Five Essentials Steps to Success - by Angela Newman, Pink Ladders

Image by marcof via Flickr

W Work Ethic
O Optimistic Attitude
M Manage Tasks and Set Goals
A Affirmations
N Never Give Up

When you hear the word 'success', what do you think of? Some people define it in terms of financial success; making a certain amount of money or what their net worth is. For others success is being happy in their career and personal life; enjoying what they do for a living, having family and friends that contribute to their life's happiness and making a difference in the lives they touch.

But regardless of your definition, when you climb your 'pink ladder' there are five essential steps I recommend you take that will help you achieve success in your career and personal life. I have spelled them out in an easy format for all women to remember.

W Work Ethic
Work ethic is so important to the success of your career but unfortunately not at the top of everyone's list. Having high work ethic is simply how you do your job. It's about being self directed, taking pride in the output of the work you submit, doing what needs to be done (and more) without complaining and looking out for the company's best interest in all the decisions you make on its behalf.

O Optimistic Attitude
What is your general attitude? Make sure it's a positive, optimistic one as attitude will play a big part in your climb up the pink ladder. Managers will be less than enthusiastic to promote someone that constantly complains about their job, the people they work for and with and always sees the glass half empty.

M Manage Tasks and Set Goals
Everyday whether its work related or personal, we have many tasks to accomplish and each goal we set has several tasks within it before the goal is complete. I use the Pink Ladders Task Manager to write down my personal and work related tasks. It is nearly impossible to remember all the things that must get done so having a system to keep you focused and on track is essential. There is nothing worse than forgetting about a critical deadline for a project or customer.

A Affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements based on the present tense as though it has already occurred even though it has not. By doing so, it reinforces to your subconscious that it is so. Remember the saying, ''If you believe it, you can achieve it"? Saying affirmations frequently reminds you and tells your subconscious that you can achieve your goal and before long you will start believing it even if you didn't to begin with.

N Never Give Up
Having a 'never give up' attitude is critical in achieving success. There will be times when you may feel like giving up hope or giving in to the pressure but don't. It's important to keep moving forward on your goals in order to live the life you want. Climb your pink ladder as high as you want to go; it's entirely up to you.

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Don't Think Outside the Box - by Penny C. Sansevieri

Cover of Working Girl

We hear it over and over: "think outside the box," but what does it mean - and does it really work?

I was inspired to write this piece after reading a book called You, Inc.: The Art of Selling Yourself (by Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith/Business Plus). They address this in the book, but I'd like to take this a step further. First off, if the box you're in works, well, it works for you. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? But here's a twist. Don't go outside the box, enhance it, add to it and infuse it with influences you wouldn't normally have been exposed to.

Have you ever noticed that the minute you step outside of your "space," like going on vacation or traveling a different way to work, that something pops? A creative solution emerges to a long-term problem, or you suddenly hit on a new story twist for your next book.

As authors, publishers, entrepreneurs, speakers, we are called upon to be creative. We want unique ideas to write about and unique messages to sell them. So we try and get creative and move out of our comfort zone. Now, while I'm all about moving out of your comfort zone, the out-of-the-box thinking that marketers love to tout isn't really that effective or, for that matter, even possible.

If you're struggling to be creative or to problem solve, you might want to take some time to add some new influences to your day. Sometimes if I need to flex my creative muscle I will try and find a correlation between something totally opposite what I am working on. Meaning I'll try to find the common thread. It's a fantastic exercise and again, it'll help to stretch you and bring more influences into your box.

Do you remember the movie "Working Girl"? In it Melanie Griffith was trying to climb the corporate ladder but part of her never really fit in. She read all the wrong magazines, didn't really dress the part, but in the end she came up with an idea that was the center story of the movie. A New York executive asked her where she came up with it and she said, "Reading W." "W?" the exec questioned. "Yes," Melanie's character said, "you never know where the good ideas will come from." And that's my point exactly. You never know where and when inspiration will strike, but if you're sticking to the same routine, it'll be a lot tougher to find inspiration than if you shake up your day. Here are some ideas to help you get there. Consider one or all of them. You'll be surprised what you learn!

1) Read a magazine you wouldn't normally read: If you are in business and you read Business Week or Entrepreneur that's great, but the likelihood of either of these magazines expanding your horizons is minimal. Why? Because they're really telling you more of what you already know. I travel a good deal and whenever I'm in an airport I try and pick up a magazine I wouldn't normally read. Try this, you'll be surprised what you learn, and something outside of your normal scope of reading can trigger new ideas.

2) Watch a movie you would never normally watch: If you're a western junkie, try watching a chick-flick or vice-versa. I know for you die-hard thriller watchers this might make your skin crawl, but trust me, a change of pace is always good to trigger the creative juices.

3) Listen to a different radio station: This is really fun, and even better, why not try listening to a station outside of your area? I grew up in Belgium and will sometimes listen to Belgian radio. I also love digging into the podcasts on NPR and other talk radio shows.

