Seven Split $319 Mega Million Prize--Thank God It Wasn't Me!

I'm certain you've heard about the seven government employees in Schenectady, NY who are splitting a $319 million Mega Million Lottery prize. You may judge me crazy, but I thank God it wasn't me who won. Cuss me out if you must but I think it's best that you didn't win the prize either. I cite three common-sense maxims as old as human history but as fresh as the morning sun:   A reward most cherished is one fully earned, not one granted, won or inherited. As you and I look back, aren't our fondest memories the anticipation, plenning and striving for worthwhile goals rather than actual goal accomplishment? A future absent clearly defined goals and inspiration for tomorrow really is no life at all.   You will never gain lifelong satisfaction with the sole objective of accumulating wealth. The only true and lasting prize from winning life's financial lottery is peace of mind and the freedom to choose. For most of us, goofing off full time for the next 30 to 40 years simply will not cut it! A key quality-of-life issue confronting wealthy individuals is how well they choose to spend their time.   I believe you and I can establish a lottery-winner's mentality without winning a dime! Are you aware of the universal law of attraction?  First visualize those circumstances you most cherish in life and turn to God and the universal consciousness to help convert your dreams into reality. As a start, before returning to your normal daily routine take a few moments to infuse upon your subconscious mind two guiding principles:   Yes I did win life's lottery--emotionally. I have taken control of my future and have appointed myself CEO of me. I have absolutely no doubt that over the coming months and years I will accomplish every single life objective truly important to me. I will make any difficult financial and emotional sacrifices up front. These short-term sacrifices will buy me a life-long lottery winner's mentality! Once committed to my subconscous mind, I will pursue my dreams as though I had won the lottery. Next to good health and loving relationships, there are two treasures above all others: a life in financial and emotional balance and enjoyment of every aspect of daily living, including "work." It is an unfortunate and misleading heresy to assume that no one will pay us to have fun, so long as an activity we enjoy contributes benefit to others. What do you truly want to do with your productive hours? How best can you employ your talents in enjoyable service to others?   Once a positive vision of your future is firmly entrenched in your subconscoius mind, you will begin thinking and acting like the successful, self-assured person you were intended to be all along. You will have accomplished a genuine lottery winner's mentality. You will be fully prepared to venture outside previous comfort zones to create your own destiny. Now go for it!   Should you have difficulty implanting a success-oriented mentality, I highly recommend the book or movie The Secret on the law of attraction. To learn more about a lottery winner's mentality along with a comprehensive step-by-step pathway to mid-life renewal, please review my book, A Mid-Life Challenge--Wake Up! which is previewed on our website, www.middleagerenewal.com.

A Mid-Life Relationship Challenge--for Wives Only

Last week I offered advice to middle-aged husbands--now it's the wife's turn. Ladies, do you seek to restore positive emotions and to scale fresh new mid-life horizons? Are you plagued by a husband who considers himself the primary bread winner with a built-in prerogative to relax or pursue personal interests at night and on weekends leving you with the bulk of domestic and child-rearing responsibilities? You love your husband and want him to renew with along you but no longer are you willing to accept a subservient role.   I know we husbands often fail to acknowledge you as a full and equal partner, take you for granted and can be a royal pain in the rear but please do not attempt to reform us overnight. Especially, I beg you to be beware of constant nagging! I know the man you married may not fit your current image of the perfect husband but please don't try to blame him for everything wrong in your life today. You will never attain ideal life or marital balance by continually sparring with your chosen life partner.   Your initial step is to define for yourself clear and precise personal, career and relationship goals. These are not necessarily what your husband or anyone else says they should be. Exactly what do you want out of the remainder your days? Your next task is to share those goals with your husband in a loving, non-threatening, give-and-take exchange of ideas. As you descibe your aspirations, you must make it clear that you will never attain your goals without your husband's unqualified support, including willingness to share mind-numbing domestic and child-rearing tasks. Even better, ask your husband to propose his own creative ideas which can help ease your burden.   As a husband myself, I can assure you that I would not remain fulfilled for long were my wife to sacrifice all of her aspirations for my benefit. Because I love and admire my wife, I naturally seek to acknowledge her desires and to make personal sacrifices on her behalf.   As a twenty-first century wife, your best bet is to cease all nagging and complaining and to begin this very day conducting yourself as a positively focused, fully equal life partner. You can demonstrate personal initiative in making those essential career and life-style decisions which should have been yours all along. Once you begin sharing your career goals and dreams and routinely behaving in a forceful yet compassionate manner your husband will catch on. Should he steadfastly refuse to adapt, we all know that women today have a wide variety of career and relationship choices.   I dedicate several chapters of my recent book, A Mid-Life Challenge, Wake Up!, to evaluating and improving long-established martital and family relationsips. I would love to hear from some wives: what steps have you taken to create a loving partnership in your marriage? Please e-mail your response to roy@middleagerenewal.com.

