visibility. She says that includes placing those who are grouchy and unpleasant on the layoff list, but also the person who never says anything, the colleague who is invisible and flies under the radar.

"All variations of not contributing and making it a positive, efficient workplace are being considered," Anderson says. If striking a cheerful pose in tough times doesn't come naturally, consider that it does require conscious effort. And even the act of trying to be happy can make a difference.

"If you stay positive, you'll have more influence on how things play out," advise Ms. Banks and Ms. Coutu. Banks is a veteran of at least a dozen corporate downsizings, and Coutu has studied resilience in many settings. They say survivors and those who leverage layoffs to their advantage focus on anticipating the needs of customers and those above and below them inside the office.

During periods of numerous layoffs, vacuums occur at all levels, leaving many opportunities to help your boss and the company get more accomplished. "Prove your value to the firm by showing your relevance to the work at hand," Banks and Coutu note, "which may have shifted since the economy softened."

The key to donning recession goggles is to make decisions you won't regret when the recession fades and more prosperous times return.

"We should affirm to ourselves each day why we are doing what we do," Anderson says. "If you are truly, truly miserable, even in a bad economy, you may be better off doing something else: taking a break, going back to school, or working part time. It's valid to ask ourselves: 'Do I enjoy this? Why am I here?' Reevaluate."

She reminds us that if you find you are in a job exclusively for the paycheck – that is, uh, OK. It is a superb reason to go to work and be satisfied in this economy.

"You can still go to work and have a good day," Anderson says. Especially pay day. "Bad times remind us all of the basics.... We shouldn't take things for granted."

Six Steps To Think Like A Millionaire.

Rich people have a different way of thinking as compared to poor and middle class people in a given society. They think about money, wealth, themselves, other people, and live life from a different perspective.

From Mindcafe.org

Keep in mind, beliefs are not true or false and right or wrong, but they are merely past opinions which can be modified on your command. In reality, you can select to think in ways that will support you, instead of thinking in ways that lead to despair. This is important - stay with me . . .

1. Rich People think: “I made my Life”.
 Poor people’s thinking is “Life happens to me.” If you wish to make wealth, it is important that you believe you are at the hand wheel of your life; and that you create every single second of your life. Your financial life, in particular.

If you don’t accept this as reality, then you must admit you have little control over life and that financial success has nothing to do with you. This is not a rich mental attitude.

In place of taking the task for what is going on in their lives, poor people prefer to play the character of a “victim”. Certainly, any victim’s biggest thought-action is “poor me.” In keeping with the law of intention, that is exactly what they acquire; “poor,” as in money, me.

Here’s the simple solution to this problem, which I guarantee, will change your life: For the coming week, I advice you not to sound off in any way. Neither complain about anything using your mouth, nor think unhappy in your mind. You will be surprised with the results and how successful and serene your life will become. I promise.

You can be either a victim, or you can be rich! It’s time to recall your mind power and admit the fact that you create every single second of your life. You create your wealth; you create your poverty and everything in between.

2. Rich People always participate to Win the race. Poor people take part in the race on defense rather than offense. This is actually their main problem. Let’s suppose, if you are strained to run strictly on defense, what are the chances for winning the race? I think the majority will agree; slim and none.

All the same, that is how literally most people participate in the race. Their main objective is survival and security, not wealth and abundance. So, it’s the time for you to decide: What is your objective?

Rich people’s major concern is to become the lord of countless wealth. Poor people’s major concern is to have “enough to make the living…” Few extra bucks, for them, would be a marvel to go!

Again, rethink the power of intention. When your objective is to have enough to make your living, that is precisely how much you’ll get. Not even a coin more! You get what you really plan to get. If you wish to create wealth, your objective has to be “rich”.

3. Rich People are devoted to being Rich.
 Then again, Poor people are uninterested towards being rich. Most of us have logical reasons as to why it would be superb to be rich. But what about the other perspective? Are there reasons why it might not be so good to be rich or experience the process of struggling to get rich?

