Communication - Personal Development - Business

Yesterday was our annual home owners meeting at our cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona. Betsy, our President is just excellent and ran a smooth meeting. When we finished, we had a delightful potluck at the home of one of our neighbors, who had guests visiting from out of state.

The setting is rural and everyone who has chosen to live here, either part or full time, participates in the outdoors in some fashion. Fishing, birding and hiking are certainly our past times!

One of the “guests” became a toxic person and displayed difficult behavior when she walked by two men who were discussing their outdoor adventures. She put her fingers in her ears, and loudly shouted, “la, la, la, la, la…” There should be a TV show called Idiots in Action. This woman could be the poster child.
OMG - the last time I saw that kind of poor behavior was from a five year-old who didn’t want to listen to their parents. The problem? She continued with her ridiculous antics. Even my husband, who never pays attention to that kind of scenario, mentioned it on the way home. It really was that absurd.

For me, it was an excellent display of exactly what I base my presentations and writings on. Open your mind, and remember you don’t have to agree with what is being said. Don’t fall into the trap of people behaving badly, toxic behavior and closed mindedness.

Marsha

Tags: Toxic, communicate, dealing with difficult people, idiots by Marsha
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One of my goals is to simplify my life to to stay in control of the little things - like how I choose to handle my email and snail mail. One step I took was to sign up for Life Lock - and yes they have been under siege in the media. I really don’t care because they have helped me eliminate a ton of junk mail in my snail mail box. Not only do they protect and secure my personal information but they have helped me simplify!!

Todd Davis has a great retort to the media and naysayers trying to dis his Life Lock product. Here is a recap of what he says…

• Last year alone, 3 percent of all Americans were victims of real identity theft, and an astounding one-third of the U.S. population was subject to identity fraud.
• Analysts at LifeLock, which protects the identities of over a million members, statistically would expect to see see 30,000 of those members experience identity thefts.
• However, only 105 out of over one million LifeLock members, or just over .01 percent of those protected by LifeLock, have ever reported their identities stolen — and LifeLock ‘s $1 Million Total Service Guarantee covered everyone of them without any limitations or stipulations.

I signed up using the special promo…
Now here is what it has done for me - ALL the credit card offers have stopped in the snail mail, saving me a ton of time sorting and shredding the stuff I was getting. LifeLock is constantly adding benefits to their product - and I like that. In addition my junk email is not nearly as huge as it was. Did they have something to do with it? I don’t know - but I’m guessing they did.

Here’s another tip about all the cataloges you receive - stop the madness today by registering at www.catalogchoice.org to search and decline. As of April 1, 694,478 people had opted out of 9,181,316 cataloges and I’m sure the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council are breathing a little easier.

Let’s simplify!! Let me know what you do to simplify your life.

Happy Memorial Day!!

Marsha

Tags: email, identity theft, junk email, spam by Marsha
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The last two weeks have been awful because my Apple computer, while I was on the road traveling, decided to become Toxic. It was a Microsoft Office problem - not a Apple hardware problem. I had NO Entourage email address book, had to use the mail service through my web site (pain in the butt) and other “difficult behavior” that only technology can create. My productivity was in the tubes!

The good news was I did have my iPhone - which is something everyone should have.

I took my own advice, didn’t get ticked off or mad, went to MacMedia (angels from heaven) Store and am now the proud owner of a MacBook Pro. So here was my lesson and personal development from having to read through over 500 e-mail messages that were delivered from cyberspace:

1. When the topic of the email changes, change the subject line of the email. Now how hard is that????

2. Be sure you send a copy of the email you are answering. Receiving an email that says, “Great idea. Let’s do it” means I have to search out what is being deemed “Great.” Unless of course, you only get three emails a day.

3. Cover one, maximum two topics per email. My preference is one subject. That way I can answer what I want and flag the others for follow up.

4. Don’t babble and ramble! Get to the point - and even use numbers or bullets. (Can you tell what style I am in the behavioral cycle?? MBTI - ESTJ)

5. Just like customer service rule #1 — tell me in a simple message that you are “checking” or “researching” the message so I don’t think a truck has run you down. I think the rule should be 6 hours and get out a response of some kind.

6. If the information is too complex, sensitive or personal, pick up the phone.

If you want more on perception, please check out my youtube video. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fgPaiX7exm4

Do you have any pet peeves about email? Do you have any rules you would like people to follow? I would love to hear from you!

Marsha

Tags: ability, email, stay calm, technology by Marsha
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Our grandson, Wesley McFall Young aka Wes graduated this weekend from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville with honors. When I think about a teenager making the decision to further their life, Wes becomes the poster child for self-awareness, focus, and discipline to maximize success. So here are some thoughts…

1. Self-awareness – What have you decided to “major in” – in other words, have you looked at your strengths and maximized them? Too many people focus on their weaknesses and become “victims of circumstance.” I believe people fall in this trap because it is easier than taking personal responsibility for their actions.

2. Focus – Is daily distraction pushing you from maintaining focus? Get a daily affirmation or write one yourself to make your thought process consistent with your dreams. You do become what you think about and personal development is the discipline and habit everyone needs to change. (Email me if you need one at Marsha@MarshaPetrieSue.com)

3. Discipline – Continuing to learn and grow is the key. Keep an open mind to everything. Difficult people and naysayer’s will try to push you away from your need for discipline. Don’t let it happen. Listen to your gut feeling and your intuition.

I recently spoke at the University of Illinois to a Women’s Leadership Conference and am always thrilled to see over 3000 people that want to enrich their lives by continuing their road to self-awareness, focus and discipline. What are your keys to success and how do you stay focused?

Marsha

Tags: awareness, focus, self awareness by Marsha
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Why don’t some people just keep quiet and shut up? And I don’t mean just the difficult or toxic people. Maybe the personal development for workers should include how to sit quietly and just do their job. I was asked to give three reasons why people are motivated to communicate so here they are:

1. They want to hear their idea transferred to another person because they think it is different than anything anyone has said before. My thinking: I try to position my comments as “considerations.” Someone else has probably already thought of what ever I want to say anyway.

2. They think silence means nothing is happening in communication. My thinking: at least half of the people in the world today are slower paced. It is not right or wrong - it just is. And they need thinking time. Pay attention to how they manage communications and flex to their style.

3. They want their ideas and values to be accepted by everyone they are communicating with. My thinking: that is why communication is so dynamic. We all bring a different set of core values and perspectives when talking with someone else. Trained communicators stay open to all information, whether or not it is in perfect sync with how they think.

I, Marsha Petrie Sue, believe these three “considerations” on communications, when followed, allow me to have much better outcomes, and relationships. Whether a personal or professional relationship, I will always do my best to keep an open mind and not let personal judgments and perspectives get in the way.

It takes only three seconds to either open or close a mind. Choosing to keep an open mind is where I always want to be … not hung up with narrow-minded thinking or people! I plan to put away the duct tape, learn that silence is golden, and use personal development to become a better listener.

I am so tired of people not listening. I hope you click below and comment. I would enjoy your post and so would others!!! Thanks, Marsha

Tags: ability, difficult people, listening by Marsha
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