Top 10 Rules to Dressing Professionally

Realizing this is a giant rabbit hole, here are some absolutely basic and crucial things to understand when it comes to dressing professionally in a way that can help you move your life and career forward. Sorry ladies, I'm not qualified for you, but I will get a post for you in this area as well.

After seeing many leaders and executives fail at these 10 basic rules, here are some things to keep in mind next time you are shopping.

My top 10 list for guys:

1. Dress for the position you want, not the one you have. Poise and style go a long way towards promotion/sales/ influence. However you feel about that from a fairness standpoint, it's reality.

2. Never wear pleats or cuffs on your slacks. Sorry, to those who disagree. People argue this with me all the time, but pleats and cuffs have been out with everything else you left in 1993. I don't know why anybody is still selling these to unsuspecting guys.

3. Never wear a white undershirt that can be seen under a dress shirt or even a polo. Time to invest in some v-necks.

4. Your shoulder seam should be right at the top of your shoulder or at most a half inch from the top of your shoulder towards your hand. Oversized shirts make you look sloppy and unprofessional.

5. Wear fitted shirts whenever possible. A fitted shirt has been sewn to remove material from the back and sides of the shirt so that you don't end up with a bag of extra material around your belt or midsection. Fitted shirts will slim you down and broaden your shoulders. If you have extra weight you are carrying around your midsection you may need a little more room.

6. Sleeve length should hit the bottom of your wrist when your arms are hanging at your side. This allows a nice watch to peek out and keeps extra material from bunching and making you look sloppy.

7. Your belt, watch, and shoes all need to match. Brown shoes means a brown leather watch and brown belt. Black shoes mean a silver or black watch and black belt. Make sure shoes belt and watch all match stylistically as well. In other words, if you wear a formal pair of shoes, then wear a formal belt and "dress" watch with it.

8. Never, ever, ever, never, ever wear a tie with a short sleeve dress shirt. Dwight Shrute (see above). Enough said.

9. Shine your shoes. If you didn't learn this in the military, from a Dad or friend, go to a nice department store like Neiman Marcus and the shoe dept. can give you a tutorial. Or, click here.

10. Don't wear cuff links with a casual pair of slacks. The general rule is if you don't need to dry clean your slacks, don't wear cuff links with your shirt.

10.5 The bottom of your slacks need to rest barely on the top of your shoes with no more than an inch of material in the left in the length. Again, extra material = sloppy and unprofessional.

Bonus information:
There are many different styles of collars when it comes to dress shirts. Each one is appropriate at different times.

Never wear more than 3 colors at a time. Patterns need to be different and can be mixed and matched if done correctly. Generally a lighter, or more pastel, colored shirt should be worn with a tie that goes with it, but should not match exactly.

Best advice ever! Are you ready? If you are not the average sized guy. For example, taller than 6'4" or shorter than 5'5"- find a great tailor near your home. If he/she tries to put you in pleats- run away and find another tailor. Always wear clothes that fit. Being tall (I'm 6'5") is not an excuse to wear clothing that doesn't fit.

If you are wearing a tie, your pocket cloth should match the dominant color in the tie.

Hope that helps you move toward your goals and not away from them.

Enjoy Life and Shop well!

Jon Bohm

P.S. Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharped dressed man.

Cleaning Up

Quick question: You walk into a room and you see that the room is flooded. On the far wall a sink is running on full blast and there is a mop leaning against the wall. What do you do?

This is the same scenario I see at many companies I walk into, and there is one of 3 choices that is actively being pursued:

1. The entire team is mopping like crazy - "this economy!" "run faster and work harder" or we will never get this cleaned up!

2. They walk in the flooded room- look around....and then leave. It's too much of a mess, let's just close the door and go back to sticking our head in the sand.

3. They turn off the faucet. Then they mop like crazy.

The choice is yours as you lead your organization. I recommend turning off the faucet by finding the root cause of negative results, behavior, or culture. To change behavior without changing the root cause is going to require a lot of mopping for a long time... in wet clothes. Nobody likes that.

Is it time to clean up your organization or life? Is it time to turn off the running faucet?

Making wet businesses dry,

Jon Bohm

Beware of Re-creating your Past

Be careful of going back to what you once were instead of moving forward to what you have yet to become.

Like water, we have this incredible tendency to sub-consciously settle into the groove, the path, of least resistance. The only problem with this is that it only has one result, re-creating the past.

Many leaders have been leading in the same place, same position, same expectations, and same challenges for so long that this groove is created. A groove that steals passion and innovation one small piece at a time. We feel it sneak up on us like the cold at night. Slowly we find ourselves unchallenged and resting in this emotionless zone of the doing what we have always done.

We can wake up and make the change now, realizing that it's never too late to be who you might have been . Or, we can settle in and wait until we are fired, forced out, or no longer have the passion to be productive. Only to look back, and realize the powerhouse we could have been, the changes we could have made in the world, or the dreams we could have realized for ourselves or our family.