We actually have a file on wealth in our minds. This file comprises of our personal beliefs that include why being wealthy would be good for us. However, for many people, their file also contains information as to why being rich might not be so good. These people have varied internal messages particularly around money and wealth.

Few of them will think, “Having more wealth will make life a lot more enjoyable.” Conversely, others think like, “Uh-huh, but I’ll have to work harder. So how the heck is that comfy?” Some will say, “I’ll be able to move around the world.” Then again, the others react like, “Nah! Every person in the world would like to have something from me.”

Such confused messages are one of the biggest reasons that most people can not manage to become rich.

Actually, the biggest reason why most people don’t get what they want is, they do not know what they exactly want.

Rich people are firm about what they want -- They want money. They are steadfast in their belief. They are fully devoted to creating wealth. They are ready to do whatever it takes to create wealth. Rich people get it because they do not spread confused messages in the universe.

Getting rich is not a fleeting thought. It takes solid determination, skill, effort and passion. You have to truly commit to it, both consciously and subconsciously. You have to determine you can really do it and that you really deserve it. If you are not fully devoted to creating wealth, chances are you will not get and stay rich.

4. Rich People Think Big.
 Poor people think small. Believe me - everything will change the day you will begin to think big. You want to do big or small? It’s totally up to you. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about living your objective. It’s about living true to your objective. It’s about attending to others.

Most of us are so caught up in our egos that everything turns around “me, me and more me.” I repeat - it’s not about you. It’s about adding value to others’ lives. Again, it’s totally up to you. The first way leads to being ruined and full of misery. While the other leads to wealth, meaning, and success. So, be wise while making your selection.

5. Rich People Are Bigger than Their Problems.
 Poor people are smaller than their problems. Getting rich is an expedition, not a holiday. It is full of difficulties, gimmicks, and twists. The point here is that, success is messy, and for the same reason, most people don’t take it. In other words, they don’t want problems in their lives.

This is one of the greatest differences between rich people and poor people. Rich and successful people are larger than their problems, while poor and unsuccessful people are smaller than their problems.

Poor people will do almost anything to shun problems. They are afraid of accepting challenges. The irony is that, in their pursuit to ensure they don’t have problems, they have the biggest problem of all: They are unhappy and full of misery.

The secret to success is not to try to keep away from problems. Problems are to be solved when they arise. You should be bigger than any problem. Whether you are rich or poor, doing big or small, problems do not get away. If you are taking a breath, you will always face problems in your life.

What’s essential to recognize here is that the size of the problem is never the main issue. What really matters is the size of you! Bear in mind, your wealth can only grow to the extent that you want!

Grow yourself to an extent where you can conquer any problem that gets in your way of achieving your objectives, and keeping it once you have it. So, do not complain about problems because millionaires are financial warriors and when a warrior faces a challenge, he always says: “Just Bring it on.”

6. Rich People give attention to Opportunities. Fact: Poor people give attention to problems.
Fact: Rich people observe potential growth and focus on the rewards.
Fact: Poor people observe potential loss and focus on the risks.

It’s a long-familiar question: Is the glass half empty or half full? We’re not merely discussing “positive thinking” here. Instead, we are discussing a usual way of observing the world.

Poor people come from panic. Their minds are continually reading for what is going wrong in any situation. The most crucial element of their attitude is “What if it doesn’t work?” or, more honestly, “It won’t work.” Rich people, on the other hand, take liability for creating their life and have the mentality, “It will work because I’ll make it work.”

In the monetary world, it’s evidenced that the risk is directly proportional to reward. The higher the reward, the greater the chances of risk. Rich people are always willing to take that risk. They are confident in their ability and creativity, and look ahead to succeed. On the other hand, poor people always fail to imagine, hence they imagine to fail.

You have to think outside the box. Buy something or start something in order to create wealth. You have to focus on opportunities for success all around, instead of focusing on risks and problems. All the best!!!

Things I learned from Warren Buffett.

I just went back to my notes from a video of Warren Buffett speaking his mind. Here are a few of his tips on investing, business, and life.

