Goals give you a sense of meaning and purpose. Goals give you a sense of direction. As you move toward your goals you feel happier and stronger. You feel more energized and effective. You feel more confident and competent in yourself and your abilities. Every step you take toward your goals increases your belief that you can set and achieve even bigger goals in the future. –Brian Tracy

Much of what is happening in today’s business environment can simply be described as surviving. Reducing headcount, cutting expenses, hoarding cash, putting off purchases. You can just feel the crackle of fear in the air. Survival isn’t just happening on the business front, it is also happening on the personal front. Every expense is being carefully scrutinized and purchases – expect for the essentials like groceries and gas – are being put off indefinitely. Scarcity mentalities and fear of losing more are doing more harm than they are good.

It’s time to shift thinking! I believe that many people are scared because they are moving through life on autopilot without much of a plan. Nor are they taking the time to learn new skills. Social media provides such an excellent opportunity to learn. It is also an amazing way to listen to the online conversations taking place. Being able to hear what people say they want – and need – may just provide you with a new idea or a new way of approaching your business.

It’s time to thrive! That’s what living is all about.

Think again…this is a revolution that continues to grow.

To this point in 2009, to say that the world seems a bit out of whack would probably be an understatement. Fear, negativity, disillusionment, insecurity and victim attitudes are rampant. Throw in a dose of Saturn & Uranus planetary energies, which only serves to shift conflict into high gear, and oh boy, it is sometimes hard to keep a smile on your face. But I am determined!

I’m creating wealth – what about you?

Opportunities are out there. It may take longer to uncover them and close them, but they are there! Through a series of events happening in my own life, I’ve come to realize that we are either:

• Doing the right things day in and day out to move us forward in achieving our goals.

OR

• We aren’t.

Crazy, I know. And it really is just that simple.

Your time and your life are precious. The biggest waste of time and life is for you to spend years accomplishing something that you could have achieved in only a few months. –Brian Tracy

I have always prided myself on one thing. That is, if I am not achieving the results that I say I want in my life…well then, it’s time to look in the mirror. It is not an easy process, but certainly well worth the effort if you are willing to push ego to the side and get honest with yourself. Tony Robbins says one key to achieving success is to ask better questions, so I start asking myself:

• Am I really clear about what I want either for me personally or for the business? Am I sure I know why I want these things at all?
• Have I clearly defined how it is I plan to get from here to there? Are my goals written down? Are they focused and measurable? Do I look at them often?
• Am I making sure that I am completely – 100% focused ONLY on the daily activities that will ensure I reach my goals?
• Where am I wasting time that must be stopped immediately?
• Do I surround myself with winners? If not, why not?

Companies often strive to find ways to replicate their star sales performers. It seems to me that they often look for the gimmicks, when in reality the truly successful sales people know the #1 secret to achieving their objectives is really about the basics: setting the right goals, writing them down, reviewing them often, tracking their progress, spending time on the right priorities and taking massive action – consistently. They don’t waste time with people or activities that stall their progress.

I’m on a mission to create greater success and wealth in my life. How about you? If you are then let’s journey on the path together. My intent over the next few days and weeks is to talk about goals. I am committed to playing bigger, achieving more, and I want to give back in ways that I haven’t even considered yet. For you it might be blowing away your sales goals and for someone else it might be to travel to an exotic place for that dream vacation. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is the process.

Success depends on life mastery. Victims don’t get this, but the truly wealthy do. So, which player are you?

Twitter as a twool (as cool tech dude, Guy Kawasaki called it) has so much potential. So much more than the average – I’m just getting started with social media types or social media naysayers – realize. More than just a never ending stream of “hey, I’m headed to Starbucks for my daily dose of caffeine” type messages, Twitter gives its community of users the ability to network, share information, recommend others and search out content that is relevant to them.

I had the opportunity to demonstrate Twitter’s power in an “off the cuff” sort of way during a business meeting yesterday…at Brio in Buckhead. Yes, I know it’s crazy, but I do eat lunch. So we were talking about Twitter and I simply asked…what executive level are you trying to reach in corporations to talk with about your services? Sales VP was the answer. Without any real thought or tweaking, I whipped open Twitteriffic on my iPhone and simply typed Sales VP Atlanta. And wouldn’t you know that a major corporation in Atlanta had just placed a hiring notice for that exact position within their company. You’re saying to yourself, Barb is that really so interesting? You bet. It just so happened that this particular company is EXACTLY who my lunch guest had been trying to penetrate to not only discuss services, but because she works for a major placement firm, she knew that several of her clients fit the bill for the position. She was stunned! It didn’t occur to her to use Twitter as an alternative mechanism to traditional job boards.

The story I just shared is why I love Twitter. It is more than dribble about where people are eating breakfast. There is power and potential beyond what many people realize.

