TipsForSuccess

TipsForSuccess: How to Stop Worrying

Lighten Up!

For many of us, December is the most stressful month of the year. The weather is cold, the roads and stores are crowded and you have a lot to do.

Each day you face serious burdens. Maybe you don't make enough money. Perhaps your love life is non-existent. Your work might be unbearable.

Perhaps you dislike where you live. Your coworkers are unfriendly. You do things you regret.

If you finally decide to do something about it, what do you do?

Move to a new town? Leave your spouse? Look for a new job?

Maybe you just watch more television or drink a little more wine.

But the drudgeries or burdens always return. Life seems pretty serious.

Fortunately, you can do something right now that will change everything.

"When a man loses his Spirit of Play, he's dead." "... a guy will tell you, 'Well, I had some illusions when I was a kid, but I've lost all those. I'm practical now. We've got to face this thing practically, and what we are doing here is very serious.'"

"You want to know what seriousness is? Seriousness is solidity. You ever hear of a 'solid citizen?'

"There's nothing that succeeds like insouciance*. Plain flippancy** will actually get more done in less time than anything else you can name."

"And the more seriously you take the game, the less chance there is of winning."-- L. Ron Hubbard (*Insouciance: Lack of concern, carefree.) (**Flippancy: casualness, disrespectful joy.)

Benefits

When you take things less seriously and fire up your Spirit of Play, you enjoy several benefits.

● You get more done with less effort.

● You think of new solutions that are simple and effective.

● People enjoy being around you.

● You feel healthier and more alive.

● You get more cooperation and support from others

● You have more fun.

So how do you take the game of life less seriously? How can you get more insouciant or flippant?

Recommendations

If you are in good mental shape, simply reminding yourself to lighten up can switch you from a serious mood to a light and carefree mood.

For example, you are stuck in a long traffic line waiting to get into a parking lot. You get into the parking lot and can't find a place to park. Instead of driving around giving people dirty looks, you decide to lighten up. "Why am I getting so serious about a parking space! I'll park down the street and get in some exercise."

As another example, your car breaks down. You get mad at yourself for not taking better care of it. You then criticize yourself for not making enough money. You feel like smashing your car with a hammer. Instead you say, "I'm getting too serious here! When I'm rich and successful, this will be really funny." You laugh and get your car fixed.

Another example: You and your spouse are not talking. You disagreed about something, had an argument and got very serious. You decide, "We need to lighten up!" So you act silly or tell jokes until you and your spouse laugh.

Your Spirit of Play can make or break your business or career. If you get serious, you not only feel lousy, you make others lose the joy of work. Your days drag by and you look for ways to quit. You lose more often than you win.

If you stop taking your job so seriously, you and those around you make better decisions. Your days fly by as you get more done. You win the game.

For twelve more ways to lighten up, read "Being Too Serious Can Ruin Your Success" at www.tipsforsuccess.org/seriousness.htm.

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

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TipsForSuccess: Five Tips to Help Children Succeed

How to Stop Worrying

One of the most stressful aspects of managing your life, job or business is SURPRISES.

For example, you are going along, believing everything is fine, then WHAM! Your son gets arrested. Your neighbor cuts down your tree. Your car is stolen.

Any job can include surprising catastrophes. You get demoted or transferred. Your co-worker falsely accuses you of theft. Your boss screams at you.

Management surprises can be the most stressful of all. A key employee suddenly quits. A government agent walks in to do an inspection. Some crazy guy screams at your receptionist and won't leave.

Odds are good you will get hit with several surprises in your life. As a result, your forward progress can be stopped. Your production can be blocked. Your success can be ruined.

Even worse, the more successful you are, or the bigger your business becomes, the more often you might be hit with surprises.

Bad Solutions

You might be so afraid of catastrophes that you take them too seriously. You decide to stop succeeding. To earn less money. To be less aggressive, less intense or less passionate.

You believe that if you are small and insignificant, people will leave you alone. Of course, they just hunt you down.

Another bad approach is to get upset when a catastrophe occurs. You act like a victim or a coward. Yet this often makes the problem even worse. You do and say the wrong things and get hit with more surprises.

Getting numb is another bad idea. You might want to use drugs or alcohol to deaden your feelings. You try to turn off the world. But this also hurts your success as you need to clearly perceive the world around you if you wish to succeed.

Constantly worrying about surprises is another bad solution as it makes life miserable. Instead of focusing on opportunities and good results, you worry. You spend too much time thinking about problems and potential catastrophes that might happen to you.