The Cure is in the way you plan and therefore, the way you lead:

1. Make decisions based off looking where we have been - Result = Re-create the past
2. Make decisions based off of looking at our present circumstances - Result = Re-create the past
3. Make decisions based off looking to the future - Result = Forecasting the future
4. Move your actions and life into the future and act now, how you want your future to be - Result = Creating and Controlling your Destiny

The choice is ours to make everyday, rely on circumstances and the groove to guide us to the future or decide your own path now and move forward to where you have never yet been.

Beware the gravitational force that is always trying to pull you back to where you already were.

Walking into the wonderful unknown,

Jon Bohm

The Next Generation

Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks, and Tony Perkins have always been dead. Each year, Beloit College puts together a list of "cultural touchstones" that affect the lives of students entering college in 2011. The faculty uses it as a reminder to be aware of dated references. Here are some of our favorites:

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.

2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.

3. Al Gore has always been animated.

4. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.

5. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.

6. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.

7. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.

8. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.

9. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.

10. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.

11. Leasing has always allowed the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars.

12. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.

13. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.

14. Czechoslovakia has never existed.

15. Second-hand smoke has always been an official carcinogen.

16. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone. Hasn’t he?

17. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties.

18. Beethoven has always been a good name for a dog.

19. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.

20. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY) Channel.

You can view the complete list at www.beloit.edu/mindset. Are you guilty of being "dated" in your dealings with the younger generation? These folks will soon hit the workforce so be aware of language you may want to change.

Thanks to my friends at Resource Associates Corporation.

Looking to the future,

Jon Bohm

Business Owner today -Entrepreneur tomorrow

"Nothing is so successful that it can't be mismanaged. If you lose sight of what you are doing, it could be here today and gone tomorrow."- Jim Pohlad (Owner of the Minnesota Twins)

What are you doing? Whatever you do to pay the bills or take care of the family, what are you doing it for? Money, kids, to make a difference? This is a very important question and the answer to which must be kept front and center, or it will be gone.

Often, when business owners started their business they new they were doing it to build a better life, have more time, make a difference, etc. But, along the way they became not only the owner but the CEO, CFO, COO, manager, supervisor, and sometimes even the hourly wage worker. The ideals of a better life get swallowed with working harder and surviving and paying the bills. Without much thought, just like that, you can lose sight of what you got in this for in the first place. Same thing with being a Parent, a coach, or a teacher.

Since I can't speak to everything in a short blog, here is an overly simplified model to entrepreneurial success:

1. Solve the $ Step - If you don't plan and save to get far enough ahead to invest in others and better systems you will be left spending everyday and hour (every dinner with your spouse) not thinking about anything, except, how can I make more $ so I don't go out of business. Some people stay at step one their entire life- this is very sad to me as a coach.
2. Solve the time step - Use the money you saved or set aside in step 1 to buy yourself more time. Hire, delegate, create, and build new time saving systems.
3. Use the time you bought for yourself to find inspiration, new ideas, better ways of doing things, and creative energy to build your life and/or your business to new heights.

Where are you stuck? Which step is next? How are you going to get to the next step?

Of course, I'm here to help you do that. Just never lose site of what got you in this in the first place. Have fun!

Enjoy Life!

Creating Entrepreneurs everyday,

Jon Bohm

Can't Change the Game? Change the Players.

Playing a game as kids there is always someone who would bend the rules, make up new rules, or re-create the game on the spot if it benefited them. Man, did you hate that or what!? Unless, that was you ruining the ability to play fair for the rest of us.

We were always told - you can't do that! We hated on them and we called unfair or conspiracy, depending on how many people were trying to change the rules.

Now, here we are all grown up and those that have figured out how to change the rules of the game to benefit them are the winners. As an entrepreneur, if you can change the way the game is played - kudos to you- do it. Google, Facebook, online magazines, Tivo, Apple, netflix, etc. have changed the rules in their industry. In one way or another they are making the world play their game. And just like when we are kids - the people that hate you for it feel like you are making them lose and those that benefit love your influence.

But, what about most of us? Are we game changers? I hope so, we try to be. But, often we don't get to change the rules. We have to play the game by whomever is changing the rules.

So, we will have to pick one of 2 options:

1. Take our ball and go home= you will no longer be playing the game, or refusing to play the game will often get your boss to send you home as well if the marketplace doesn't send you home first.
2. Realize if you can't change the game- change the players. Starting with you.

In today's marketplace the rules are changing everyday.

Are you going to take your ball and go home or worse get sent home?

Or are you going to change the players starting with you?

If you think your industry isn't changing- beware you are probably inches away from being sent home.

If you can't change the game - change the players.

Changing players in every industry everyday,

Jon Bohm

Learning from LeBron

Or, maybe I should say learning from LeBron's choices and circumstances surrounding his move to the Miami Heat.

