“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you.” -  William Arthur

Why don’t more managers, owners, and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don’t know how to give appreciation. Others don’t know what to give appreciation for in the work environment. Yet others say they are too busy to give appreciation.

I think this is the biggest sin of managers, being too busy to motivate their employees and give appreciation for a good job well done. Remember what the old transmission commercials used to say, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your employees now and “pay” them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will “pay” later by seeing your team’s performance sink, corrective actions and coachings increase, and overall morale decrease.

The following are five motivation tips to giving sincere appreciation that will motivate your team to soar to a higher level and achieve more:

1. Be Specific - In order to get the same behavior or action again, you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical appreciation attempt sounds like this:

Manager:  ”Mike, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!”

Mike:  ”Thanks.” (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)

 The correct way:

Manager:   “Mike, you did a great job on the report earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it. I really appreciate the effort. Thank you.”

Mike:  ”I appreciate you noticed the time I put into the report. Thanks.”  (Mike is thinking the manager really did read it and appreciates his effort. I will be glad to do it again.)

As you can see, the employee has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciation for and he is motivated to take on the project again.

To read the rest the the appreciate to motivate article, go to Appreciate to Motivate.

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Follow these tips to exhibit confidence with your body language:

1. Stand up straight -  Your posture can tell people a lot about you before you ever speak a word!  Confident people stand straight and tall, whereas people who lack confidence shrink down.
2. Be relaxed and open - Even though you’re standing up straight, keep your muscles relaxed.  Tense muscles exhibit tension, fear, or insecurity to others. Open body language shows self confidence and trust.
3. Walk quickly - Busy, successful people usually walk quickly. ?ey have places to go, things to do, and people to see. When you walk quickly, you join the ranks of these accomplished people, and others will automatically look at you as if you must be successful, too.
4. Hold your head up –  Show your confidence by holding your head up high. Insecure people look down far too often.
5. Smile and the world smiles with you! – Smiles are contagious. ?ey make everyone feel good, including you! Studies show that putting a smile on your face can actually activate pleasant emotions, including confidence.
6. Smile at yourself in the mirror every morning as you begin your day. It will put a spring in your step and give you confidence to meet the challenges of the day.

Now apply these confidence techniques and achieve more success in your life!

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill

Success is the ability to overcome challenges and achieve outrageous success time after time.  The following article shares the secrets to staying motivated during challenging times:

Ten Action Steps to Motivate Yourself to Success in Life

By Ed Sykes

The following are ten motivation action steps you can take to motivate yourself in work, business, and life:

1. Positive Affirmations for Success - Our subconscious mind is a wonderful tool for success or failure. It will do what we tell it to do. It all depends on what thoughts we feed it. So why not feed your inner mind with only positive thoughts. Go to Stay Motivated to find the secrets to breaking through to success.

“Our problem in the immediate future will be not the lack of opportunities for the really motivated, but the lack of motivated people ready and able to take advantage of the opportunities.” - Buck Rogers

Five Secrets to Creating More Career Opportunities in the 21st Century!

In the 21^st century, career opportunities in the job and employment marketplace are changing fast, and morphing all the time.  In order to successfully take advantage of these career opportunities, you must develop a different mindset.  Let me share this story that illustrates my point:

In high school, my best friend and I went to his house to hang out.  While there, his father asked what was I going to do when I finished high school.  I said I was going to go to college.  When my friend said he was going to college also, his father said, “You don’t need college.  Get a good job at the post office, get their benefits, and get a good retirement.” As we see, that is not the case anymore.   The era of staying twenty years at one company, enjoying bountiful benefits, and getting the “gold watch” at retirement is a thing of the past. 

It has been said that a person will change their careers an average of seven times.  Another report in USA Today stated the corporations of 21^st century will be comprised of 60% contractors and only 40% employees.  Why?  Because corporations and other organizations need to be flexible with their resources and quickly acquire the skills needed to take advantage of opportunities to beat the competition.

So what does that mean for your career opportunities?  It means that, in the 21^st century job marketplace you will need to acquire the overall skills and attitude to be successful in your careers.  The following are five secrets to creating more successful career opportunities and being prosperous in your life:

1. Develop an entrepreneurial attitude for career opportunities – What is an “entrepreneurial attitude?”  It is a small business mindset that looks for opportunities and takes advantage of those opportunities.  Even though you may work for a business or organization, if you think and behave as if you are in business for yourself and are increasing your career opportunities by managing your “business” opportunities.  Constantly look for “areas of improvement” and be ready to present solutions.  This will increase your value in the organization, let other people know that you can create solutions, and prepare you for future opportunities within or outside of the organization.
2. Be Flexible for career opportunities – According to a recent survey, in the 21^st century, the average worker will experience seven different career opportunities.  What does this mean?  Although, in the past you worked on just one career, now you need to explore several career opportunities so that you are prepared for the career changes that are guaranteed to come your way.  Be proactive and explore the career opportunities and advantages and disadvantages of each career.  Remember, it is not a matter of if your career will change; it is a matter of when.  Be prepared. (Read the rest of the article at Career Opportunities)