Luckily, you can reduce your stress and worry with a little planning.

Surprise Insurance

"A catastrophe occurs by lack of prediction of a possible circumstance. Those things planned for do not become catastrophes." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Your best insurance is to predict and plan for catastrophes IN ADVANCE. Once you have a plan for handling every conceivable surprise, you can relax.

For example, you are worried you'll be in trouble with your boss because you would not wash his wife's car. You plan a positive response. "I hope I didn't offend your wife, but knew I should check with you before stopping my work to wash her car." Because you are prepared, you stop worrying. The boss never says anything about it.

When you have a plan for a disaster, you are ready for it. Instead of reacting to the problem, while upset and prone to making mistakes, you take command of the situation. You resolve it with your plan. Your prosperity continues.

For example, as a boss, you learn a former employee is suing you. If you planned for this possibility in advance, you would know exactly what to do. Your paperwork would be filed and organized. Your lawyer would send a copy of your paperwork to the employee's attorney. The employee's attorney would see you had done everything right and drop the case.

As another example, you can't sleep because you MUST get to work on time to give a presentation. So instead of tossing and turning in your bed, you turn on the lights. You write down every reason you might be late. You plan how to handle each. You set two alarm clocks and a wind-up alarm in case the power goes out. You figure out another way to get to work in case your car won't start. You lay out your clothes and set up your coffee maker. You are now prepared! You get in bed and instantly fall asleep.

The same principle works on a personal level. For example, Joe is worried his wife will be angry when she finds out he quit his job. He works out the best way to explain it to her so she can understand his reasons. Joe stops worrying and drives home. When he first gives her the news, he is ready for a bad reaction, but she is fine. Because he planned for a catastrophe, it does not happen.

Recommendation

Make a list of all the catastrophes you expect may happen to you. Include everything that makes you worry. Small things, big things, anything you can think of.

Next to each item on your list, write up a plan to handle it. Some potential catastrophes require a single preparation stop. Others need a detailed, 20-step plan.

As you do this exercise, you may feel uncomfortable and nervous. Just keep working on it. As you plan out more solutions and get prepared, you will feel more relaxed and confident than ever before. You become ready for anything!

After you finish, you will probably think of more things to add to your list. So keep it handy.

In fact, each time you feel stressed or worried about a potential problem, add the potential surprise to your list. If it's already on the list, simply add more preparation steps until you are no longer worried.

Review the list every few months. When you review old solutions, you think of new preventive steps and better solutions.

Biggest Benefit

"A catastrophe occurs by lack of prediction of a possible circumstance. Those things planned for do not become catastrophes." -- L. Ron Hubbard

That's right! Because you have planned for these surprises, they won't happen to you.

Give it a try!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

Fw: TipsForSuccess: Delegating Power

Five Tips to Help Children Succeed

Raising kids is a difficult, yet important task. You can add a happy and valuable member to our world or create an unhappy problem for the world to handle. These five tips will help you.

Even if you are not currently raising children, they are a big part of your future. Today's children are tomorrow's parents and leaders. You can improve our future by helping parents raise their kids with these five tips.

The following five quotes are from The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard.

1. "What does have a workability is simply to try to be the child's friend. It is certainly true that a child needs friends."

Who were the adults in your own childhood? Who were your favorite relatives? Your favorite leaders, sports coaches or teachers? If you smile at the memory, they probably treated you like a friend, not a child.

2. "Try to find out what a child's problem really is and without crushing their own solutions, try to help solve them."

A child is a regular person in a small body. You don't own a child. He or she is starting to think. If you encourage them to solve problems, you are building their confidence.

For example, asking the right questions is often more valuable to people than giving out answers. "Why are you crying? Why was he mean to you? What do you want to do about it? Okay. What might be a better way to solve it?"

3. "Observe them--and this applies even to babies. Listen to what children tell you about their lives."

For example, you might observe a baby calms down when a football game is on the television. You may discover your three-year-old gets excited when painting flowers. An eight-year-old may give you a great idea that you've never considered.

4. "Let them help-if you don't, they become overwhelmed with a sense of obligation which they then must repress." (Repress = hold back.)

How do you feel if someone gives you money or favors, but refuses to let you return the favor in any way? Perhaps you feel worthless as you have nothing valuable to give to that person. If you are not allowed to help the person back, you'll soon dislike or distrust the person and refuse all future gifts.