• There are no called strikes in the ballgame of investing. You do not lose a single penny by passing on any given investment. Even if someone else hits a homerun with it, doesn’t mean that you are missing out. That said, you will have to swing the bat if you ever want to get anywhere. Just make sure it is a good pitch.

• Do business with people you like and who share your objectives. Money should not be only consideration when making business decisions. We have all worked with some people who we would have paid any amount NOT to work with. If we could quantify joy and happiness, it would be easy to see that working with people you like would far outweigh the joy received by getting more money with bad business partners.

• Invest in companies selling products that consumers are not concerned with price.

• It’s not about the biggest motor, but the most efficient motor. A smaller company that is run efficiently is going to do better for their shareholders than a mammoth company with wasteful spending.

• Don’t worry about what the stock market will do, focus on what the company will do. Good companies can and will go up even in the middle of falling market.

• With stocks it is hard to know WHEN something will happen, but it is easy to know WHAT will happen. Everyone seems to be concerned with the WHEN, but focusing on the WHAT seems to yield a nice fruit.

• Find companies with endless demand for their products. Funeral homes will always be needed, because people are still dying.

• Leave your children enough money so they can do anything, but not enough that they don’t have to do anything.

• Decision making abilities fade as cash flow increases. If you only have $5 in your pocket until the end of the week, it is likely that you will make a good decision with it, because it is all you have. On the other hand, if you have $100 for the week, your decisions regarding a $5 purchase are far less critical since you have another $95. Therefore, people tend not to treat those decisions with the same respect they would if it was their last $5.

How To Manage The Unmanageable.

Due to many interpersonal, generational, or behavioral elements — you will always bump into the troubled employee. How do you manage them?

Many times during my 20+ years of corporate management, I ran into certain team members who just didn't play by my rules. This is not a rare situation in business and there are three clear outcomes:

• You ultimately fire them. (bad)

• You understand how they 'operate' and then you integrate their style into your processes. (better)

• You teach them how to work within your management structure. (best)

Of course the first is the last resort, but I've had to do this on a number of occasions — usually do to the associate's disinterest of their position. In the end, it's better for the both of us.

The second outcome, being flexible, is a better outcome, but causes you to modify your management, their communication, work habits, delivery for each of your team members. That's okay when you have 1-2 direct reports, but it becomes unmanageable when you have 5-7.  Now some will disagree with me (and I encourage your comments!) - and you might manage your team this way presently - but the personalized nature of this management style will cause you to spend more hours than necessary trying to understand, manage, and navigate each personality.

So, the third — have them work within your management style is the best. Why? They ascribe to your schedule, your input/output of communication, and they align with your measures of interaction with their teams. Another side benefit is that they learn another management method that might be better than their own, developing a flexible work style that will benefit them for their entire career.

One way I got my team to report to me is to use this basic template each time we had a status meeting:

1. What did I accomplish?

2. What is planned for next week?

3. Long Term Projects (with deadline dates)

4. Concerns & Issues (with solutions)

If each team member filled this out, I could immediately see what they got accomplished, what they will be working on, what is on the horizon, and what obstacles they are running into. The only two rules — they have to keep it to one page and the bulleted items underneath each area must be short phrases - not run-on sentences. This allowed me to review quickly and make comments. Our meetings were quick, focused and powerful.

In addition, they then review their week and slowly become more delivery focused. No more run-on projects without an end date. At the end of the year, it also makes their review soooo easy - they just review a summary of their sheets.

Thank you.

I'm overwhelmed by your enthusiasm!

I've received 200+ responses over the past 24 hours from friends, colleagues, clients, and strangers (who are now friends) on my new site launch.

Not only congratulations, but sincere, precise, and constructive feedback - the backbone of any website launch. Over the next few weeks, my team and I will be integrating many of your great ideas into my site, my newsletters, my tweets, my facebook updates, and linkedin profile. WOW.

It's pretty evident that there is change in the air business-wise. Your massive response reinvigorates and redefines my beliefs on Connecting.

