Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Get Inspired From Others Success


We just had some incredible examples of massive success in our company this month....income records being shattered and the bar of success being raised. This is such an pivotal moment of celebration for everyone in the company....not just the individuals achieving the result. It provides evidence to other people what is possible.

Evidence - when one person raises the bar, they demonstrate by their example what is possible.

We see this in business, sports, all walks of life....people achieving what no one before them had. People raising the bar, pushing the limits, thinking outside of the box of what is possible, and then going after it, taking action and achieving it.

Why is this important? Because there are so many different examples of greatness, and when one person does the so called "impossible", it brings a new awareness to the observers.....the observers then have new hope of what is possible for them, and once again, the butterfly effect happens.....one person's example of greatness becomes the inspiration for others to grow into their greatness....and the bar of success keeps going up!

Wow, I love being a witness to others people greatness.......people living into their full human potential! Ask yourself, what am I truly capable of, what potential do I have that I am holding back on....what is really possible for my life? Every individual has greatness within them waiting to be unleashed....it is our personal responsibility to live into our full potential...to raise the bar in our own lives....knowing that we all have the power to be the example that changes other people's lives.

In Your Service

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Leadership Starts With YOU


Leadership is one of the most powerful commodities on the planet! Everyone is capable of being a leader, but few actually live into that potential.

We are surrounded in society by people that have conformed to negative self talk, negative beliefs, and lack of vision and hope. How can YOU get past this to create the type of success you want in your life and live into your full leadership potential?

1) Separate yourself from negative conversations - it is a CHOICE to be involved in conversations or complaining, and negativity...understand that you have full control in your life, and you can choose to remove yourself from any conversation that is not beneficial or positive.
2) Turn off all media -newspapers, t.v., etc. - CREATE your own reality and don't "buy into" what the media feeds you
3) Read and listen to positive material that will enhance your attitude, and increase your knowledge, and increases a positive energy in you
4) Surround yourself with people that you can learn from, people that you feel great with, people that are energetic, positive, successful

Be willing to walk a different path - think outside of the box - look at the people in your life and ask yourself if they are getting the type of results that you really want. If not, start limiting your time with these people, and start putting yourself into different environments....join a gym, or a golf club, find a mastermind group to join, eat in different restaurants, anything to change it up.

Be willing to meet new people, do new things....be willing to do whatever people that are getting results do.

Success is simple when you take on the role of leadership and follow the path of other successful people. It requires moving out of conformity, fear, negativity and masses thinking, and moving in the direction that leaders follow. It requires taking a firm stand in your life for what you want, and only moving in the direction of decisions that move you towards that goal.

In your service,

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Leadership & Building Successful Careers


Today we attended our daughters college graduation! It was an opportunity to see young people living into their goals and launching their new careers. It is so great to witness peoples greatness and share in the joy of achievement!

As the ceremony got underway, the president of the college and other "dignitaries" were seated on the stage. Several got up to speak their words of "wisdom". This was the most uninspiring, unenthusiastic, event I have ever witnessed. There was no smiling, no excitement on behalf of the "dignitaries"...they all looked depressed! Several got up to speak, and not one of them just stood and spoke from the heart....they all read "pre-canned" speeches and demonstrated no real leadership. Anyone could have stepped behind the podium and "read" the speeches they delivered and handed out the awards. These are the people in charge of teaching our youth on how to build a successful career! These are the people in charge of teaching our youth leadership! No enthusiasm, no heart, no passion, nothing.....

In the program, it read "Please reserve applause until the end of the presentation" So, as the first 100 or so students walked across the stage to accept their diploma's, it was silent, you could have heard a pin drop. I couldn't help thinking this was unacceptable....these students have worked day and night studying, many have worked 1 or 2 part time jobs to put themselves through college and in this moment of greatness, this moment of celebration, this moment when we were celebrating their launch into new careers they have worked 3 years to achieve, we were not supposed to recognize their greatness and applaud? That was just unacceptable to me! There was NO way that my daughter was going to walk across that stage and quietly accept her diploma.....without some excitement, something to remember! If that is the best our school system can do....if they can't be more creative than that, why don't they just stick these diplomas in the mail? Getting mail would have been more exciting than what was being demonstrated on that stage!