There is a lot of media surrounding what LeBron did, how he went about it, and even speculation on why he didn't tell Cav's owner (Dan Gilbert) before he announced to the world his decision to leave the Cav's and move to the Heat. The aftermath is hurt and broken relationships as bridges of trust and loyalty burn to the ground.

No matter what, how, or why LeBron did what he did. One thing is for sure- any loyalty that may have existed between LeBron and and the Cav's is gone, and any relationship that may have existed between Gilbert and LeBron is also gone.

So, was it worth it for LeBron? For Gilbert? Who knows? And only time will tell.

The takeaway from all of this is that loyalty is good business. From Gilbert's perspective, had he fostered a deep loyalty in LeBron, it's more likely LeBron would still be with the Cav's. And, if LeBron had fostered loyalty and relationships with the team and Gilbert he would be more marketable, and he may have left without burning the bridges so many fans were standing on.

Loyalty exists when expectations are exceeded, period. What we can learn from LeBron is at the end of the day- relationships, loyalty, and expectations is the basis for decisions made in business. Sure money is an issue, contracts, and price all get into the game. But relationships, expectations, and loyalty trump every time sooner or later.

Obviously, LeBron's expecations either grew or were never met with the Cav's (he took a pay cut to go to the Heat.) Gilbert's expectations either grew or were never met with LeBron (LeBron accomplished nothing towards a championship). This causes a relationship breakdown and loyalty comes apart at the seams.

Is your business exceeding expectations? Are you creating loyalty and relationships among your internal and external customers? Do you even know?

In your personal life it's the same way. Marriage? Friendships? Work life and piers? Are you exceeding expectations?

Our challenge is not in how, what, or why other people do what they do. Rather, our challenge is where we set the bar in our own life, and how high we are willing to jump to create loyalty and relationships that will eventually trump everything else... sooner or later.

Exceeding expectations,
Jon Bohm

Reinventing Yourself - What next?

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for the eye which , ever young and ardent, sees the possible.- Soren Kierkegaard

I was hanging out with my 4 year old son the other day and I was impressed with the excitement he finds in all the little things in life like learning a new word, understanding how something works, the adventure of playing in the backyard, and eating a new food. His energy and adventure is contagious. As we get older, and we have lived a full life and tried everything under the sun. We can have the tendency to write off all the things we don't like and embrace what we do enjoy, this causes the excitement and passion for life and new adventure to fade.

For example, I would love to get my pilot's license and then fly the country in my own airplane. This is an adventure and it would be an incredible thrill for me. My Dad, on the other hand, has had his pilot's license - he has been there and done that. The excitement has worn off, so what's next? Maybe for my Dad it's time to get some buddies together and build their own plane, time to take a passion and reinvent it. Re-create it with fresh perspective and new skills.

Once you have traveled the world, fought in 2 world wars, lived, loved and know yourself well. What is left? What excitement, challenge, and fervor for life and adventure is there? Maybe it's time to re-invent yourself?

Is it time for you to get some new energy from an old passion? Is it time to date your spouse again? Renew your vows? Check an item off the bucket list? Build something? Find a new talent? Or maybe the greatest reinvention is to plant seeds off your tree of experience into the life and mind of someone else?

Enjoy this true story:

Anna Mary Moses loved to do needlework. She had been enjoying it since before she was married. But as she began to get older, she started to lose some of the dexterity in her hands through arthritis. By the time she was eighty, she could no longer perform even the simplest stitches. Therefore she decided to try something different—painting. The brushes were easy enough to handle, even with her arthritis, so she took it up full time, mostly painting farm and country scenes.

One day a traveling art collector stopped for a bite to eat in her town and saw her pictures in a drugstore. He decided that he liked them, and in a very short time the name of Grandma Moses was known throughout the art world. Although Grandma Moses didn’t even start painting until she was eighty years old, she was able to create over fifteen hundred works of art in her lifetime. She had an international following, and prominence as a world-class painter.

All this because she was forced to quit her favorite pastime and take up a new one.

Success cannot be measured in time, or what anyone else thinks. It's personal and powerful when you are reaching your own goals. Never stop learning, dreaming, and re-inventing the wonderful life you have been given. The world is a playground, and there is always something new to explore. Sometimes the greatest exploration is done inside your own mind and life.

Dream it, find it, and live it. After all... this is YOUR one shot at life.

Jon Bohm

Get Your Mail Read

6 Tips for Making Sure Your Emails are Read AND Understood

(Thanks to Resource Associates Corporation)

Email is a fast, efficient method for communicating, and it does have its pitfalls. People are bombarded with so much information that they are naturally looking for shortcuts, which can cause confusion, frustration, and lack of understanding. Here are 6 tips for avoiding those pitfalls:

1. Keep it VERY short - People receive so many emails on a daily basis that they've taken to skimming to get to the good stuff. Get to the point and give them very little to skim.

