Sean Rasmussen

Life is pretty good and sometimes we get the opportunity to reflect during some quiet time. This is such a moment for me right now. Here’s something I’ve been reflecting on:

Most of us don’t give ourselves enough credit. While we may not be living the exact life that we want to be living, we’re taking active steps each and every day – you should be celebrating that, not simply thinking that there is more that you could be doing. For right now, you need to begin to take notice of your accomplishments – thus spurning yourself on and providing all the motivation you’ll ever need.

Little Things Add Up to Big Dreams

What you need to realize is that everything you do every day is adding up to bigger successes for yourself. For example, when you are trying to lose weight, each time you choose water instead of softdrink is saving you over one hundred calories. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, if you choose water over soda just once a day, you will lose 5 kilos during the course of a year.

Take out a piece of paper or set aside some time to congratulate yourself for the little choices you’ve made today that are pushing you toward your dream. This will help you notice more and more things you could be doing, thus driving your success and helping you continue on.

When the Past Does Matter

While you want to forget the mistakes you made in the past, you do want to remember the things you’ve done well before now. It’s not conceited to be proud of yourself; in fact, you need to start taking more notice of yourself right now. By feeling good about the things you’ve already done, dreams you’ve already achieved, you can begin to feel more confident that yes, you can have more and do more in your life.

Whether you write down your successes or you simply take a few minutes each day to think about things you’ve done well, you are going to create a more positive mindset as well as allow yourself to be pumped up for the next day’s challenges – whatever they might be.

Have a most outstanding day

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2007

This entry was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Mindset, Motivation, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

We all wish there were more hours in the day for our plans for success. If only we had two, three, five more hours to utilize, THEN we’d be well on our way to living the life we’ve always imagined. But since so many successful people seem to be living within this narrow twenty-four hour day construct, perhaps it’s a matter of setting aside time rather than finding more of it. Here’s a plan to begin making time for your own dreams.

Find the Time

When you want to do something, you make the time to do it. Whether this is the new movie you want to see or the friend that’s only in town for the night, we can always make time for what we really want. More often than not, this ability is somehow lost when it comes to things we really want for ourselves. To help you regain control over your time, try to set aside just thirty minutes each day to thinking about and working on your specific goals. It can be in the morning before everyone else gets up or perhaps late at night when everyone has gone to bed. Just set aside this time for your dreams.

What to Do With the Time You Have

This time can be used for anything: planning, visualizing, etc. Whatever helps you focus more on your dreams and putting your plans for success into action, that’s what this time can be used to achieve. You might want to look over your business plan during this time if you want to open up your own business. If you’re looking to lose weight, you can use this time to think about what you will eat for the day. And if you’re only in the ‘dreaming’ stages of your goals, you can simply look over the list of things that you want and then brainstorm ways to get them.

By specifically putting time aside for your dreams and your goals, you will create more success in your life. Because you are making your dreams a priority, you will not only create the motivation you need, but also the mindset that your dreams are indeed important parts of your life – even if they haven’t come true. Yet.

Now, I’m taking the time to go away for 5 days on a house boat with my wife and 2 sons. I’ll throw a few posts on here if I remember to bring the laptop.

Have a most outstanding day

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2007

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The art of communication includes many things. There are however none as important as the ability to relay the written or spoken word to other human beings. Other human being generally derive the meaning from your words in the following manner:

• The Written Word – 17%
• Tone of Voice – 34%
• Body Language – 49%

The Written Word – 17%

Reading an email or this blog for instance only gives most people 17% of the entire picture. You can’t hear me or see me. What do I look like? What do I sound like? Am I shouting? Am I angry? Am I saying this to be nice or am I talking down at you? There definitely is something missing…

Tone of Voice – 34%

My tone of voice will determine if I’m angry or happy(by sound only). It will give you the ability to add up the words (17%) as well as the tone (34%) and have a pretty good picture of exactly what I’m trying to get across to you.

Body Language – 49%

When you can see me, you see my eyes, my confidence, my bodylanguage. You can now hear the words, hear my tone of voice and see my body language. You now have a full 100% of the conversation. You can engage all of your senses. Look me in the eyes and we have a conversation.

As an example, you can view my Christmas video for 2007 and see how the 17, 34 & 49 percent tie together. Bear in mind, I didn’t think of this when I filmed the video and that probably makes it a much better example.

Imagine only reading the words on the video, then only hearing it. Lastly, imagine viewing the video and ‘feel’ how you get a much better picture of what I’m putting across.

Here are some ideas you can keep in mind when talking to people:

Are You Projecting What You Mean?

When you look someone in the eye, you are trying to make an impression with them. Whether it’s for personal reasons or for business affairs, taking the time to look directly at someone shows that you are serious about what you’re saying. But are you projecting what you mean? In order to project success, communication in all manners needs to be considered.

Physical Communication

If you want to project success, communication needs to be both verbal and physical. Not only do you have to look directly at someone, but you also need to assume a body stance that is confident and assertive. If you are standing up, this might mean that you keep your arms to your sides when you’re not speaking or gesturing, rather than crossing them across your body. Crossed arms can signal a defensive position. When you are talking about something you support, you don’t want to look like you are not certain of what you are saying with your body language.