So, when our daughter walked across that stage our family let out huge whooohooo's, clapping and cheering! This was in the gym that was totally silent up to that point! She now has a "memory" of her great moment of achievement!

An interesting thing happened after this......more people started letting out little whoohoo's and claps came from various spots in the room. More and more people caught on to this and one young fellow in front of us stood up and yelled and cheered and whistled when his brother was on stage. THAT is enthusiasm! That is passion! That is non-conformity! Why is this important? Because, the people that have been "conforming" to society's "way of doing things" are losing their jobs and don't know what their future holds! People that don't conform, realize it doesn't matter if they lose their job, because they will go out and create something better!

People that have the most success in life, live with excitement, passion, non-conformity, and think outside the box. They learn how to be effective leaders and then share their knowledge to assist other people.

Here are some tips to assist anyone (new or seasoned) in creating a successful career...

-Never be afraid to do something GREAT - fear is crippling and holds many people back their whole lives

-Believe in your own ideas

-Set goals you are passionate about and only take actions that lead you towards these specific goals

-Live on the edge and do not follow the "masses" mentality

-Don't take no for an answer

-Live life with ENTHUSIASM

-Find mentors that can teach you and lead you in the direction of your goals

-Go after what you really want, and don't settle

-Be willing to step out of your comfort zone

-Take a stand for your own greatness and be wiling to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes.

-Be a LEADER - take people in bold new directions, let go of the "masses" mentality that is so prevalent in our society and BE the person that steps outside of "what has always worked" and "what people have been doing and thinking for years" and lead people to new possibilities

-Continually educate yourself, keep learning and growing into your full potential. Study successful people, learn what they do and then implement the success strategies into your own life.

And most of all, have FUN doing it.....life is meant to be lived, enjoyed....not to crawl through in a comotose state safely making it to the end!

In Your Service,

Debbie Ruston

1-519-342-4050 or 1-800-576-2917

Monday, June 8, 2009

Executive Careers & Downsizing


If you have had a successful executive career in an industry that is downsizing, perhaps the time has come to consider what other industries are growing that you can utilize your skills in, or even a consider a total career change. Gone are the days that individuals keep working the same careers until retirement.

There are many options to consider to put your personal strengths and professional experience to work for you, so that you can create success within a totally different industry. It is a process that thousands of successful executives have faced. There are many opportunities....you just need an open mind, and for some individuals it will require learning to think outside of the box.

To start, identify all of your interests, skills, passions and your core values ... many times individuals have been stuck in a career they didn't even like in the first place, and stay because of the financial rewards, not knowing what else they can do to maintain the level of income they have become accustomed to. When that income disappears it forces people to get more creative, and define what they want in their lives. For instance, if you have been working 80 hours week, you may define in your new career that you want to work less hours and be home more. Maybe you have realized that you have been selling your life to an employer, missing time with your family....for what? To be downsized by a company that didn't care about you in the first place? Tough pill to swallow, but true....and so many high level executive careers have demanded that type of commitment.

The good news is, you now have a choice where YOU call the shots....you can absolutely design your next career to be deeply satisfying, expressing your talents and passions that are unique to you, and take your income to an even higher level than you previously made. In many cases, these moments in life, when we are forced to make a change because of outside circumstances, actually are the starting point of a magnificent new direction in our lives.

In Your Service

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050





Thursday, June 4, 2009

Action VS Inaction


Building success is no secret when you know what successful people do. Successful people are no different than anyone else....the only difference is that we have learned and mastered some very basic success principles that we apply to our lives on a consistent basis.

Success principle #1 - Get the energy to do the thing, and you will get the energy to do the thing! Have you heard this before? Maybe you have heard it, but have you actually implemented and mastered this simple success principle?

Here is a basic example of this success strategy.....have you ever "not felt" like doing something that you know would move you towards your goal and put it off until you "felt" like it. Many times, individuals buy this excuse and actually never get started because they are waiting to "feel" like it. Let's take going to the gym - last week it was raining and cold outside and we were comfy inside watching a great movie. Barry & I were scheduled to go to the gym for our fitness class. 15 minutes before I got up to leave and we had a moment of "should we go...or just stay here"....we really wanted to stay and watch the movie....but, we got ourselves up and went to the fitness class. Afterwards we were so grateful that we went and felt fabulous after the workout! It was absolutely energizing! Such a basic example of "get the energy to do the thing, and you get the energy to do the thing" It would have been so much easier to stay on the couch, but when we mustered up the energy to get ourselves to the gym, the energy came to us and we both felt great!