2. Be VERY clear - Get in the habit of reading through your emails BEFORE you send them. By being sure that you understand the content, the recipient is more likely to understand it as well.

3. Put your key point in the Subject line - Resist the temptation to build up to a conclusion when you write. Get to the point right up front and the reader will have an easier time understanding the reason for your email. Don't be afraid to go into detail in the Subject line.

4. Include only one task per email or number the list - Assigning one task per email increases the likelihood that your recipient will respond appropriately. If you require your recipient to take multiple actions, assign a number to each task, i.e. "Please respond with the following: 1. Your contact info. 2. The time you want me to call."

5. Mind your cc's - If you are sending an email to multiple recipients and require them to take action, be very clear as to whom is to do what. When you send to more than one person, one recipient can assume the other recipient(s) will respond.

6. Emails are not the place to argue - It is very easy to misunderstand others and be misunderstood when communicating via email. If you sense that a recipient is getting emotional about an email, do yourself a favor and pick up the phone. Many times you can avoid a needless email argument and save a ton of time.

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

Reflect back and plan forward....

2 weeks into the New Year, are you rolling? Are you on your way to making 2010 truly better than '09?

The start of a new year is always a great time to reflect back and plan forward. Here are some great questions to springboard that thinking. (Remember; you're more likely to achieve something if you plan for it and write it down, so ... get your pens ready! Here goes:

As you reflect on this past year, what were your two or three most significant accomplishments, breakthroughs, and/or achievements?

1.
2.
3.

Looking back over the year, what (if anything) blocked or held you back as you moved toward your goals/objectives?

Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently? (While we can't change what was, we can use this input/learning as we move forward.)

As you look forward to next year, what are your three most significant goals that you wish to accomplish within the year? What will be different? How will YOU be different?

1.
2.
3.

What are the top two or three things about your business that you most want to be different next year?

1.
2.
3.

What two or three changes do you most want to see in your personal life?

1.
2.
3.

What do you want your practice/business to look like one year from now?

What actions are you prepared to take to reach your goals and objectives next year?

Having gotten clear on what you want to achieve next year, the next step is to develop the strategies and actions that will move you to reaching your desired outcomes. And if you don't yet have a coach or an accountability partner to keep you on track ... GET ONE! (... we happen to know a few good coaches!)

Let's prepare to make 2010 our most exciting, rewarding, and personally fulfilling year!

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm

(Adapted from my friends at Resource Associates Corporation)

Networking 101- Add Value!!!!

Every group contains 2 types of people, "givers" and "takers."

Givers are always focused on what they can give to help others, to make the world a better place, to grow their business, to have bigger impact, and to add value.

Takers are always focused on what they can take to help themselves, to make their little (I emphasize little) world a better place, to grow their business, and add value to themselves. The irony is that by doing so, they lose value, shrink their business, and lose influence in the world.

Networking can be hell or it can be heaven. It just depends on who you are networking with... "givers" or "takers."

Take this little allegory as an example:

A man spoke with the Lord

about heaven and hell.

The Lord said to the man,

"Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of

people sat around a huge pot of stew.

Everyone was famished,

desperate and starving.

Each held a spoon that reached the pot,

but each spoon had a handle so much

longer than their own arm that it could not

be used to get the stew into their own mouths.

The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven,"
the Lord said after a while.

They entered another room, identical to the first -
the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons.
But there everyone was happy and well-nourished.

"I don't understand," said the man.
"Why are they happy here when they were miserable
in the other room and everything was the same?"

The Lord smiled.
"Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."- Heaven and Hell, The Real Difference by Ann Landers

If you want to be a great networker, grow your business or life, make more money, reach your dreams, and have a bigger impact than you have to learn to be a giver and network with other givers. Which one are you?

An honest test: 1. Make a list of everything someone or something has done for you. 2. Now, make a list of what you have done for others.

How can you add more value to the world and your clients? Answer that everyday and watch your success explode.

Be a giver!

Jon Bohm

New Year + Focus = New YOU!

"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that's because escape is easier than change."

- Jim Rohn

2010 is here! I hope you are as excited as I am!

I don't mean to be over excited, but as a cancer survivor, I take every milestone as a chance to celebrate life. What it means to be here for 2010 is more than words can ever describe. So congratulations...YOU are here for 2010 as well!

If you are anything like me, you are expecting 2010 to be your best year yet. Not just because 2009 seemed to have so many challenges for so many people, but because you are continually BECOMING a better person-who brings more value and good to those around you-every year. That is exciting!

I have a few things planned for this year. I have a new plan to be a better coach, father, and husband. I have Financial, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Fun goals that I will be working toward. All of them require resources and mental shifts from where I am now to where I will be by the year end. What about for you? What do you have planned for 2010?