Now for the story of why I don’t like Twitter! Or maybe I should say that it is the users without a clue who leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I wasn’t with Twitter from the beginning, but I’m told by those in the know that it used to be totally about building relationships. There was a genuineness about wanting to get to know the people who wanted to follow you.

By the time I came on the scene, there was definitely a divide between the camp of people (like me) who think you use the tool to build visibility, credibility and relationships without spamming the network and those people who think there is nothing wrong with spitting out one tweet after another that is merely a sleazy sales pitch.

And now we have the abusive use of the direct message feature aka DM. It is used to SPAM people who have decided to follow what you have to say. It works like this…I decide to follow Johnny, because he seems sort of cool and his tweets are interesting. Minutes after I click the “follow” button, I receive in my Twitter inbox a direct message that is “automated” and says something like…”hey, thanks for the follow…check out or buy or sign up for my whatever…” It is all about what they have to sell without any thought as to whether I’m their buyer or not. Slinging hash on the wall basically.

Look at the picture I’ve included with my post…these are some of the messages sitting in my inbox right now. First it is…”now follow me on Facebook”. Then it’s “cool affiliate program”. Next comes “wanna make some moola?” And my personal favorite, “I just added you to my Mafia family, you should join.” Sure, I’ll get right on that.

Do you really think any of these people care about getting to know Barb? No way. I cannot stand this practice so much that the 35 people who’ve done it to me recently are now being booted from my network.

Sales people (and anyone who sells a product or service) take note. This is NOT what buyers want. In fact, they are tired of being inundated with this sort of garbage. It is what gives social media sites like Twitter a bad name. Some of us truly do want to create value and develop relationships that ultimately lead to sales. In my opinion, these DM tactics are used by people either ignorant about the impression they are creating about themselves, or they are so desperate to make a sale that they don’t care.

I’m curious, what do you think?

Twitter as a twool (as cool tech dude, Guy Kawasaki called it) has so much potential. So much more than the average – I’m just getting started with social media types or social media naysayers – realize. More than just a never ending stream of “hey, I’m headed to Starbucks for my daily dose of caffeine” type messages, Twitter gives its community of users the ability to network, share information, recommend others and search out content that is relevant to them.

I had the opportunity to demonstrate Twitter’s power in an “off the cuff” sort of way during a business meeting yesterday…at Brio in Buckhead. Yes, I know it’s crazy, but I do eat lunch. So we were talking about Twitter and I simply asked…what executive level are you trying to reach in corporations to talk with about your services? Sales VP was the answer. Without any real thought or tweaking, I whipped open Twitteriffic on my iPhone and simply typed Sales VP Atlanta. And wouldn’t you know that a major corporation in Atlanta had just placed a hiring notice for that exact position within their company. You’re saying to yourself, Barb is that really so interesting? You bet. It just so happened that this particular company is EXACTLY who my lunch guest had been trying to penetrate to not only discuss services, but because she works for a major placement firm, she knew that several of her clients fit the bill for the position. She was stunned! It didn’t occur to her to use Twitter as an alternative mechanism to traditional job boards.

The story I just shared is why I love Twitter. It is more than dribble about where people are eating breakfast. There is power and potential beyond what many people realize.

Now for the story of why I don’t like Twitter! Or maybe I should say that it is the users without a clue who leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I wasn’t with Twitter from the beginning, but I’m told by those in the know that it used to be totally about building relationships. There was a genuineness about wanting to get to know the people who wanted to follow you.

By the time I came on the scene, there was definitely a divide between the camp of people (like me) who think you use the tool to build visibility, credibility and relationships without spamming the network and those people who think there is nothing wrong with spitting out one tweet after another that is merely a sleazy sales pitch.

And now we have the abusive use of the direct message feature aka DM. It is used to SPAM people who have decided to follow what you have to say. It works like this…I decide to follow Johnny, because he seems sort of cool and his tweets are interesting. Minutes after I click the “follow” button, I receive in my Twitter inbox a direct message that is “automated” and says something like…”hey, thanks for the follow…check out or buy or sign up for my whatever…” It is all about what they have to sell without any thought as to whether I’m their buyer or not. Slinging hash on the wall basically.

Look at the picture I’ve included with my post…these are some of the messages sitting in my inbox right now. First it is…”now follow me on Facebook”. Then it’s “cool affiliate program”. Next comes “wanna make some moola?” And my personal favorite, “I just added you to my Mafia family, you should join.” Sure, I’ll get right on that.

Do you really think any of these people care about getting to know Barb? No way. I cannot stand this practice so much that the 35 people who’ve done it to me recently are now being booted from my network.

Sales people (and anyone who sells a product or service) take note. This is NOT what buyers want. In fact, they are tired of being inundated with this sort of garbage. It is what gives social media sites like Twitter a bad name. Some of us truly do want to create value and develop relationships that ultimately lead to sales. In my opinion, these DM tactics are used by people either ignorant about the impression they are creating about themselves, or they are so desperate to make a sale that they don’t care.

I’m curious, what do you think?