Business works the same way, when you simply get started with the task you are avoiding or don't want to do, you will get the energy to continue. This is something that all successful people have mastered and do on a consistent basis.

Here is a quick example relating to business - this morning I was scheduled to speak on a company training call. I woke up with flu type symptoms and contacted one of my business partners to find a replacement for the call. I then went to the hot tub to relax and started reflecting and thinking about my decision and I realized that I could buy my own excuse and have a pity party, or, I could use this as a powerful example of this success principle. So I recommitted myself to the training call. It was actually amazing how much energy I got from this call....I decided to commit to the call for the benefit of the listeners and felt I could provide them with a powerful message. But something interesting happened.....I got a ton out of it myself! My energy went through the roof, I felt adrenaline pouring through my system, I was excited, and didn't feel sick any more. I did a bit of work in my office, went out for a 2 hour lunch with my son, did a bit more work, and then went to the gym for 3 hours. I came home and have been catching up on some things I had to do and here it is 1:40 am and I am not even tired, and haven't felt sick since!

This was a fabulous experience for me to have today! It was repeated evidence for me personally that when you are focused on your goal with full intention, and you apply some basic success princples even when you don't really feel like it, you will create success in your life and in your business.

In Your Service,

Debbie Ruston
1-800-576-2917 or 1-519-342-4050

Monday, June 1, 2009

Building Confidence


When taking on anything new, there is usually a level of uncertainty and lack of confidence. It is a sign we are stepping out of our comfort zones. For some people this will be too daunting, and therefore, they stay stuck in their own comfort zone because it is too uncertain, they are too fearful, they lack confidence.

I recently joined a gym and began going to some fabulous exercise classes offered there.. I have never been an exerciser! As in many spots where you are following an instructor, there are mirrors all around the room......I had no idea why they would put mirrors up all over so you could see how out of shape you were no matter what direction you were pointing! I have learned is so that as you turn in different positions of exercise, you can still see the instructor without turning your head. It is extremely helpful! However, when I started at the gym, I was like most new folks and didn't yet know all the movements that were being done, so when the group was moving in one direction I was moving in the other direction.....I just didn't have the "beat" of the movements yet. I found myself looking in all the mirrors at how clumsy I was looking compared to the rest of the group. My confidence was not yet there and I definitely felt clumsy and was very aware of my "newness".

This is comparable to many things in our life that we take on and are new at...a new job, a new business, a new relationship, a new hobby....the list goes on. So often, this is a transition that is uncomfortable for people....and they quit before they ever get off the ground.

As I kept going back to the classes at the gym, I noticed something really interesting....each class I was getting less clumsy and was gaining more strength and was actually getting a bit better at the movements each class. I was focused on the enjoyment and the progress and last week as I sat in the sauna afterwards, I was reflecting on the progress I had made over the last 6 weeks and realized something really important. I hadn't looked in those mirrors to look at myself since probably the 2nd week....why is that important? I realized that at the beginning I was so focused on all the things I was doing wrong and wondering how clumsy I looked, how out of shape I was, and was anyone else noticing it? Because I pushed through this time frame of learning, I got into flow, and was just totally enjoying the experience and the feeling of success I was experiencing from the exercise. I was using the mirrors to simply follow the instructor and didn't care what I looked like and actually don't even know what I look like in the movements because I haven't been focused on that.

It is like putting a magnifying glass on ourselves when we start something new....initially we don't have confidence, we feel like we are making mistakes, and we are self conscious about looking inadequate. But, when we push through these feelings and keep focused on the goal, all of a sudden you will come to the realization that wow, you have actually become confident, and proficient in what you are doing. That builds your self esteem and your confidence and that is when the activity actually becomes fun and almost effortless.

I have become addicted to the gym...it is amazing how much you learn from physical activity that leads to breakthroughs in other areas of your life as well.

In Your Service

Debbie Ruston
1-519-342-4050 or 1-800-576-2917