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Recently, I was in an event with about 6,000 other people, and the keynote speaker was Jack Canfield. Jack taught us many things from his best-selling book “The Success Principles”. One of the concepts that really stood out was a formula he shared which guided how to take personal responsibility, which was E, an event, plus R, responsibility equals O, which is outcome. So E plus R equals O. And what does that mean? It is not an event that happens to us that really makes a difference, It's how we respond to it. And by taking personal responsibility for the Response, we have control of the Outcome and you can improve it. On the flight home I was considering Jack’s formula. Almost every weekday I begin my day by journaling the people to whom I am grateful and the things I grateful for. I do this in a study group with a friend. One of the things we journal about in that study group is sending positive vibes even to somebody with whom I might have a disagreement. Well, I thought about a person who's very dear in my life, which is my wife. Occasionally, my day will be going along just great and seemingly out of nowhere she will throw a criticism at me for something. An example is on the golf course and we are playing together when she says, “Tuck in your shirt, your tummy is showing” because my shirt came out while I was swinging, or maybe I loaded the dishwasher incorrectly, or something of that nature. Another mentor of mine, whose name is Robert Dilts, in his book, “Coach to Awakener”, said that when somebody's criticizing you, there is almost always a positive piece to that because unless the person is evil, they are coming from a place of being helpful. If you view the Event through that frame and you are grateful for the help then okay, what is that criticism all about? I thought about it on the plane ride home from the event, in terms of taking personal responsibility, and I named it the Pistachio effect. Why the Pistachio Effect? Well, when you look at a pistachio, you wouldn't eat the outside of it. If you bit on it, the taste and texture would be terrible. But, when you open it up, there's the sweet fruit inside. Visualize the shell of the pistachio as the criticism, the sharp object on the outside. And if you just bit on it, it would be pretty bitter and be harsh on your mouth metaphorically and your psyche for real. Yet, if you open it up and taste the sweet fruit (the positive message) inside, well, there you go. So the principle basically is remembering when we are being criticized to pause a second or two, open the nut and recognize the positive message inside.

I don’t use the word “Every” lightly because it tends to be an exaggeration in many cases. Having said that, I believe it’s accurate to offer that literally every action has a starting point as an idea.

Science was not my favorite subject in elementary school because it often involved blood. I hate the sight of blood, particularly mine. Other than that I’m told I would have made a great doctor NoBody lol. But the one science experiment I always loved was when Mr. Dellelis would make a volcano erupt. Fireworks! I don’t light them myself but I love to watch them. Always have! The energy, the creativity, the timing, the beauty! Art only works when science does. Sales is also an art only when we understand the science. Yesterday I had one of those moments when energy was abundant and created by the chemical process of human connection. With my training partner, Valerie Johnson, we taught three awesome students the secrets, the science, and the system that will increase their ability to persuade and increase their sales by up to 300% in less time. The emphasis of yesterday’s training was on business and particularly sales situations. There is true energy when people connect in a common language. As our students began to understand and demonstrate the first level of fluency in the global B.A.N.K. language of BUY-Ology, the energy in the Zoom room was built geometrically. Next week we build on that facility with the power of B.A.N.K. to improve personal relationships. With their higher level of emotional intelligence, I am excited to hear how their results translate in Harvest Time!

I am a voracious reader. Sometimes I read words and sometimes I enjoy listening to the author read his/her own words. What are the origins of my love of reading? I have to give first credit to my parents, who were voracious readers, although their preference was fiction, while mine is business-related books, focusing on personal development. In addition, my Dad worked in the book industry, first in distribution then in publishing. There were always books, especially hard-covered books, on their nightstands and with whatever we brought to the beach during the summer, where paperbacks were preferred. https://www.facebook.com/groups/bookwormsandleaders Watch for a Live in my public Facebook group, Business Bookworms, and Leaders , where will I share some of the stories of my Dad’s career in the book industry. He was an innovator in that arena, as you’ll soon learn. The main reason for my love of books is that I have an appetite and insatiable curiosity to learn about people, their journeys, their quests to overcome adversity, and especially what I can learn and model to be the best, most effective, resourceful person I can be…better than yesterday and not as good as tomorrow.

Today I am excited to begin and be part of my mentor, Marilen Crump’s, 30 Day Branded Blog Challenge. Marilen has inspired me to begin sharing the fruits of these 68 years on Earth and most of it in the pursuit of being a person who is one day better, stronger, wiser than before. The two single most powerful discoveries I have made are that everything falls on leadership and that energy is the most essential component of all life. These two realizations have unlocked a world of curiosity and powerful lessons for how to improve as a person one day at a time. Leadership requires a lot of Energy. People will only follow those who vibrate at a higher level than they do. If you have a hard time believing that think about how the top leaders we respect in religion, spirituality and war are portrayed in art. Take a moment to visualize a piece of artwork portraying one of those figures; bright lights enveloping the figure, a halo, a military hero upon a horse standing upright on two legs. What is illustrated by each of those things? Tremendous energy. Now take a moment to remember a moment where you felt a magnetic attraction to a leader speaking on a stage. You could feel the energy in the room. How did it feel? What did you see? How did it sound? What did you think about it at that moment? My favorite books on leadership are “5 Levels of Leadership” and “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, both by John C. Maxwell. The first draws a blueprint for who you need to be to achieve and rise through the levels of leadership, while the second defines the Laws great leaders have followed and that we must observe to be effective. The reason I love these books, and what is required for all the books I share, is that on practically every page there is a lesson you can implement immediately and grow as a result. What action can you take today to increase your vibration, the energy you show to the world so that people will follow you? After all, if you are walking and no one is following, you’re just taking a walk. #30DayBrandedBlogChallenge

I am a communication and leadership trainer and coach, certified as a John Maxwell Trainer, B.A.N.K. Trainer, Codebreaker IOS Coach, and NLP Master Practitioner.

On Day 3 of the 30-Day Branded Blog Challenge , our assignment option is a business progress report. When on a journey It’s fun to occasionally look back and see how far we’ve come. This past week, along with my training partner, Valerie Johnson, MarVal Training completed a course in the Fundamentals of the B.A.N.K. Methodology with an enthusiastic and engaged class. Two four-hour sessions have rarely gone as quickly because the energy level was so high and the chemistry flowing as our students learned and began to apply the global language of B.A.N.K., the only methodology in the world scientifically validated to predict your customer’s/friend’s/relative’s buying…or buy-in behavior in 90 seconds or less. The assessment at the end clearly demonstrated that our students had accomplished the skill of recognizing the values and behaviors of each of the four BANK Personality codes in sales and personal relationships. What is even better is that two of our students, a couple, had identified ways they would improve their personal communications with each other. You could sense the happiness they felt towards each other at having found a new way to improve their already fantastic relationship. As the week progressed, “J” as I will call her since I have not asked permission to use her name, reported that she had used her new skill to improve a business presentation she made to better assure that her message connected with all personalities. This made a huge difference to “J” because it increased her confidence going into the presentation to a large Zoom audience. As a trainer, there is nothing so validating and energizing as to hear from a student that they were able to apply in a live situation what we taught to improve their business and personal results. And a promise by “J” to introduce us to folks who would benefit from our course moves the ball forward for our mission and purpose. Anyone up to improve their communications and leadership skills for business or personal relationships?