What is a Resolution?

A New Year’s resolution is your decision to be or act in a certain way, usually an improvement over how you’ve been or acted to date, for example, by changing a habit or striving to reach a worthy goal. To show resolve, you demonstrate determination. Determination requires effort. Effort is fueled by motivation. Motivation is spurred on by passion. Your level of passion will be evident in how persistent you are. These key elements give you the clues to know whether your New Year’s reso...

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In Your “Right” Mind

Guest Blogger December 10, 2010 No Comments

by Lee Silber Maybe the best way to describe the two main thinking styles is to think of left brainers like you would Warren Buffett--smart, safe, detail oriented, goal oriented, logical, organized, patient, and focused. Now for those of us who use our right brains predominantly, Jimmy Buffett comes to mind--spontaneous, fun, divergent, emotional, hurried, and in the moment. We should...

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Does Brainstorming Knock Out Your Power?

Have you ever been to a brainstorming session? If not, you might imagine a wild afternoon or hour-long meeting where people throw out ideas so fast it’s a challenge to get them all written down. The reality is more likely to be a room with a couple of subdued account executives or graphic artists tapping their pencils as the minutes tick by while they stare out the window. Nothing quiets an idea session faster than participants editing or censoring their thoughts before they spit them out. ...

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Casting a Winning (Fishing) Line

Asked and Got September 8, 2010 2 Comments

Offer a compelling reason for someone to grant your request and watch defeat transform into success. I experienced this first-hand at Walmart when I went in to buy the Berkley fishing line I use for my beading hobby. The only package on the shelf did not look new. It was half-taped together and the end piece was not fastened correctly, leading me to wonder if the product had been returned to the shelf missing a small amount of fishing li...

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Tell-A-Vision Manifests Television

Asked and Got March 28, 2010 No Comments

Here’s an “asked and got” story from my friend “Matt.” Matt wanted a new TV, a big flat screen he could use for gaming and kicking back with his favorite shows. He dreamed of owning the TV, but he didn’t have the money to make it happen. He decided to save by doing without other things he typically spent money on, like better lunches during his work week. He told his fiancée and his family about his vision. To help him out, they secretly planned to pool their resources for his Ju...

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An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

Asked and Got February 17, 2010 2 Comments

Starting my new business is all sweat with no monetary reward, so you can imagine my delight when I received an offer in the mail from my bank to give me $200.00 if I would open a checking account to go with my new business credit card. I had already opened the checking account when I got the credit card. This was an offer I couldn’t refuse. My first task was to visit Caryn, the account manager who originally helped me, to ask her about transferring the money into my new account, irrespecti...

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Resolve to Ask

Ask to Get December 29, 2009 1 Comment

News Flash! People are not mind readers. You’ve got to tell them what you’re thinking. Don’t make them guess. You’ve got a mouth. You’ve got e-mail. You’ve got lots of ways to communicate to others what you’d like. This New Year’s Eve, resolve to ask for more of what you want and you’ll open up possibilities all year long. Ask for the strength to take care of your body. Ask to give and receive love. Ask for gratitude for your life and what you have already. Ask for the coura...

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Three Reasons Women are Underpaid

Ask to Get December 14, 2009 6 Comments

I was listening to a discussion on NPR (KPBS) about how women earn approximately 20% less than men for similar work. Two main causes came to light. Women don’t earn what men earn because they ask for a lower salary – not the salary they would like, and when they do ask for comparable pay, they negotiate less aggressively and settle for less. Add this to a history of discriminatory pay practices and it’s no wonder women have not caught up to men in equal pa...

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Charger Blood Drive Charges Up

Give To Get November 24, 2009 No Comments

The best thing you could ask for yourself might be for someone else. I had a great opportunity today to give back to my community by participating in Charger Blood Drive 31 held at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego. I hardly think of myself as a performer, however as an active member of the Southern California Cartoonists Society and occasional volunteer at the San Diego Blood Bank, I gladly put on my entertainer’s hat to draw caricatures of the blood donors as they rested in the cant...

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And the Heat Goes On

Asked and Got November 19, 2009 1 Comment

For the past two years, I’ve had a problem with my Janitrol furnace cycling on and off. Previously, SDG&E provided a temporary fix, but I needed to address the underlying problem – a potentially expensive repair. I live on a street with homogeneous homes, so I asked two of my neighbors if they had furnace problems. They each had found different solutions to related problems. Next, I got on the Internet and Googled a few key phrases. I watched a couple of videos and read a few comments...

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