"If you fold the napkins, it would really help me." "I'll give you an allowance if you take care of all the garbage for the house." "I'll feel better if you sing a song for me."

5. "A child factually does not do well without love. Most children have an abundance of it to return."

For a free download copy of The Way to Happiness, click here. To learn about the Way to Happiness Foundation, click here.

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

Delegating Power

Question: What is the most common fear of executives?

Answer: Delegating power to employees who might fail.

Only courageous leaders are able to pass down authority, decision-making power and responsibility to those below them. They do this despite the incompetence, inability and inexperience of their people.

History is filled with leaders who could not lead. L. Ron Hubbard uses a South American leader, Simon Bolivar, as an example of how extraordinary people can fail as executives.

Simon Bolivar successfully won the South American revolutionary war against Spain during the 1800's. After the war he was the richest, most powerful man in South America, but only for a brief period. Because of his mistakes, he was kicked out of his country and eventually, died broke.

Bolivar made the same mistake most failed executives make. He could not delegate power.

"Brave beyond any general in history on the battlefield, the Andes or in torrential rivers, he [Simon Bolivar] did not really have the bravery needed to trust inferior minds and stand by their often shocking blunders. He feared their blunders. So he did not dare unleash his many willing hounds.

"He could lead men, make men feel wonderful, make men fight and lay down their lives after hardships no army elsewhere in the world had ever faced before or since. But he could not use men even when they were begging to be used."

"If you have power, use it or delegate it or you sure won't have it long." -- L. Ron Hubbard

You fail as an executive whenever you bypass an employee, redo their work or change their decisions too often. If you train your people, why interfere? You cannot expect to be successful if you pass out authority and then take it back.

For example, you tell your best receptionist, "You are now in charge of the entire waiting area and all of the receptionists' scheduling." The new reception manager then takes over and posts a new schedule . . . but you don't like it. There is nothing really wrong with the schedule, but you would prefer a different arrangement.

If you are a stupid executive, you will change the schedule. If you are a smart executive, you will leave the schedule alone. You might make a private suggestion. But if possible, you wait and see how it goes. If the new manager's decision is even close to being correct, you must leave it alone.

You succeed as an executive when you delegate the entire job and let the person get on with it. You give staff members the room to make mistakes, fix their mistakes and learn from their mistakes.

You support their decisions. You help them when they need help, but you don't interfere with the territory you give to them.

Ten Benefits of Delegating Power

1. You can use your time for the most valuable work possible.
2. You reduce your workload.
3. You can focus on increasing the productivity and income for your group.
4. People like to work for you as you give them new challenges and new opportunities.
5. You get more done with less effort.
6. Everyone in your group shows more responsibility.
7. Higher morale for everyone.
8. Your income goes up.
9. The pay of the members of your group goes up.
10. You reach your goals and your group's goals in less time.

Recommendations for Executives (includes business owners, managers and bosses of all types)

1. Make a list of every job you are currently doing yourself.

2. Rate each job according to difficulty. For example, put a 1 by the easiest jobs and a 5 by the hardest jobs. Rate every job from 1-5.

3. Decide who can take over which jobs. Put their name next to the job you will be delegating. You will delegate the easiest jobs first. If you do not currently have a person to take over some of your jobs, use "future" names, such as "Future Marketing Director" or "Future Executive Director."

4. Delegate each job as fast as possible. As long as the people are trained and know what they are doing, leave them alone.

5. With your free time, focus on the big picture; new goals, new territory, new operations and greater success for you and your organization.

If You are Not Yet An Executive . . .

. . . you soon will be if you do the following:

1. Look for opportunities to take on more responsibility. Grab every bit you can. Do not worry about extra pay at this point.

2. When you get a duty assigned to you, get the entire duty assigned. "So if I take on this job, can I make all the related decisions? If I want to try a new approach, can I just go ahead? How should I report my progress to you?"

3. If your boss tries to take back some of the responsibility, bring it up as soon as possible. "Am I still in charge of this duty? If you want to take it back, that is fine with me, I just need to know. If you are really delegating it to me, I'll need to have full authority over it which means you won't step in without talking to me first. Is that okay?"

4. As soon as you can, start to delegate duties to people below you so you can take on even more responsibility.

You are now an executive!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

TipsForSuccess: Lighten Up!

TipsForSuccess: How to Stop Worrying

TipsForSuccess: Five Tips to Help Children Succeed

Fw: TipsForSuccess: Delegating Power

TipsForSuccess: How to Solve "Unsolvable" Problems

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