A Mid-Life Relationship Challenge--for Husbands Only

Roughly three-fourths of all divorce actions in the USA are initiated by wives--ever wonder why? Numerous studies demonstrate that married men tend to live longer, earn more money and have lower rates of clinical depression, alcoholism and substance abuse than single males but these same trends do not hold true for married women. What's going on here?    I challenge you to answer this question: If you have been married to the same woman for more than a few years, do you demand more from your spouse than you are willing to give back in return? The days are long past when a woman defined success mostly by how "well" she married. Although certain women still choose child nurturing and homemaking as a primary vocation, many more seek to pursue a career outside the home with the same fire and intensity as their husbands. As twenty-first century husbands and fathers, are you and I prepared to make the same personal sacrifices that we expect from our wives?   Is your wife a true and equal domestic "partner? If she has a full-time job outside the home, do you share fifty/fifty in routine domestic chores? Do you cook, shop for groceries, clean house and do laundry? Do you routinely assume an active role in nurturing young children or guiding and disciplining adolescents? I trust you do not spend every evening watching TV or weekends fishing or golfing while your wife routinely logs long hours as an unpaid nanny or household domestic.   As your first step to a mutually gratifying and joyful mid-life marriage partnership,  challenge yourself to answer four questions:   1) Do I bring as much loving support to my wife as I expect to receive from her?   2) In all honesty, would my wife's daily experience be better or wlorse were I not around?   3) Am I truly supportive of my wife's vocation?  Am I willing to sacrifice personal ambitions      to advance her career?   4) Am I sincere in helping to relieve my wife's personal stress? Without being asked, do     I routinely pitch in to help with routine household tasks?   To accomplish a renewed, happy-ever-after marriage in your middle years and beyond, you will need to elevate your wife to a full and equal partner in your joint venture through life. For a moment, assume your wife's viewpoint: Would you be content in your marriage today if your two roles were reversed? Next, imagine the ideal soul mate for your wife this very day given her talents, personality, ambitions and life goals. How do you measure up? Realistically, can you bring yourself closer to this ideal? Do you sincerly want to change? For the next day or two, prectice making your wife the sole center of your attention with no agenda of your own. Do you sincerely commit to the premise that your wife's aspirations and enjoyment of life are every bit as important as your own?   If you are like me, you have approximately 78 hours of free time per week, most of which will be spent in the presence of your spouse. No matter how satisfying your vocation, hobbies and circle of friends, you will not sustain a joyful renewed mid-life experence over time while your wife remains unhappy, unfulfilled and stressed out. Just as water in connected tanks settles to a common level, your spirit will be pulled down. Also, please remember that your wife is the one person to whom you have committed your life so it makes absolutely no sense to deny her your consistent warm loving attention.   The author of this article, mid-life counselor and consultant Roy Richards, writes in detail about restoring and enhancing spousal and family relationships in his book, A Mid-Life Challenge--Wake Up!  For a preview of this book or to communicate with Roy please visit our web site:                                   www.middleagerenewal.com

