Wealth and Wisdom

Today my article will appear as a guest post on My Super-Charged Life. Please stop by and read 7 Keys to Doing the Right Thing. I also encourage you to read the other articles on his site. If you like the article feel free to submit the article to your favorite social networking site.

Visitors from My Super-charged Life.

Welcome to Wealth and Wisdom! I’ve listed a few of my articles below that you might enjoy. Feel free to read them and any other articles that catch your interest.

• How to respond when your family asks for money
• Recessionproof your sales
• 8 Lessons You Can Learn From Winning
• Three paths to financial abundance
• 11 Steps to the Job of Your Dreams
• 7 ways losers win

If you like what you see please let me know by leaving a comment (I do respond to most). I would also like to invite you to join our blog for free. You’ll save time by having our articles delivered to your RSS reader. Don’t have an RSS reader? Feel free to sign up for our email subscription at the top of the page.

I hope you all had a great weekend. Holiday weekends are always a great time to connect with family and friends.

For the Smith family holiday weekends usually result in a significant project. While for some people this is an imposition we enjoy it. Having a purpose and accomplishing something major is a lot of fun. So for the last few days we’ve been tearing out tile and getting ready to install hardwood flooring. I apologize if I’ve been less attentive this week but a man must have his priorities. This week getting my house back together is job one!

Working with Uncle Sam

I’m not a big fan of government work. Oh, I know there are people that make a lot of money selling to the government. I just don’t have the patience for red tape. I spent over a decade fighting it while I served in the Navy. I didn’t like it then and I like it even less not. That being said, I am looking at using my connections to work with veterans and our service men about to enter the civilian community. I like the idea of making a profit while helping the men and women that protect our liberties.

Recently Ben Jones at Ben Means Business published part 3 of his government contracts series. If this is an area you are considering I suggest you check his blog out. His hands on experience as a government contractor can save you a lot of time and energy.

• Guide to Getting Government Contracts: Part 1
• Guide to Getting Government Contracts Part 2
• Guide to Getting Government Contracts Part 3

I hope you all have a great weekend and take the time to reflect on the sacrifices that gave us this great country. For two centuries our soldiers and sailors have put their lives on the line so we can be free. So fly your flag and enjoy the fireworks. Spend time with friends and family. Take time to celebrate the birth of the greatest country in history.

Today would also be a good time to reflect on your independence. What are you doing to free yourself from the daily grind? Have you started a business or are you still on the sidelines? If not take action today. Start small and let it grow into something profound.

If you are already out on your own, what have you done to allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labors? Have you set up systems and procedures so you can begin to outsource or hire employees?

Entrepreneur/Business Articles

1. Ben Means Business
   Home Biz Blues
2. Business Pundit
   The Format Wars: Sony Proves that It’s the Player, Not the Game, That Wins
   How Failing Helps You Win
3. GetEntrepreneurial
   Your Niche, Your Ideal Client and Your Message
   Do You Have The Courage To Be Indiana Jones?
   Keep On Your Track
4. Small Business CEO
   Seeing Your Invention Thru From Start to Finish
5. Small Business Trends
   5 Services to Streamline Your Business Operations
   Are You Hunting or Harvesting?
   Downsized Into Entrepreneurship, the 21st Century Way
6. Business Opportunities Weblog
   Improve Your Listening Skills
7. Successful Blog
   The Pendulums, The Level, The Relationships and Commerce
8. Startup Nation
   Overcoming Failure to Launch
   Five mistakes people make with startup businesses
9. Young Entrepreneur
   Is College Worth it for Entrepreneurs?

Personal Development Articles

1. Lifehack
   Don’t Bring Me Answers, Bring Me More Questions!
   4 Firefox Add-Ons to Ease Your Online Life
   Why Haven’t You Organized Your Passwords?
2. My Super-Charged Life
   11 Ways To Make Your Apologies More Meaningful and Effective
   Resist Change At All Costs Even If It Is For The Better

Personal Finance Articles

1. Get Rich Slowly
   We’re All Going to Die Someday: Making Informed Insurance Choices
2. I Will Teach You to Be Rich
   “But I earn $300/year from switching banks!”
3. Moolanomy
   REAL Wealth Building Framework
   Are We Financially Worse Off Than Our Parents?
   Are You Financially Healthy? The 5 Stages
   

Blogging and Just Plain Cool

1. The Blog of Tim Ferriss
   How to “Peel” Hard-Boiled Eggs Without Peeling
2. ProBlogger
   Why I Use Aweber To Deliver My Newsletters

Personal responsibility isn’t a new topic. It is a core topic for every self help and business guru’s system. Whether you are an entrepreneur or trying to make changes in your personal life responsibility is a key to success.

In QBQ John Miller takes a unique approach to this old topic. He looks at the questions we ask continuously throughout the day. Some we ask out loud: “When are you finally going to finish your project?” Some we ask ourselves: “Why does my boss always say one thing and do another?”

These questions are at the root of personal responsibility. A powerful question leads to action and improvement. A weak question leads to blame and procrastination. By becoming conscious of our internal and external dialog we become more effective. We become change agents. We become better leaders.

In a nutshell we make better choices moment to moment by asking better questions.

3 Guidelines to good questions

• The question must begin with a “what” or “how”
  • Leads to solutions.
  • Don’t ask why: Why is the word of victims. Why me? Why didn’t he finish on time? Why doesn’t he spend more time on my needs? This does nothing to solve the problem. It only adds to stress and worry.
  • Don’t ask when: When implies we have no control over the schedule. This leads to a loss of control and to procrastination.
  • Don’t ask Who: Who is the language of blame. You are basically looking for a scapegoat and it leads to finger pointing. John uses the old phrase “a poor sailor blames the wind.” This could be changed to fit any situation. For example, “a poor manager blames his workers.”
• The question must contain an I
  • I can change only me: The key is to focus on what you can control. Your circle of influence begins with yourself. This is where you have the most influence. You can’t change others. You often can’t control events. It is only our thoughts and actions that we can really control.
  • Take ownership of the situation. Fix the problem and stop trying to blame others.
  • Have integrity: your actions and words must match. This means that you must do what you are asking of your employees. Also, what you say in the office and in your personal life need to match. If you can’t, you either need to enact change or find another place to work. Believe or leave. You must have integrity. What you say in the office and away need to match.

• The question must focus on action
  • People avoid action due to the perceived risk. Remember, there is risk in inaction as well.
  • Action solves the problem and moves things forward.
  • Action leads to learning and growth.
  • Action leads us toward solutions while inaction holds us in the past
  • Action requires courage while inaction is caused by fear.
  • Action builds confidence while inaction destroys it.

What if I’m not in a leadership position?

Leadership begins with personal accountability. He asserts that leaders can be found at all levels. It is something we see in sports all the time. There is often a critical player that helps make everyone else better. It is often a mid level role player, not the star or the team captain.

We see the same things in the businesss world as well. Look in any group and someone always stands out. This person is usually the go to guy (or gal) in the department. The interesting thing is that senority is not the main factor. It is the person who tends to find solutions.

In conclusion

I recommend this book to anyone looking to be more effective or who wants to be a better leader. All in all this is a well written book. The ideas are thought provoking and can be easily applied to all areas of your life. While it is a quick read John comprehensively covers the topic.