Jim Donovan, the Ageless Boomer

There is a lot of media attention being given to the topic of
outsourcing to foreign counties, which in case you just dropped in from
Pluto, is when a company subcontracts its business or a portion thereof
to another company. Usually it’s for cost savings.

Presently, in the United States, this is becoming a problem since the
outsourcing is being done to other counties thereby eliminating US
jobs.

Is all of this being driven by corporate greed? In some cases, yes, in
some cases there are greedy corporations concerned only with return on
investment and looking good to their Board of Directors. Focusing only
on the current stock price, they’re quick to turn their backs on the
American workers who helped build the company in the first place.
There is however, another side to the issue. There is another even
bigger culprit behind the loss of hundreds of thousands of US jobs. As
someone once said, “We have met the enemy, and it is us!”

Those among us who prefer to shop at superstores in order to obtain the
lowest price always; instead of supporting our local economy, are the
real cause of this down turn in the US job market and the resulting
economic down turn.

It is our dichotomous position of “buy the lowest price” but “keep my
job here” that forces the hundreds of thousands of small businesses to
stop selling to the likes of Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Marshalls. Companies
like Artscape, Inc. of Bala Cynwyd Pennsylvania, who were forced to
stop selling to one of the giant chains because they could not produce
a product low enough to meet the demands of the buyers, something
easily accomplished by competitors who pay a daily wage that is less
than the average American earns in an hour. The local economy jobs
that would have been created from this increase in Artscape’s business
will not occur.

We can’t have it both ways. The old adage of “you can’t have your cake
and eat it too” comes to mind. We can’t demand the lowest price on
everything we buy and expect jobs to remain in this country. As they
say, “something’s gotta give.” Personally I’m willing to pay a bit more
and support my local businesses when possible. This makes sense to me;
it always has even before the big box stores. Local small businesses
are the backbone of any nation. They provide the bulk of new jobs in
any given year, for example, in 2003 small businesses created eleven
million new jobs.

Small businesses put money back into the community in which I live
through their taxes as well as supporting team sponsorships and
charitable donations to local causes. Each of us must decide if we
want to buy into the poverty mindset of having to get the lowest price
and “beat the other guy” or if we are ready to open ourselves up to the
abundance of our world and understand that life can be a win-win
proposition and that getting the lowest price is not all that important
in the long run.

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Have you ever noticed that there is no shortage of people willing to
give you advice, whether or not you asked for it? I’ve developed some
simple rules about from whom I will accept advice and suggestions. I
do not ask for heath advice from people who are sick, I do not ask for
financial advice from people who are broke and I do not ask for
business advice from people who are not in their own business.

Over the years I’ve watched hundreds of people go into a business
venture and excitedly tell their family and friends about their new
enterprise. Big mistake! How many of your friends and relatives own
their own business? Probably few or none. While they may be well
intentioned and have your best interests at heart, their lack of
knowledge and their own fears can sabotage your new venture.

If you want advice or input about a business, find someone who is
successfully running their own business and ask them. Ask several
people so you can obtain an objective view. When your choosing mentors
or role models, be sure to seek out those people who have been there.
Chose people who have “walked the walk” and have succeeded in doing
what you want to do. This applies as much to health, finance,
education, relationships and pretty much any area of your life.

If you want to be fit and healthy, do not seek advice from someone who
is overweight, a smoker, and sick all the time. Find a fit and healthy
person and model them. I know this sounds overly simple and obvious,
but it never ceases to amaze me how many people are listening to and
even following the advice of people who do not know what they are
talking about. They are sadly listening to the person who is stuck in
a dead-end job telling them why a business idea will not work. They
are listening to an overweight, sick person who is telling them that
taking vitamins is a waste of money and they are listening to the
person who is living paycheck to paycheck telling them how to become
wealthy.

To ensure your success, make sure your role models are demonstrating in
their own lives, the qualities you seek to develop.

If you had all the information and tools you needed to live your dream life, would you use them? Yes? Then take advantage of his special, limited time offer – Click here

Model Success

Perhaps the most powerful strategy for success, and the least used, is a technique called modeling.

Simply put, it means locating someone who has successfully achieved the result you wish to achieve, finding out what they did, and doing it. If you model someone’s beliefs, actions, and strategies you will produce the same result they did.
For example, let us suppose you want to shed 50 pounds. Before going on yo-yo diets and starving yourself, you can eliminate a lot of the time, pain, and frustration simply by finding someone who has successfully lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off.

Question them as to their beliefs. What do they tell themselves? Find out about their actions. What exactly did they do? What is their strategy for successfully keeping the weight off?

If you then go out and duplicate their process, you will achieve the same or a similar result. After all, we are not all that different. We all have similar physical, emotional, mental, and neurological systems that respond in pretty much the same way.
When I recently found myself gaining too much weight, a problem I’ve struggled with for years, I decided I needed to find a permanent solution. I had tried every diet and health program and read most of the books written on the subject. Several had worked for a period of time, but sooner or later, the weight crept back on. The problem was that all these diets, while nutritionally sound, had lists of foods I could no longer eat. I’m sure it’s no great surprise to you that these were also some of my favorite foods. For me, this kind of program will not work long term. Sure, I can stop eating almost any food for a period of time, but for the rest of my life? I don’t think so! I enjoy food and dining in fine restaurants is one of my favorite pleasures. I needed to find a program I could follow for the rest of my life.

After watching several close friends, including my wife, reach their weight goals on the Weight Watcher program, I joined the group. One of the things that drew me to this particular program is that it is not a diet, but rather, a weight management program. It’s fairly simple to follow, and within reason, allows me to eat whatever foods I enjoy. I now have a strategy I can use to help me maintain my ideal weight and still enjoy eating for the rest of my life.

Perhaps you have recently begun your own business. Seek out the top people in your industry and ask them how they do it. My experience has been that truly successful people are usually more than willing to tell you their “secret.” After all, they most likely had someone help them in the beginning. If the person you ask is, for some reason, not willing to help you, ask someone else. By modeling the successful strategies of those who have gone before, you will shortcut the entire process and save yourself a lot of bumps, bruises, and setbacks.

Whatever results you are seeking, whether it’s health, wealth, learning, relationships, spirituality, or anything else, there are people who know the formula for success. It makes sense to avail yourself of their experience and willingness to help.

If you had all the information and tools you needed to live your dream life, would you use them? Yes? Then take advantage of his special, limited time offer – Click here

Just finished another seminar at the local prison. It’s something I do as a way to give back some of what I’ve gotten in the hope that someone there wil hear something and use it to change their life.

The one thing that is apparent every time I go in there is how much blame these men have. “It’s my ex wife’s fault I’m in here,” “It’s the job I had,” “It was the woman I got involved with on the job.”

They’re all about blame, not unlike the rest of society.

What people do not seem to get is that the ONLY way we can change our lives and take back our power is to take full responsibiliy for everything in our life. We have to own it before we have the power to change it.

The good news is that once we accept the responsibility we are empowered to make changes. If I own my life, I am back in control and can change the things I want to change. How simple.

Here’s a question for you to play with:

In what area of your life are you giving your power away by tellnig yourself it’s someone else’s doing?