Dog Cakes on the Path to Success

"Your sweetest successes always come after some of your most sour mistakes."

Confusing a mistake for a failure is a common thing to do. We often (mentally or emotionally) think and feel that a mistake or a trial and error is a failure to some degree, but really it's just a part of your next success.

You haven't failed until you quit making mistakes, and therefore quit moving forward.

A client of mine told me a great story of Saturday pancake breakfasts at his house growing up. His Dad would be up earlier than everyone else and his Dad would start to make pancakes for the family. The smell would fill the house and by the time they got up, there was coffee brewing and a giant stack of perfectly golden pancakes. The family dog was normally a beggar, but never begged on Saturday mornings. Because, as it turns out, every Saturday before the family was up- Dad would burn the first batch of pancakes, which he gave to the family dog. These were the "Dog Cakes."

The "Dog Cakes" had to be made, they had to burn the oil off the pan before you could ever get to the golden brown beauties that came next. The "Dog Cakes" were a right of passage, an important part of the journey towards a perfect pancake.

When you start a new venture, launch a new product, make your first cold calls, try to connect emotionally, give a speech for the 1st time since high school, or anything else- be ready and willing to have some "dog cakes." But, don't confuse a few "dog cakes" with failure.

"Dog cakes" are not failures, or even mistakes, they are a part of the process to the perfect success. Don't be afraid of them. Don't run from opportunity because of them. Rather embrace them.

Believe me, your greatest successes will come after a short stack of "dog cakes." The faster you burn the oil off the pan the faster you will taste sweet success.

Hungry for Life-

Jon Bohm

The Choice YOU have to Make Today

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

I went for a hike in some of the mountains near my house the other day and it got me thinking about all the comparisons that can be made between a hike in the mountains and life. One in particular jumped out at me.

When I started my hike, I had to choose which path I would take. The trail map showed a rating for each trail based on:

• Ruggedness of terrain
• Elevation height
• Elevation change

I chose, as I often do in life, to take the most challenging trail. I want the one with the highest peaks and the lowest valleys, I want the one with the hardest trail that can take my breathe out of my lungs and replace it with a burning sensation, the one that makes my legs ache and burn. But, this trail also offers me the greatest breathtaking views, the greatest sense of accomplishment, and the greatest overall rewards.

We have to make this same choice everyday. If you get married you are choosing a path with much higher highs and much lower lows than a single person will have. If you open a business, likewise higher highs and lower lows. If you step out and volunteer to give that speech, to write that book, to handle that challenging situation at work, to commit to a workout program, to ask that person out...you get the idea. Anytime we choose to step into the ring and pick the rugged trail in life with the most elevation change, you are picking a different life than the majority of people who are simply content to go for a stroll on a smooth flat path that will never experience the breath taking views nor the pain of the climb.

Which path have you chosen in your life? Which path will you choose in the future? Which path will you take today?

As for me, call it a curse, but I have to take the rugged trail to the top, the view is just to amazing to pass up on.

See you on the trail, I hope to see at the top!

Enjoy the Climb!

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

Somebody SAVE me!

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” ~ Sven Goran Eriksson

The fear of failure is a sub-conscious courage eater. It will rob you of passion, paralyze your mind, and urge you to give the responsibility for success to someone, or something else.

Have you ever felt that thing in the back of your conscious mind that wants you to run away, the moment you see the possibility that you could fail? We all have it. I think it's purpose is to keep us safe, which would be fine, if we still lived at our parent's houses with everything we need supplied by someone else in a perfectly safe world that was free from disease, pain, and suffering of any kind.

Since that is not the world we live in, and since our world is not SAFE. We have to come to grips with the reality that there is no avenue of retreat, we must arm ourselves. We must prepare mentally to live in the absence of safety, to live in a dangerous world with the possibility of failure forever lurking at the back of our subconscious mind, telling us to retreat.

What happens when the fear of failure is nagging you, and your subconscious is telling you to retreat? Our first instinct is often to scream "Save me" to anyone willing to listen.

• Business owners yell "save me" to marketing firms and coaches
• Mom's yell "save me" to school programs and babysitters
• Personal finances yell "save me" to financial planners or bankruptcy attorneys
• People in need yell "save me" to anyone willing to listen
• Sometimes big businesses yell "save me" to government
• Sometimes government yells "save me" to taxes

Don't get me wrong I am all for asking for help, collaboration, gaining partners, and teams. The difference between asking for help and yelling "save me" is this; asking for help implies that I am emotionally and mentally keeping the responsibility for my success and I simply want to team up, or ask for your help as a part of the effort to succeed.

Whereas; Yelling "save me" implies that I am giving you the responsibility for MY SUCCESS. And this will allow the fear of failure to destroy you. We can never give the responsibility for our own success to anyone. We can delegate, we can collaborate, we can orchestrate, and we can simply get help. But, if we give the responsibility for success to someone else, we have lost the war. We have retreated, and we have lost all influence in our success, guaranteeing failure.

So next time you feel that fear of failure begin to creep up on you, stop and make a plan. Stop and think about how to attack. Become even that much more committed to owning the responsibility you have to your own success.

And only then, ask for help and collaborate towards your success with marketing firms, coaches, attorneys, school programs, friends, government, and anyone who can help.

Don't be a victim to the fear of failure, be an OWNER of your own success.

Owning it daily,

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