Thank you - Rich

There are three types of people in this world.

Those who make things happen.Those who watch things happen. Those who wonder what happened.

Which one will you be today?

We use the Robert Langdon/Sophie Neveu characters from Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code as examples with many of our clients. What are they like?

• Smart - top of their professions.

• Heroic - will do what has to be done.

• Action-oriented - when confronted with a problem/obstacle, they take action.

• Focused - thinks deeply about the topic at hand.

• Clever - thinks outside of the box.

• Communicative - takes charge, but not in an offensive way.

We can go on and on. Bottom line, these two characters present personas that one can use to take action, rather than retreat and let someone else take a chance. It might sound funny or ridiculous - but next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, one where you are forced to step out of your comfort zone - pick a character - and focus on their strengths, make them yours, and you will initiate action immediately.

Short Term Thinking.

What ever happened to Five Year Plans? Long Term Planning?

• It's probably the reason why our economy is in the state it is currently in.

• It's most likely why many companies fail to grow and just keep things the same.

• It's the reason why your team is always questioning your decisions.

• It's the reason why there is massive churn at the top of many companies.

What ever happened to Five Year Plans? They became dirty words over the past 10 years. Anyone who ascribed to a 3-5 year plan was not a forward thinker, someone who was not 'up with the times', or a 'Web 2.0' executive (by the way, Web 2.0 as a descriptive term has been dead for a long time).

What the business glitterati forgot is that long term planning is focused on a GOAL - and the route to that goal might change - and even the goal might change. Unfortunately, the latest fad 'state' of executive management is to come on board and throw out everything that was done before and start anew. Then your successor comes on board (after you have received a very handsome golden parachute) and throws out your plan and begins anew. And so it goes.

I charge that this cleansing of capitalism must wash away the flippant ways of past executives. We need the captains of industry to lead with bold visions and stay the course - and never waver. I hope I am right.

What long term plans do you have?

Focus on your career, not work.

highway1

Sounds a little contradictory, doesn't it? Aren't you supposed to work at work? Doesn't your career progress based on your work? Yes and No. Of course you are supposed to work at work. That's how you get things done. Unfortunately, most executives spend too much time working and not enough time on their career. What do I mean by career? Here are some examples:

• What is your 30/60/90 day plan for your career?

• Who do you know? Who do you need to know, meet and develop a relationship?

• Are the projects/initiatives you manage important/critical to your company? Which ones are?

• How is your company doing? How are your competitors doing?

• Should you stay or go to another company?

Most of the time, we get so caught up in the meetings, the emails, the reviews, and the interpersonal crises, that we lose our long-term vision. Worst-case, after 3-5 years, you are still doing the same-old-stuff, working the same old projects, with the same old people - and you are ripe for a layoff.

Your job is to look at your career through career glasses - monitor and measure where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Regularly measure what have you accomplished, what are you doing right now, and what you're future prospects might be. Ask yourself the bulleted items above — you'll find that you will have direction, defined activities, and clear goals.

When you are on a trip (that's really what your career is - a loooong trip with regular stops), you need to always know where you are going to end up. If you don't, then it's just a ride — and you don't want to just coast through life.

My first mistake in 2009.

I made an incredible blunder the other day. I let the media and other people's perception of our economy get me down. Boy - I got REALLY nervous. Scared that I was losing clients, businesses were shuttering left and right, thousands laid off, dogs and cats falling from the sky -- real apocalyptic thinking. And this is from the guy that has "decided not to participate in this recession"! Have you been there lately? So I immediately sat down and came up with these three tips to learn from my mistake:

• Don't drink the Kool-Aid. The news is sensationalized and fear sells. Things are rarely as good as they seem and things are rarely as bad as they seem.

• Negative thinking will not move you forward. Look for the positive, find solutions, and don't dwell on the past or fear the future. Live in the present.

• Embrace your fear. When people get scared, they get smart and they take action. Re-vision your career -- if things are changing, you change. Don't get caught in 'old-think' -- interact with people and clearly see where the wind is blowing -- then act swiftly.