My readers know that I don’t use my blog to promote affiliate products, but occasionally I don’t mind recommending a product that is going to actually help someone. Myu friend Melissa Ann Mitchell has created a training series to help newbie Internet marketers actually put their business together with her direct consultation. As an enticement for them to hear about the training, she’s put together a free 10-Video, 7-Day training course. I’m not an affiliate for her, but I know this course is going to help some folks, so I recommend you go grab it at . Check out this video I made to give you a good idea of what to expect from the course. I watched all the videos and think it’s great.

Effective leadership is not an accident; rather it is the result of carefully culturing the qualities of leadership into your own personality and ethos. Character is one such quality, and it’s a biggie. I don’t have to remind you of the Enron scandal and the mortgage and banking debacles. Character is the guts to go with your convictions. Character is the true heart of authenticity and being real. Because character is all about whom you are, and what you stand for.

In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, John C. Maxwell explains that character is at the heart of our development as human beings, not just as leaders. Each day we make hundreds of choices, and some are at the crossroads of character and compromise. And each time we choose character, regardless of the consequence or reward, we grow deeper and stronger as people and leaders.

Maxwell suggests that there are four things everyone should bear in mind about character:

• Character Is More than Talk – Character runs at the core of our personality. He suggests that it determines who we are, which dictates what we see, which results in what we do. So character is at the heart of intention and action. It just doesn’t go deeper than that.

• Talent Is a Gift, but Character Is a Choice – Maxwell tells us that character is not something we are born with; rather it is created through the choices we make. And I would add that the choices we make are created through the character we have chosen. The fact that we can chose to have sterling character is great. In fact, if you think about it, it’s downright empowering if you want to provide effective leadership.

• Character Brings Lasting Success with People – Nobody wants to follow a leader who is flawed. Think of Bill Clinton and the Intern Scandal. It’s not like he killed someone, or necessarily ruined anyone’s life. But he lied to the public. And that was a choice he made at the crossroads of character and compromise. That compromise cost him a lot of leadership effectiveness.

• Leaders Cannot Rise Above the Limitations of Their Character - Maxwell also tells us that weak character carries a high price. He cites The Success Syndrome by Steven Berglas, a Harvard Medical School psychologist whose work suggests that character is a foundational trait. The stronger the foundation, the higher a person can rise. But when the person reaches the limits of that foundation they will suffer from one of 4 “A’s”: Arrogance, feelings of aloneness, unhealthy adventure-seeking, and adultery. These are the signs that a person has pushed beyond the ability of their character. I can think of a few governors and a senator who have had one of those problems in the past few years. What a cost!

Effective leadership requires a strong foundation of character, so how is your character? Maxwell suggests four things to do to improve it.  First, look for the cracks. Write down the recent choices you’ve made and whether or not you’ve compromised on what you know is right, or what you said you’d do. Second, identify any patterns in those compromises. Look for clues about your weaknesses by identifying patterns. Third, own the fault. You made the choices, so now you can follow through by apologizing, to yourself if nobody else was involved, or to others who were affected. This is a soul cleansing action. Now that you have a clean slate, the fourth action is to start rebuilding. Maxwell recommends creating a plan that will prevent any further compromises in your convictions.

And just so you know, I’ll be making my own plan too. Making compromises is human. We all do it. Owning up to them and doing something to prevent them in the future is a sign of true character! Keep building your character and providing effective leadership.

Here is some time management help for internet marketers and network marketers whose lives seem out of control and who feel like they just can’t get anything done.  Seek to re-balance the key elements of your life.  We all need balance between the areas of your personal health, family, finance, intellectual development, our social lives, our professional or career endeavors, and our spiritual development.  The fact is that if we ignore one or more of these areas we become stressed.  Stress reduces your creativity and productivity.  And loss of productivity and creativity carries over into each area of your life.  That’s why it is important to re-balance and stay balanced.  Let’s deal with these key areas of life one at a time.