Mobile Text Marketing: Reach Your Audience Wherever They Are

Dear Roy, Reach your audience anywhere with Mobile Text Marketing. Net Atlantic now offers Mobile Text Marketing, the next step in total engagement. Combined with email and social sharing, it delivers a true multi-channel messaging strategy. You can use text as a gateway to increase your subscriber list, reach your audience anywhere with highly relevant opportunities, or send your loyal customers a special offer whenever they are near your store. Mobile Text Marketing drives revenue. How can you use Mobile Text Marketing? Send Short Message Service (SMS) updates to subscribers' mobile devices along with email campaigns. Create focused mobile-only campaigns that reach your audience with unique offers. Schedule text messages to coordinate with important events and promotions. Build automated text messages when mobile users have engaged in a transaction. Reach mobile users when they approach your store using geo-locating technology. Learn more about how Net Atlantic's Mobile Text Marketing helps drive your multi-channel marketing strategy. Request a free demo today. Best Regards, Andrew Lutts CEO | Net Atlantic, Inc. 978-219-1900 sales@netatlantic.com   Net Atlantic, Inc. |  www.netatlantic.com  |  10 Federal Street  |   Salem, MA 01970  |  978-219-1900

You are currently subscribed to netatlantic-news as: roy97.mart@blogger.com Add sales@netatlantic.com to your email address book to ensure delivery. Forward to a Friend  |  Manage Subscription  |   Subscribe  |   Unsubscribe