Whatever it is, I'm sure it's a laundry list to some degree--similar to mine. Do you know the best way to insure hardly any of it happens? I do...DON'T focus on any ONE thing.

I have recently taken up bird hunting which is great fun and great food :) (Sorry bird lovers.) When I walk within 10 feet of the right bush I can see 20 doves come out and fly all over the place. I have about 2 seconds to take a shot. What I have found is that if 20 fly out, I hardly ever walk away with even ONE!!! I see them, I hear them, I get crazy excited and I don't seem to have enough time to pick ONE out of the crowd. So, I take a random shot and nothing happens. BUT...if I walk near a different bush and only ONE flies out...then I'm having dove for breakfast!!

The New Year will be the same for me, and I bet for you, if you have 20 goals all flying out of YOU at the same time. You will be lucky to walk away from 2010 with even one goal completed and in the bag.

We have to FOCUS, focus, and (I will say it again) focus. We will have to pick ONE goal out of the crowd and take a shot, before we ever move on. So, here is a practical and easy guide I recommend for making 2010 be productive and successful in BECOMING a better YOU:

1. Make a list of the top 5 things you would like to change about you, or your circumstances. (For me, I'm starting with getting back in shape)
2. Answer this question; "If you could change one thing in your life that would have the greatest positive impact on your life in 2010, what would it be?" Do not move to step 3 until you have a confident answer for number 2. Many of my clients say something with the five "F's" (Financial, Family, Friends, Fitness or Fun) for number 2 in some way. What is yours? Got it?
3. Ok, now number 3 is to separate that goal from the crowd, and make it specific and put a time frame on it. What will you do and when will you do it?
4. Now, put everything else on the shelf, and set your sights on only that one change.
5. Ask yourself; What do I have to know? What do I have to do? Who do I have to become? for that goal to be in the bag by the date I set?
6. Go get it! Protect it, focus on it, resource it. Do not rest or look at another goal until you achieve it.

Although for me, goal achievement is an art that requires skill, time, commitment and usually some professional help, the take away that I want you to get (which is 90% of the process) is to FOCUS on that one thing.

I am convinced that one of the biggest reasons that so many people live in mediocrity with so much available in our world, is because so much is AVAILABLE that we lose focus.

A new year is here. The pages are blank for 2010. It is time to write the first page. Pick one thing--only one thing--and FOCUS on it until completion. Then move onto the next thing until completion, and so on. Write the greatest story of your life...ONE page at a time...in 2010.

Live a great story!

Jon Bohm

YOUR personal, business, and strategy coach

When You are in a funk... H.A.L.T

Anger is a secondary emotion. You have to kill the root.

On a regular basis I have a client or a friend, kids, or myself that have a day you could put in the funk category. A day when you are not firing on all cylinders so to speak.

Have you ever had a day like that? We all do? The occasional emotional setback. No big deal, right?

Depends, I guess on the day. If you spend your day in a funk instead of landing that new client it could have long term effects. I tell every client I have, if you are going to be an entrepreneur you have to embrace the fact that you don't get the luxury of a crappy attitude, self pitty, or even a funk for very long if at all.

So, how do we avoid the funk? How do we keep the funky day from becoming a funky week, month, year, or your life? I can't cover it all in a little blog post but I will give you this. In almost every situation when you find yourself in a funk it's because 1 of 4 things; you allowed yourself to become too:

H.ungry

A.ngry

L.onely or

T.ired

Next time you feel yourself slipping into the funk, stop (halt) and ask yourself; "Am I too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?" The answer is yes 98 % of the time. So, stop and fix it, or take regular daily checks to keep the funk at bay.

It turns out my Mom new how to keep the funky days at bay with sleep, the right diet, good friends, and emotional health. And that alone can be a great New Year's resolution.

Happy New Year and Cheers to the good life.

Live a great story in 2010!

Jon Bohm

PR, Tiger Woods, and you...

“There are 2 primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or to accept the responsibility for changing them.”- DENIS WAITLEY

Did Tiger mess up? Yes. I think we would all agree, especially his wife, "yeah, he messed up."

But, that is not really the question we have to wrestle with the question we have to wrestle with is "Now what?" What do we do as sponsors, what do we do as the public with an icon, forerunner, and elite hero like Tiger when they mess up?

We know better than to crucify someone for messing up, we know we don't ever want to be the one to be casting any stones, because we know that we all mess up to one degree or another. We know that forgiveness is stronger than bitterness and we know that to love someone's strengths and despise them for their mistakes isn't love at all. And we love our heroes, don't we?

So, how do we handle this? How does Tiger handle it? How do we avoid it? And how should we think about it?

As for "how does Tiger handle it?" The experts and press have beat this one to death. We all know, he needs to step out front and own the fact that he is a hero and continue to act like a hero by taking responsibility for it. But, that isn't our call, is it? This whole things is actually none of my business. All we can really think about is how are we going to deal with it? How should the sponsors deal with it?