Some people may argue that your health is everything.  They’re not that far off.  Without your health you will suffer from stress, you will feel bad, and your performance will also be diminished.  In fact in extreme instances you may not be able to function in any of the areas of your life.  The best health advice I’ve ever received is four-fold.  First, eat like you want to live to be 120 years old.  Drink at least 8 glasses of pure water a day (that’s about a half gallon using my big iced tea glass). Get an hour of good exercise every day.  And finally, get at least 8 hours of restful sleep.  There are no surprises here, or at least there shouldn’t be.

Family is a commitment which commands a lot of energy in all of our lives.  First, if you have a family you have a responsibility to feed, clothe, shelter, and educate them.  This means that you have financial and career obligations to meet.  Of course there is the entire social and nurturing side of a family.  You must teach them all to be healthy, balanced and productive human beings.  So you can see that if you ignore your familial commitments you will quickly be spinning out of balance in multiple areas of your life.

The inability to meet financial obligations is a primary reason for the breakup of marriages, increased stress, and general misery in people’s lives.  If you ignore your financial obligations it will quickly affect other areas of your life, causing even more stress, and even more misery.

We all have a need to feed our intellectual selves.  It is our intellect that helps us deal with outside stimuli which affects our lives.  If we are out of balance mentally, if we are not building knowledge and skill regularly, and if we are not holding ourselves to accountability for decision making, we will quickly become stressed and our personal productivity will suffer.  A sharp mind is a critical tool for success.

Human beings are social creatures.  We thrive in a social environment.  After all, it is our social drive which ultimately allowed our ancestors to develop civilization.  This is a core need for all of us.  If you are too busy working or dealing with other aspects of your life and ignore your need for friends and community, you will suffer.  This suffering will cause stress, and you guessed it, lower productivity.  So don’t ignore your social life.  And don’t overemphasize it either.  Keep in balance.

Our career, our profession or business is how we feed our family, pay the bills, and keep our lives moving.  If you are ignoring continual education and skill-building in your profession, if you are sagging in your work performance or decision skills, you will soon find yourself out of balance.  And this is a critical area supporting all the other areas of your life.  Keep in balance.  And need I say, some people overemphasize their careers and work.  This of course also can be detrimental.  Isn’t that word “balance” a handy little thing?

Regardless of your belief system or faith tradition, very few will argue that developing and exercising our spiritual lives is critical for healthy and positive living.  Our spiritual lives help guide the way we interpret and deal with relationships to other people, our relationships with ourselves, and how we see the meaning of life and your concept and relationship to God.  If you’re out of balance here, you’re in some trouble.

I think you can see how a balanced approach to all seven key areas of your life can keep you at your maximum productivity.  But how can you do it?

The fact is that until you assess your performance and the amount of emphasis you are currently placing on each area of your life, you cannot make a dispassionate judgment on whether and what is out of balance.  By simply becoming aware of the importance of balance in the various areas of your life, and by being alert to your current emphasis and status in each area, you can begin effecting the necessary changes.  Then by applying sound time management tools and techniques, you can begin increasing your productivity, improve your energy and proficiency, and start freeing up more time so you can emphasize other neglected areas of your life.

Try to assess where you stand on the balance scales of your own life.  By re-balancing your life keeping it that way, you will succeed in more areas of your life.

Today we have a guest blogger, Patrick McIntosh. Patrick is a good friend and a great blogger. Today’s post and video are about passion and Finding Your Power-Stroke. Have fun. Phil

I feel fortunate to be a guest presenter on Phil Jackson’s blog. He delivers such awesome training that moves us forward in our businesses. He comes from a place of authenticity where he is swinging with his “Power-Stroke.” What the hell is a Power-Stroke?

It’s when you know who you are and and you know what truth is and you know and feel the things that you are passionate about and you ACT on them. You swing the bat. You put into play what you have learned. Great things flow from your Power Stroke. This quick video takes you into a breakthrough I just had in my Power-Stroke and some direction into how you can find yours and then make big things happen.

To see the actual “Power-Stroke-Post” visit here. http://patrickmcintosh.com/squaw-valley-freeriding/

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Your Chairlift to a Higher Level of Play at:
http://www.patrickmcintosh.com