4) Go to a tractor pull instead of the opera: OK, maybe not exactly, but the idea here is to expose yourself to something new and again, try and find a creative way that it ties into your book or area of expertise. One year after watching the Tour de France I was inspired to write an article called, "Biking and Book Marketing: what the Tour de France can teach us about marketing our books." Odd as it seems, this article got a lot of traction. We ran it in our newsletter and many bike-fan sites ran it too, no surprise because authors are everywhere.

5) Change your work surroundings: I'm not talking about moving offices, just try working somewhere else. Sometimes if I'm buried in minutia and struggling to be creative, I'll pack up my netbook and go hang at my local Starbucks for an afternoon. Working on a plane does this for me, too, and knowing this, I save all my creative challenges for my next flight (fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I've been flying a lot these days). The point being, sometimes sitting at your same desk and same chair doesn't do anything for your creativity; in fact, often it stagnates it. Just like standing water, every once in a while you have to drain your mind of the usual, input the unusual and see what happens.

The idea of "thinking outside the box" was coined by an advertising firm eons ago, and we've used it, and in many cases overused it. Yes, it means be creative, but as I pointed out earlier, if you're doing well then clearly your box works for you. Instead of trying to move outside of it, try bringing new influences into it instead. You'll not only find that your creativity is moving again, but the ideas, which before had seemed stuck behind a roadblock, are now more like free flowing traffic.

Where will your journey take you?

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques.

My Husband Invented the Helmet Cam - by Patty Mooney

At the time, it was just another "MacGyver" maneuver. Mark often invented ways to enhance his video productions. If anything went wrong on a set, he would always know what to do to jury-rig a solution.

But back in 1988, when we were producing the first mountain-bike how-to video, "The Great Mountain Biking Video," Mark knew he had to figure out a way to create some good "POV" shots, by which the viewer could see what the mountain biker was seeing, as he or she coasted down a mountain-bike trail.

Thus, he bolted a VHS camera to a motorcycle helmet and attached the camera by cable to a VCR that was packed into a padded backpack. When you think of today's button cams and lipstick cams, this primitive rig was truly unwieldy. But it did the job.

Click here to see Mark's story, and see some of the first-ever helmet-cam footage - a descent on the Mammoth Mountain Kamikaze Downhill race.

I also added this story to Wikipedia.

Is Entrepreneurialism for You? - by Patty Mooney

Image by cleopatra69 via Flickr

Besides being a rather difficult word to spell, is entrepreneurialism really for you? A lagging economy tends to trigger that soul-searching mode where you wonder if you will ever be less trapped and more fulfilled by the things you do to make money.

I came upon this great little questionnaire on the topic, by Daniel Isenberg, who is a Professor of Management Practice at Babson College. He calls it his "2-Minute Isenberg Entrepreneur Test" and adds the caveat, "Be honest with yourself; the worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves."

Jot down your answers and see what you learn about yourself.

1.I don't like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.

2.I like challenging myself.

3.I like to win.

4.I like being my own boss.

5.I always look for new and better ways to do things.

6.I like to question conventional wisdom.

7.I like to get people together in order to get things done.

8.People get excited by my ideas.

9.I am rarely satisfied or complacent.

10.I can't sit still.

11.I can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.

12.I would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else's.

13.Whenever there is a problem, I am ready to jump right in.

14.I think old dogs can learn — even invent — new tricks.

15.Members of my family run their own businesses.

16.I have friends who run their own businesses.

17.I worked after school and during vacations when I was growing up.

18.I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.

19.I am exhilarated by achieving results.

20.I could have written a better test than Isenberg (and here is what I would change ....)

According to Isenberg, "If you answered "yes" on 17 or more of these questions, look at your paycheck (if you are lucky enough to still get one). If the company that issued the check isn't owned by you, it is time for some soul searching: Do you have debts to pay? Kids in college? Alimony? Want to take it easy? Maybe better to wait. Do you have a little extra cash in the bank and several credit cards? Do you have a spouse, partner, friends, or kids who will cheer you on? If so, start thinking about what kind of business you want to set up. It doesn't matter what age you are: research by the Kauffman Foundation shows that more and more over–50s are setting up their own businesses. Talk to people who have made the plunge, learn how to plan and deliver a product or service, think about that small business you might buy, talk to people with whom you would like to work, and talk to customers."

As an entrepreneur myself since the age of seven when I picked weeds for a nickel apiece, I can tell you that neither money nor fame have ever been driving factors for me. It's a "here-now" kind of thing. I chose not to have children, so it's a lot easier to take the leap of faith necessary for entrepreneurial endeavors when you don't have a bevy of people who depend on you for their very existence. It's very satisfying to be the navigator, pilot and tailgunner all rolled into one. The master of your own fate.

Some people are not cut out for the entrepreneurial life. We worked with a self-contractor for several years who quit freelancing to work at a university where he would be paid like clockwork twice every month. He now has to get up at "oh-dark-thirty" every business day of the week, but he loves it. He's fulfilled, he's performing work that he enjoys, and he's supporting his family.

So really, as Isenberg says, it all whittles down to you being completely honest with yourself. Are you an entrepreneur, or aren't you?

(Above photo by Patty Mooney taken at an entrepreneurial video production gig that featured actress and poker champion, Jennifer Tilly)