I have found, I deal with it in a very simple way. I hope and pray he finds the right help to get healthy and live a great life with or without golf. I hope he finds the people and the tools to reach deep and get healthy emotionally so he can enjoy this one chance at life we all get. And money isn't the answer, we all know that. Happiness come from within, and clearly Tiger needs to reach within.

So, that leaves really only one question left to deal with. What do the sponsors do? What do you do? To support or not support those products? or Tiger in front of the kiddos?

As for me, as a consumer, I don't buy products because of who sponsors them. So, I won't NOT buy them based on who sponsors them either.

As for the sponsors, what a tough decision! They have one of the greatest athletes to ever live partnering with them to promote their livelihood. Incredible. But, I don't see how they can still use him as a sponsor, it's down right ironic how difficult it will be given the nature of Tiger's bad decisions. Woods’ sponsors include Gillette, Gatorade, Accenture, Nike and AT&T. So here is why I don't think they can keep him. Wood's apparently had multiple sexual affairs with a wide range of women over a large portion of the country or maybe event the world and listen to the tag lines of each of his sponsors:

• Gillette "The Best a man can get."
• Gatorade "Is it in you?"
• Accenture "High performance. Delivered."
• Nike "Just do it."
• AT&T "More bars in more places."

It's unbelievable isn't it? Almost hilarious, and I'm probably missing a few good ones. When you build a brand, your company will rise and fall on how much positive attention the consumer is willing to give to you. So, of course attracting attention is half the battle and the other half is keeping it positive. If it's not positive, then you can't keep something in your brand.

So, in the balance of standing on the rock solid foundation of a great product and the thin ice of public opinion, where is your brand? You have a brand whether you know it or not. Personally you have one. When I google your name, what do I find? Your business definitely has one. So, how strong is your brand? Or better yet, how much positive attention does your brand get? How much negative attention needs to be dealt with? It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. It's the unspoken piece to the puzzle every company needs to pay attention to. It is directly connected to your success personally and professionally.

Do you dress? Speak? Act? Walk? Type? Live? as the person you are becoming? As the person or company want to be? Does the world see the real you? Does it see your company in the right light? Is it a pretty picture, or could it use some polishing. Sometimes a little polish goes a long way.

Give us a call if it's time to get some positive attention or do some polishing.

Live the dreams you have imagined! No nightmares allowed:)

Jon Bohm

Key Questions when Hiring a Coach

"If you would attain what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you were pleased with yourself there you have remained. But once you have said, “It is enough,” you are lost. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing; do not stop, do not turn back, do not turn from the straight road." — St. Augustine

It's about time I gave some advice on what to look for when hiring someone to help you move your life and business forward. Some great questions:

• Are they a good fit for you? Do you like them and trust them?
• Are they results focused? A lot of people will charge you good money to listen to you. But, will they help you actually achieve the results you need in your life and business? Knowledge is NOT power- APPLIED Knowledge is power.
• Do they have legitimate names and numbers of people you could call to see if they are truly good at what they do?
• Are they focused on long termdevelopment of you and your life, or is it short-term training that you will have to try and remember?
• Do they help you get past the obstacles in your life and business or are they just focused on your goals?
• Do they help you in life and business? Or do they just focus on one or the other?

A couple pitfalls that are easy to fall into are:

Often people want to make sure the coach they are looking
at has extensive knowledge in their industry, but a good coach
can help you develop your skills and attitude in a field they
may not even know much about. If you need training look for
a good consultant or mentor. Although, some coaches do very
well in both roles.

Often people will look for a coach with the most degrees.
But, degrees do little in determining whether someone is
good atmotivating, inspiring, developing, and applying the attitudes
and action of others.

Sometimes people think they have it all figured out and
don't need help. We all need help, every good coach will hire
coaches themselves and they are always focused on life long
learning.

TigerWoods has three coaches and he is the best in
the world. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you have arrived.

Cheers to always moving forward with some collaborative help!

-Jon Bohm

Be a Stuntman...not a Dare Devil

I am a lucky, lucky person. - Evel Knievel

Are you a lucky person?  Or are you unlucky?  

Have you ever noticed that how much luck someone has is directly proportionate to how much risk they are willing to take?  

Why do some people have the midas touch? 

While the touch of so many others seems to turn things into ashes?  Have you ever noticed that some people just seem to be luckier than others?

Take scenario one:  you become a "dare devil" and jump out of a perfectly good airplane with no plan, without the knowledge, and without the hard work in preparing for your jump. If you survive, well than, you are lucky, maybe even miraculous to some degree. 

However, take scenario 2:  if you plan and bring a parachute, than you learn how to use your parachute, and you work hard to prepare for your jump on the ground or in a wind tunnel than your odds of being lucky  and surviving are dramatically better than the first scenario.