Business Still Lagging?--Here's How to Drive Recovery

Is your business or not-for-profit enterprise still lagging in this early stage of economic recovery? Undoubtedly like most, your company is populated by two distinct groups: those who care deeply about collective outcome and those who do not. To revive your lagging enterprise you will need to expand the universe of emotionally committed leaders, employees and volunteers. Loyalty to self or to a particular boss, work team, profit center or functional discipline is not enough.   To light a fire under participants top to bottom, new and old, I recommend you adopt the following ten commandments of business revival:   Commandment #1--Promote Collective Renewal as a Project of Highest Priority. Ideally your CEO will launch revitalization personally by communicating urgency, presenting a leadership vision and challenging every employee to assume a vital role in recovery. The CEO's message must be clear and concise: "Collective revitalization is our number one priority!   Commandment #2--Stick Your Neck Out and Commit to Employees. In exchange for unqualified support of recovery objectives, your executive team must genuinely promote personal career development. The key is to emphasize a mutual bond of commitment: "As your employer of choice, we pledge to commit 100% to your personal career advancement within the bounds of our resources and the best interests of our company as a whole.   Commandment #3--Build the Future Around Committed On-board Talent. As a leader seeking collective recovery, you will need to inspire and build upon your company's most valuable asset--the cherished employees who have carried you up unitil today. In an interesting paradox, you may need to rewrite the script but you most certainly should not discard your most talented actors and actresses.   Commandment #4--Affirm or Refine Your Enterprise Mission Statement. Before attempting to launch revival, you will need to demonstrate to self and others a solid rationale for remaining in business. Does your current strategic vision need update to meet today's competitive reality? A closely related issue is whether you have on board the human and physical resources and financial capacity needed to accomplish your mission as presently defined. Once core mission is refined, your next leadership challenge is to communicate a collective vision to crucial investors, employees, lenders, customers and suppliers: "We are proud of who we are and what we intend to accomplish; we have solid plans in place to service customers and to enhance long-term value of this enterprise."   Commandment #5--Inspire Self-examination Beginning at the Top. If the CEO and senior executives fail to demonstrate unwaivering dedication to change, meaningful revitalization will not occur. Without exception, executives, managers and employees will benefit from a "mid-term" self-examination of on-the-job performance and personal and career aspirations. Businesses large and small provide fertile ground for formation of "renewal teams" where participants assist each other to restore positive emotions and map out an optimal collective future.   Commandment #6--Offer Every Employee the Opportunity to Expand Personal Franchise. Challenge participants top-to-bottom with meaningful responsibilities in support of worthy collective targets and present them the opportunity to help define those responsibilities. Once employees become convinced that they will play a vital role in recovery, most will respond with a surge in positive energy and emotions.   Commandment #7--Introduce Incentives which Inspire Thinking Outside the Lines.Effective company revival begins with a positive yet no-nonsence CEO call to action: "Status-quo no longer is good enough!" Astute change facilitators follow up by modifying performance, promotion and bonus criteria to specifically target and reward individual and collective initiative and experimentation.   Commandment #8--Expand and Sustain Circles of Cooperation Throughout and Beyond Your Enderprise. Any collection of individuals, formal or ad-hoc, has potential to solidify into a transitional or permanent "circle of cooperation."  Motivated, self-confident participants tend to seek out and interact effectively with similarly inspired colleagues. Formation of task forces or cross-functional special project teams presents an ideal opportunity to blend old ideas with new, integrate new employees and extend careers of previously uninspired veteran employees. In certain instances, circles of cooperation might be extended to include representatives of customers or suppliers.   Commendment #9--Provide Realistic Opportunities for Reward and Advancement. Given human nature, every employee will inquire silently or out loud, "How will this recovery initiative impact me? Will I wind up better or worse off than I am now?" To generate and sustain enthusiasm, change facilitators must demonstrate a clear and certain link between accomplishment of individual and collective targets and potential for career advancement and monetary reward.   Commandment #10--Sustain Recovery Momentum Through Periodic Progress Reviews. Collective progress reviews should be scheduled in advance at routine intervals following completion of each recovery phase. Except in dire emergencies, review sessions should never be cancelled or postponed indefinately. Periodic times out are essential to track progress and to facilitate mid-course corrections. Progress reviews and evaluations should extend down to front-line employees thoughout your company.   The bottom line: any leader seeking to revive a lagging enterprise must create and sustain an intentional atmosphere of accellerated obsolescence. Your competition will not stand still. Managers and employees at all levels must routinely seek out upgrade, innovation and expansion of boudaries. Product and service enhancements which are new and exciting today will appear "old hat" within a year. So what have you done for your customers lately?   To effectively counter loss of sustainable product differentiation, your only realistic success formula is to establish and build upon a unique relationship with a specifically targeted loyal customer base. In turn, mutual employee-customer satisfaction will only be accomplished through a cadre of inspired managers and employees, top to bottom, dedicated to anticipating and servicing customer demand.   To contact Roy Richards, author of this article or to preview his latest book on enterprise renewal, please visit our web site: www.middleagerenewal.com.

Register Now: Visit Net Atlantic at the Email Summit 2011

Dear Roy, MarketingSherpa's Email Summit 2011 is next week, and Net Atlantic will be there! MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Summit 2011 Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV January 24-26, 2011 Register to Visit Net Atlantic in Booth #34 The Email Summit is a great kickoff for 2011. You'll learn all about email trends, ideas, and ways to improve your engagement with subscribers. Net Atlantic has announced our partnership with StrongMail Systems, and we will also showcase our powerful new applications: StrongMail On-Demand: The leading enterprise solution on a shared, hosted email platform. StrongMail Quick Start: We've made it easier than ever to create, target, and send mailings. Mobile Text Marketing: Combine SMS technology with email to reach subscribers anywhere. Social Media Integration: Total engagement means you can reach your audience on any platform. When you're ready to launch your next campaign, consider Net Atlantic to help you raise response with video emails, social media integration, deliverability tools, mobile text messaging, transactional emails, CRM integration, and more! Contact us at sales@netatlantic.com or call (877) 263-8285 to learn how Net Atlantic can help you make email the cornerstone of your total engagement strategy. Best Regards, William Reich, President 978-219-1900 sales@netatlantic.com             Net Atlantic, Inc. |  www.netatlantic.com  |  10 Federal Street  |  Salem, MA 01970  |  978-219-1900

