Blogging With Credibility

Stop the NOISE!

So many people have opinions they want to voice when crisis strikes close to home, at election time and ... well ... when everyone else is voicing their opinions.

Let's think about this for a moment.

• Say you openly share your personal political views with a potential client you've been wooing for months. Say your favourite party wins and then makes a mess of the system ... in the eyes of that potential client, who asks himself "What idiots voted this government in anyway?" ... and remembers you ... as the idiot? Or ... your party does NOT get in power and the party who does makes wise and prudent decisions and gains popularity ... and you change your opinion ... Unless you make a living from your political opinions, keep politics out of your personal brand!

• In times of personal crisis are you a completely rational person? Or later, when someone calls you on a bad decision you made, do you say "I was going through a crisis at the time."?People can build a solid reputation over a lifetime and completely destroy their credibility with half their audience in a paragraph.

King Solomon, the wisest king in history, left us these words:

• "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness" Pr 12:23 and

• "He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." Pr 17:27-28

In a time when so many people have so many things to say, it's hard to hear what's right. Here's what we do know:

• The sun will rise tomorrow.
• This too shall pass.
• People's words - written and spoken - are permanent. They will either be judged as fools or considered right.
• Those who do not panic and offer advice and opinions but forge ahead, keeping their lives and businesses credible and useful will be recognized, respected and trusted.

Please, if you have opinions you are compelled to share:

1. Look at your vision and mission statements.
2. Review your values.
3. Make sure that everything you say reflects these things.
   

• If it doesn't it is not in the best interests of you or your organization to express these opinions.
• If it will not help to better establish your brand and there's a possibility of hurting your brand, don't do it.

Write your opinions in a journal which you can publish years from now ... if it turns out your opinions proved correct. In the meantime, stay grounded, stay on purpose, know yourself and be your brand.

Getting Organized (a.k.a. Becoming an "ORG NINJA"!)

I am a fan of organized people. They amaze and confound me. They make being organized look so effortless and logical, yet my reality is just so not that.

I know I'm not alone.

Because of people like me, there's a whole "organizing" industry. There's even a professional non-profit association of organizers in Canada where you can actually find someone to help you get organized! I kid you not! Go to www.organizersincanada.com for more information.

I HAVE been very organized ... at different times ... in one or two areas of life ... while everything else fell apart.

Organizing is actually my favourite avoidance technique. I give the illusion of being very busy and productive, while preventing myself from tackling something extremely important and difficult. I've come to terms with this habit. When the energy is there I go with it. At least I'm getting my most non-favourite task of filing out of the way.

When I get going, I'm very good at filing. So why can't I STAY organized?

Well, in a nutshell, some of my top core values are Variety, Creativity and Challenge, while Organization is third from the bottom. In my Personal Style Indicator, I am very people oriented, as opposed to task oriented. I really gather no joy or fulfillment from filing every piece of paper that travels my way.

I am not that way wired.

Are there benefits for people who ARE wired that way? ABSOLUTELY!

• They don't break into a sweat at the word "Taxes".
  
• They save great amounts of money from rebates and coupons that have not expired.
  
• They will never panic when I call them to ask if I can pop in and see them in ten minutes as I'm in their neighbourhood (people dropping into MY neighbourhood will have to meet me at the Starbucks or Tim Horton's down the street).

As we all know, our Personal Style and Core Values are not EXCUSES for our behaviour, so to prevent myself from being completely inept I have developed some survival systems ... which I of course change from time to time, fulfilling my value of Variety ... and telling myself THIS one will work!

If you're organizationally challenged like me I recommend you create a system that YOU WILL USE!!! There are terrific people out there with amazing systems I could never in a million years put into practice. The best paperwork system I've found yet for me is a set of four file folders that travel everywhere with me ... YES, ONLY FOUR!!!

1. Inbox - these are the things you need to act on within the current quarter.
2. Outbox - these are the things you need to redistribute, take somewhere else or discuss with other people
   
3. Expenses - This is a huge one for me! All your receipts go here to be filed into a tax file at home or written on an expense form at work, held for 30 days in case you need to return something, etc.
4. Future Ideas - all the pieces of paper, magazine articles, brainstorms, etc that I am not going to act on immediately go here to be reviewed quarterly and prioritized

Duplicate this set up as baskets on your desk at work (or files in your drawer) and trays on your office wall at home.

This system has freed my mind from the constant nagging worry of misplacing or burying a paper of high importance. My ever treasured mound of amazing ideas now has it's own folder, which I can pull out and peruse whenever I need a creative break.

Like it?

No, I can't claim responsibility for this idea. I recently had the opportunity to hear Krista Green, TV Show Host, author and speaker, in person. Her relatable, practical advice in her "Travel Light, Fly Faster" presentation will revolutionize the way I approach my briefcase, office and even my purse (love that "Butler Bag")!

For more information about Krista see www.organizedforlife.ca.

If your focus and productivity is impeded by the pile of paperwork in your office, do yourself a favour:

1. Schedule time in your daytimer or electronic calendar that is UNMOVABLE and call it ORG NINJA TIME or something that makes you look forward to that event.
2. DO NOT answer your phone or door during this time. You are booked! It is a meeting! It is important!
3. Start with Krista's simple system, but use boxes the first time. Add an additional box called Reference Material. That will include all things you can file and may or may not have to look at in future. DO NOT GET DISTRACTED! If you find a paper you need to act on, put it in your "INBOX" to deal with AFTER your ORG NINJA TIME.
   
4. Clear your work area and backlog of paperwork once and for all into workable sections that are within reach, but not front and center (close drawer or accordion file).
5. Place all Reference Material in a less accessible location - a further away file cabinet or bankers box in storage room.
   
6. Clear your briefcase and any other stashes or piles of "To-Do's" so all your priority work is in one place.
7. When you leave each location, take your "OUTBOX" items with you. When you arrive, go through your OUTBOX folder in your briefcase to see what needs to be left in the new location.
   
8. Schedule time each day to file all rogue paper into your system (to be done, to go somewhere or be filed, expenses, ideas for the future). Remember: A system you actually use is a system that actually works. The more you use it, the more systematic it will become and the more it will work for you!

Most of all, make it fun! Be a happy but ruthless ORG NINJA!!!