In both situations you jump from the same plane.  In both situations your risk is the same.  But in scenario number 2, your chances of getting lucky are very high.  Because, you planned your risk with meticulous work like a stuntman who strategically thinks his stunt through, not a daredevil who just jumps.

So, what about business and getting lucky?

The entrepreneur that takes a gamble and opens a widely successful business in the worst recession our country has seen since the great depression, lucky?

The investor who fires his financial planner and takes matters into his own hands, and turns a profit of 40 k a week instead of losing it when everyone around him told him to "Buy and hold."  What do you think, lucky?

The stay at home mom who opens her own on-line store, only to get so many orders she can't keep up.  Lucky?

My answer is....Yes, very lucky.  

However, my definition of luck has an equation.  Luck doesn't happen to everyone.  Why do some people seem to be luckier than others?

Over the years of working with many people, in many industries, I have found what I believe to be the equation to how lucky an organization or person may become.  I trust it so much, that I consider it to be a fortune telling equation on how lucky someone will be.

Stop and think.  What is a new adventure or thing you may want to try?  Ok, got one in mind?

Using a scale of 1-10.  1 being poor and 10 being excellent.  Rate your future idea in each of the following categories:

• 1-10 - How much risk is involved?
  
• 1-10 - How strategic have I been?  And how many resources have I put into my plan for success?
  
• 1-10 - How hard have I worked toward my success?
  

After honestly rating your new venture in each of the above categories, you have a possible 30 points available.  Simply add up your total score and divide it by 30 and that is the percentage I give you on getting "lucky" and succeeding.

It is a law of the universe.  The more you risk, the better you plan, and the harder you work... the "luckier" you will be.  Is it possible to get "lucky" with a 10% chance?  You bet.  But, you can increase your odds of getting lucky in every situation with some hard work, high tolerance for risk, and a great strategic mind.

So, how lucky are you?  I guess it depends on how bad you want to be lucky.  And how much effort you put into increasing your odds. 

It seems to me... that the harder I work, the better I plan, and the more risk involved, the luckier I am.

May you become one of the "luckiest" people around, and when all the unlucky people watch your life, they just won't be able to understand why YOU are sooo lucky.

Enjoy Life!

Jon Bohm 

Connecting Emotionally

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of  segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch  your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at  whim.... when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of  “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” - Martin Luther King Jr. 1963 - Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Have you ever been around someone who was really, I mean really, able to walk in your shoes?  Not just say they understand, but really feel what you feel?  That is the secret of compassion.

I once heard a friend say that being heard is so close to be loved that most people can't tell the difference.  How well do you listen to those in your life?  How well do you feel the pain of your prospects?  How good are you at feeling what others feel?

Often, when I am working with a team of sales people they want to know how to "Close" better or "sell" better.  But, the greatest sales secret in the world is to be a great listener, practice compassion, ask great questions, and walk in your prospect's shoes.  When you can feel what they feel then you are connecting emotionally with their issues.

In a sales situation it is tempting to talk a lot and show the prospect how much you know about your product.  And think you are closing the sale, you couldn't be more wrong.  Your prospect doesn't care how much you know about your product, they care how much you understand their problem, pain, or challenge.

You can't learn about someone's pain or walk in their shoes by talking.  So close your mouth and start listening, or better yet, start feeling what they feel.

A good system is to never tell anybody anything (especially about their situation) until you know these 3 things:

• What are they thinking?
• What are they feeling?
• What are they experiencing?

...in this situation.  After you have asked enough questions, clarified enough answers, and felt enough of their pain to understand their situation thoroughly-only then should you venture out on the limb and dare to explain that what you offer is a good fit for them.

The decision to buy something is not logical it is an emotional decision that has to be justified logically.  It wasn't until our country truly felt the pain of segregation that people justified changing the culture.  Thanks to great speeches that allowed a hate filled and hurt society to see, and more importantly feel, the pain it was creating.

May we all learn to get outside ourselves long enough to feel what those around us feel.  Connecting with each other emotionally is the greatest tool to there is to helping people change.

Practice the white magic of listening and see your relationships and profits grow!

Enjoy Life today!

Jon Bohm

Believe YOU can then SEE it happen

Some things have to be believed to be seen. ~Ralph Hodgson, The Skylark and Other Poems 

One of the greatest facts of human behavior I have seen in all the people I work with is that if you think you can...you can.  And if you think you can't...you are right about that too.

Working with athletes ranging from Pro- Golf to Basketball- it is true that if you can't visualize and really believe that you can make that putt, hit the shot, or nail that drive you just won't do it.  Sometimes the greatest hurdle stopping us from achieving the life we say we want is simply our own ability to BELIEVE WE CAN.

What about you?  What is a success you want in your life?  Do you believe you can do it?

Sometimes we have habits of thoughts that stop us.  Maybe from your family, an old coach, a past experience, something we made up out of thin air that stops us from believing we CAN.