You are currently subscribed to netatlantic-news as: roy97.mart@blogger.com Add sales@netatlantic.com to your email address book to ensure delivery. Forward to a Friend  |  Manage Subscription  |   Subscribe  |   Unsubscribe

A Baby Boomer's Advice to Young Managers--Here's What We Want

With recession-diminished retirement portfolios, seasoned mid-life employees are putting off retirement to age 66 or beyond. As a counter-trend, the first wave of experienced Baby Boom managers and executives are beginning to retire or be let go to be replaced by younger, less experienced first-timers promoted from the ranks. The end result is an increasing number of managers too young for wrinkles, bifocals and mid-life bulge bossing employees old enough to be their parents.   Amidst a tepid recovery and rising commodity prices, employers large and small are placing ever-increasing pressure on long-tenured employees to increase productivity and creativity. The obvious result is increased stress both for young managers and their aging subordinates. The tenured employee asks, "How can someone with so little on-the-job experience tell me what to do?" A young novice manager wonders, "Will a subodinate with 25 years in the business take me seriously? How can I authenticate my authority?"   As a long-serving representative of our graying North American workforce, I offer seven kernels of advise to young managers seeking to inspire older subordinates:   1. Tell them clearly what you want. Effective communication is an absolute necessity. The two of you do not always view the world from identical perspectives. Do not assume that because they have been arround for awhile, older employees automatically fathom precisely what you desire of them. Explain fully what you expect and seek a response before doling out work assignments. Older employees need to be kept informed of your company's big picture. Ask for suggestions: tenured subodinates may be able to help.   2. Respect experience, both in the workplace and in life. The 55 year-old career homemaker seeking her first job outside the home has 30+ years of organizational, budgetary and human relations skills to contribute. Whatever the challenge, it is safe to assume that one or more of your senior subordinates has "been there, done that."   3. Make your older emplooyees feel special. Remember they were passed over for the position you now hold.  To overcome resentment, demonstrate time and again that sage veterans belong fully to the team. Sometimes all they need is a simple "thank you" for a job well done. At other times, ask for their input before an important decision is made. When asked, most will be honored to help train and mentor less-experinced colleagues but they must be recognized and compensated monetarily for their extra efforts.   4. Offer seasoned employees the training they need. Just because subordinates are over 40 does not mean they have no desire to learn new techniques, perfect new skills or explore freash horizons. Like younger colleagues, tenured subordinates need to remain abreast of the latest industry trends and technologies. Regardless of age, keeping employees up to date is well worth the expense.   5. Don't lord it over seasoned subordinates that you are the boss. In all liklihood, your subordinates over 40 are accustomed to a traditional "command and control" environment; they needn't be continually reminded that you are the one in charge. Most will respect and follow so long as you respect them and demonstrate competence and unquestionably ethical behavior.   6. Recognize that your tenured subordinates have invested many years in your company and have a lot to lose. Can you help confirm their overriding desire for job security? Can you assure them of adequate health insurance, retirement benefits and a positive work environment going forward? Nothing is certain but seasoned employees seek assurance of retainig their jobs so long as individual performance and overall company results remain positive.   7. Above all else, do not stereotype employees over 40 or assume that they are unable to adapt to change. Every subordinate of middle age and beyond is a unique, living and breathing human being, not a stereotypical "Baby Boomer." More than a few are open to bold experimentation, sweeping new technologies and non-conventional organization structures. Ask them to propose radical new ideas and be certain to reward innovation.   As a young manager, consider yourself the untested rookie quarterback seeking to gain trust from your veteran linemen, receivers and running backs. You will inspire confidence not simply by barking out signals (orders) but by demonstrating effective leadership, calling the right plays, performing under pressure and sharing accolades with members of your team when a touchdown is scored. You will earn respect from colleagues and "fans" (stokholders, bosses, the Board of Directors) only by developing fellow team members and helping win games.   For more information on motivating veteran employees as well as general advice on reenergizing lagging companies, go  to our website www,middleagerenewal.com and review Roy Richards's book on company renewal, Wake Up Captain and Crew--Restart Your Engines.