International Business Image Improvement Month – Update

By Terry Orr

Remember the expression – “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” – well it is true, as most of us know – often first hand.  We can however work to continue to make a good impression during our daily lives – and in business. Your image is more than just your visual brand, it’s your customer service, it’s your marketing and sales, it’s how you communicate with customers and how they view you, and it’s the way you do business.

So how can you improve your impression on others?

• Find out from others what they think?
• What can you do to improve your image to others?
• What is it others do – that impress you?
• What is it others do – that insult your sense of fairness and good business practices? Are you or your people doing it as well?
• Take a few moments at the end of each day and ask yourself – if I had to do over something today, what would I do differently? Then apply that lesson learned.
• Consult a professional organizer or image consultant to help you improve your office and appearance.
• Consult a web or graphic designer to design your website, blog, business cards, and brochures

Be consistent – the look and feel across all your marketing channels and your customer will feel at ease wherever they come in contact with you.

(All images from Google)

National Self-Improvement Month

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By Terry Orr

Self-Improvement - improvement of one's status, mind, abilities, etc. by one's own efforts.

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There is always something we would like to change about ourselves—job satisfaction, health, physical fitness level, intellectual development, eating habits, or relationships—The hardest part isn’t figuring out what to change…it’s making that change stick!  Most people fail to reach goals because of one of three reasons.

1. Unrealistic expectations
2. Environment is not conducive to change
3. We give up too soon

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Each morning while preparing for the day and cleaning up – I spend some time reviewing yesterday’s activities and how I handle things in general. If there are things needing work, I put those into my list of things to day and improve on.  I also smile and am thankful for another day.

We all know someone like this.
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You will find that the mere resolve not to be useless, and the honest desire to help other people, will, in the quickest and delicatest ways, improve yourself. ~ John Ruskin

On Google search on self-improvement books with 297 million hits – I have read many books on this topic over the past five decades – but nowhere near that many.  I have mentioned in the past articles that the one author who influenced my life was Dr. Stephen R. Covey who passed recently.

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Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

It was the sacred rule among the Pythagoreans that they should every evening thrice run over the actions and affairs of the day. ~ Dr. L. Watts

Never neglect an opportunity for improvement. ~ Sir William Jones

The safest principle through life, instead of reforming others, is to set about perfecting yourself. ~ B. R. Haydon 

Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing, if you cease not from digging. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Everyone has naturally the power of excelling in some one thing. ~ Proverb

Perfection does not exist - you can always do better and you can always grow. ~ Les Brown

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. ~ Zig Ziglar

Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. ~ Willam Faulkner

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Top 10 Tips for Self-Improvement

10. Get off to a Good Start.  Getting up early and eating breakfast! You will have much more energy throughout the day to follow the rest of these tips if you do!

9. Keep a Schedule.  It is a very good idea to write down the tasks you need to achieve in each day. As you complete them, tick them off. You should not, however, feel like you are bound to your list.

8.  Take a Break and have Fun.  If you spend too much time in front of the computer, at your desk, or doing whatever it is that your occupation requires, you should take a break.

7.  Be Generous.  Generosity has a tendency to come back. You can be generous with your smiles, your advice, and many other things. Always try to find a way to help others.

6.  Accept the things you can’t Change.  When something bad happens in our lives, we try to fix them or change them. But sometimes we can’t. Often this leads us to spend hours moping and falling in to depression.

5.  Learn a New Language.  Learning another language is one of the best ways to improve your grasp on English.

4.  Brake the Chain.  If you have a lot of patterns in your life, try breaking them – do something different every day.

3.  Face the Fear.  Every day you should do something you don’t want to do – or feel uncomfortable doing. This varies in degrees for everyone, but we all have little things we can start out with.

2.  Forget Goals.  I still have goal and things in life to be accomplish – but since retiring, they no longer drive my daily routine.

1. Don’t Procrastinate.  This is a hard one for most folks – something we need to work on (sometimes daily for me).

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Whatever area of your life that you are looking to improve – jot is down, think about how to do it and then “Make it Happen”.

Good Luck!!

Home Improvement

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By Diane Forrest

This is the first of a 6 month series for home improvements.  Since spring has sprung, there are a few things you need to do to your home now, to prevent any damage later.  You have cleaned up the inside now I’m sure, since spring cleaning day was last month, and with the great weather and spring fever now is the time that many of us start cleaning up our winter debris and making plans for our home projects. Here are a few tips on spring updates to help you get the most out of the season.

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• Check for loose or damaged gutters. Poor drainage systems can result in water damage to your basement or crawlspace.
• Check your roof for winter damage. Wind, ice, and snow can be harsh on your roof.
• Have your chimney cleaned and checked for damages by a licensed chimney sweep.
• Remove firewood stored close to the house. Properly stored, firewood would be at least 2 feet from the structure and 18 inches off of the ground.
• Check your outdoor faucets for winter damage.
• Have your air conditioning units cleaned and serviced for the upcoming season.
• Inspect concrete slabs for damage and movement; take the steps necessary to fill in cracks and seal surfaces
• Inspect wood trim around windows doors and railings for damage. Make repairs before spring rains create further damage.

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Possibly this spring your attention is also being pulled to larger projects. Maybe you’re finally installing that pool you’ve been thinking about, redoing a kitchen or bathroom or even planning an addition to the house. Some projects both small and large can affect your homeowner’s insurance. If you have projects in mind, give your agent a call to be sure that you have the proper coverage in place.

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After you spend a weekend or two getting your house in tip top shape, it will be time to sit back and enjoy the summer, sitting outside and swatting mosquitoes.  Let us know if you have any other spring home improvement tips. 

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