Do any of these habits of thought stop you:

• You have to have money to make money
• Being wealthy is not Spiritual
• I don't deserve it
• My family didn't raise me to care about money
• I don't have those talents
• Getting your Masters is a long hard road.
• I'm not smart enough

The list goes on.  They are all lies, all roadblocks to keep you from the critical step of believing you can, should, or will do it.

Sometimes things have to be believed to be seen.  Practice BELIEVING, have a lot of FAITH in God, in you, in your abilities.  But believe it and then you will see it.

May we BELIEVE we can and experience the abundant life you have available even if you can't see it just yet.

Enjoy Life Today!

Jon Bohm

Be, Know, and Do your way to Future Success

"What we KNOW, and what we DO, can not be separated from WHO we are."- Jon Bohm

So, do you have your dream list?

Are you clear about what you want in your future?  If not, read the last few posts and build a list of the places, things, people, life you want to experience.

Once you have climbed the hill of building your dream list, then you have a clearer picture of where you want to go.  But dreams, much like sand, have a tendency to slip through our fingers if we don't hold onto them tightly.  

A friend of mine spent years living what he thought was his dream to be a great Trial Lawyer, and indeed he was excellent.  He had great knowledge, and he did everything need to be excellent in his lawyer role.  But, it stressed him out everyday, he didn't like who he was becoming each day.  Instead of becoming more loving, understanding, and emotionally connected to those around him he became colder more distant and focused on the task at hand instead of the people at hand.   It wasn't WHO he wanted to be.   I may even argue it wasn't WHO He really was in the first place, but rather a dream, that somewhere along the line he allowed to separate himself from who he wanted to BECOME.  Not just what he wanted to KNOW and DO.

I am convinced that KNOWING WHO we are is one of the biggest factors to achieving real success towards our dreams.  What about you?  Do you know WHO you are?

Here is a simple exercise to help you find out:  take a dream, don't pick a hazy dream, pick a crystal clear dream you can feel, touch, and almost taste it's so clear.

Ok, got it?

Now ask yourself in order to achieve that Dream:

• Who do I have to BECOME?  
• What do I have to KNOW?
• What do I have to DO?

Do you like what you see?  Do you like who you have to BECOME?  Achieving a dream can never just be about what we know or what we do, it has to be about becoming the person we really want to be.

What about you?  Are you currently living out a path to a dream?  Are you becoming the type of person you want to BE?  If the answer is no, then I highly encourage you to take another look and begin chasing another dream.  Don't lose yourself in chasing dreams.  Use dreams to find who you really are.

And if you need help, I can help you put all the pieces together and find your purpose, chase your dreams, and become who you REALLY want to be- maybe find WHO YOU REALLY are.

-Jon Bohm

Responsibility = Power

"With GREAT power comes GREAT responsibility." - Uncle Ben in Spider-Man

What a great quote.  This is one of the great life changing "Laws of the Universe."  

It is true just like gravity is real.

Although, I think a truer statement would be that with "GREAT responsibility comes GREAT power."

It is true in any organization I have worked with, the person who takes on the most responsibility is also the person with the greatest influence in the company.  This does not necessarily mean that it is the person with the greatest position or authority.  It means the person with the most influence is always the person who takes the greatest responsibility.

It is a fact of life.  Test it for yourself.  Think of an organization you really know well.  Not one you read about in Fortune Magazine, but one you really know the players in.   

• Who owned the least amount of responsibility?
• Who owned the most responsibility?
• Who had the most overall influence and power?
• Who had the least influence and power?

I hope I made my case.  But, just in case, let's test it again.  

Everyday in life, we have the option to either be a Victim or to take responsibility for our lives, for our actions, for our families, for our organization, for our country.

The more we move toward the Victim mentality the more power and influence we lose.  The more we move towards responsibility the more influence and power we gain.

Application:

Scenario:  You are at work and you are getting chewed out because your department dropped the ball somewhere.  You have a choice to take ownership of that error or "pass the buck" and throw your team "under the bus."  It is a simple equation, if you take responsibility you will gain influence, if you pass the buck you will lose influence.  If you "pass the buck," it becomes clear that you are no longer the person your boss needs to talk with to get better results in the future, because you demonstrate it is "out of your hands."  Therefore, you lose the influence to make things better.  

When all the employees in an organization understand this, then everyone is fighting to take ownership and responsibility, the "buck" is no longer passed, and everyone works together to find solutions and take ownership of the success of the organization.  This is a powerful organization.

You can apply this same situation to your life, your family, or our political climate in America.  If we play the victim, we lose power and influence and transfer responsibility and therefore, influence to someone else.

So which one will you be?  You have a choice take ownership, or give up your influence and power.  It's that simple.  So Uncle Ben is correct, but maybe he should have said  "If you want POWER than take RESPONSIBILITY." 

- Jon Bohm