Verbal Communication

Of course, what you say is just as important as how you say it. But when you’re trying to show that you feel strongly about something, you need to look at the way you’re wording your thoughts. Make sure that you are staying away from words and phrases such as: like, maybe, sort of, kind of, I think, etc. If you want to create success, communication choices like these show you aren’t quite sure what you are saying and you aren’t quite sure if you believe what you are saying.

No matter what kind of lifestyle you lead, or what situations you need to be in, success, communication, and choices all go hand in hand. If this means that you should practice your communication before you head into the boardroom, that’s fine. Those who are able to project their feelings successfully are more likely to get promotions and to get noticed.

And that’s all the motivation most people need to start examining their own communication style.

All the best and Merry Christmas! Here is my Christmas video for 2007

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2007

This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Motivation, Success, Success Communication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

We all want some sort of improvement in our lifes. Many people want change. But are we all prepared to initiate the change needed to experience change? To quote one of my mentors, Kurek Ashley from the Life Success Club:

BE - DO - HAVE:  To BE a successful person, you have to DO the things that person does to HAVE the benefits that person enjoys. 

DO the things that are required to HAVE the results (benefits). For most of us, that means change…

Are You Ready For Change?

Nearly every day, we’re trying to change something in our lives. Whether we’re trying to get to work on time, or we’re simply trying to eat a better lunch, our lifestyle undergoes constant changes as a result of our moods, our schedules, and others around us. But when you want to make a bigger change in your life, you need to make sure you are ready for that change. Are you ready? Here’s how to find out.

What is Your Motivation?

Your motivation is the best indicator of your readiness to change. You need to have a clear reason behind trying to change something in your life. For example, if you want to quite smoking, you might be motivated by a bad health test result or by an illness of another smoker you know. By keeping this motivator in your head, you can refer bad to this idea whenever you ‘forget’ why you’re making the lifestyle change in the first place.

What is Your Goal?

For many people, change isn’t as simple as it sounds. Because you might feel like there are numerous things to change, the lack of focus can ensure that you’re not achieving any goals on your list. Try to write down and come up with one goal that you can work toward in your life. This might be something as simple as quitting smoking or something as complicated as eating healthier. And however you define these goals is what you should be working toward.

What is Your Environment?

In order to change your lifestyle, your motivation and your goal aren’t enough. You also need to make sure your environment supports you. If you fill your home with junk food when you want to quit junk food – this isn’t a supportive environment, is it? Figure out what you need to change in your environment first to be certain that your subsequent changes are easier.

Again, in Kurek Ashleys words: BE - DO - HAVE.  To BE the person, you have to DO the things, to HAVE the results.

Are You Ready For Change?

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2007

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 7:06 pm and is filed under Identity, Kurek Ashley, Lifestyle, Motivation, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Where on earth did I get the term Success Communicator from? Well, It actually has to do with the one thing that differentiates us humans from the animals; The Art of Communication (in detail). Yes, animals communicate too and yet we humans have the ability to articulate ourselves to the degree that we can make the smallest thing very detailed. At least that’s what we like to tell ourselves. Some people fail miserably when communicating with others.

Being a Success Communicator

When people look at you, do they see hesitation in your eyes or confidence? If you need to give a speech to your friends or colleagues, are you excited or nervous? Communication is something that’s a part of everyone’s lifestyle, so why is it more difficult for some than for others?

The good news is that there are ways to become a success communicator instead of someone who projects fear and nervousness. The better news is that you can still be nervous and scared, but no one will even know.

Find Another Focus

Instead of worrying about how you sound or what you look like, try to focus on what you’re saying. Whatever you need to communicate, make sure it’s something that gets you excited. When your motivation is a personal topic or reference, you can relax about the other things that worry you. Outward focus points are also good, like a friend in the crowd or a point on the back wall far away from everyone else. And if all else fails, simply think of something you are grateful for. That should put a smile on your face.

Practice Your Speech

To be a successful communicator, you need to be certain your speech not only makes sense, but that it also helps to inspire people in some way. You might want to start by practicing your speech with a trusted friend or partner. They can give you their honest opinion in plenty of time to help you make any changes that may be necessary. Remember, if your speach (communication) doesn’t benefit any of the listeners, then what is the point of delivering it?

Awareness

When you stop to consider what’s making you nervous, you can tackle these obstacles long before you say a word. Take thirty seconds to write down all the things that make you nervous about your speech or talk. Then write down ways to address those anxieties. If you can’t address them at all, stop worrying about them.

No matter how often or how little you need to speak to others, being prepared for any problems is the best advice. In time, you might even begin to like talking in front of others.

These are only some key points and recommendations. Simply being ‘aware’ of the way you communicate is always going to improve your skills in The Art of Communication and to reinforce your sence of identity.

Become a better communicator and all areas of your life is bound to improve.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2007

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Gratitude, Identity, Motivation, Success, Success Communicator. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.