Rita Perea Consulting

Life is not fair- Get over it and move on.

How many times do you hear people complaining about their lives?  M.Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, started his entire book with the premise that, and I am paraphrasing here, life is made to have problems.  The sooner we understand, and even welcome, our challenges as opportunities for personal growth,  the better off we will be. 

A few tips for embracing the unfairness of life and moving on: 

(1)  Own your part of the problem.  If you are really honest about it you will find that your bad habit or pattern of behavior contributed to the issue you are dealing with.  

(2)  Learn from the problem.  We are all on this earth to learn life lessons.  What can you learn about yourself from addressing with this challenge? 

(3) If the same problem is showing up again and again, get some professional support to tackle it.  If a money issue keeps popping up, maybe you need the advice of a wealth coach.  Need a different job?  Try seeking the advice of a career coach. Has another relationship crashed and burned? A therapist could help you so you do not repeat past mistakes. 

(4)  Change your thinking, change your life!  Visualize the positive outcomes you want for each problem rather than dwelling on the "Life is not fair!"  negative thinking.  Create a new habit of stopping your negative thinking and replacing it with positive, productive thoughts.  This will do wonders to improve your attitude and build your success. 

Life really can be a bowl of cherries!  We just have to remember to look for the pitts before we take a bite!

Embrace the Red Dot

 Think you are perfect?   Are you compulsive about having things "just so"?  If this describes you, embrace the red dot!

I was collaborating with a client on a huge leadership training project last week.   We were putting the finishing touches on the last piece, the agenda.   I received a frantic call from the client. It seems that there were two mistakes on the agenda.  (Are you sitting down?) First mistake: three of the bullet points were square, not round.  Second mistake:  one of the bullet points was a red dot instead of a black dot.  Somehow my eyes had missed the bullet point errors. Oh, horrors of all horrors....

I quickly fixed the first mistake.  Each of the three square bullet points became round with just the click of the mouse.  Ah, perfection!  I was pretty proud.

But that stubborn red dot persisted no matter what I tried.  I highlighted.  I deleted.  I changed font color.  I cut and pasted.  Nothing, and I do mean nothing, was working to change the color of that darn red dot.

My solution?  I decided that there was a fabulous lesson in the imperfection of one red bullet point in a sea of black words on white paper.  At that moment, I saw the beauty in the red dot.  Like the "beat to a different drummer", I chose to embrace the red dot. 

The dancing red dot on the white and black agenda was a beautiful sight.  And a great reminder that it is OK to be human. 

What is your "red dot"?

Are you a whiner?

"Complaining is the absolute worst possible thing you could do for your health or your wealth. The worst! ... For the next seven days, I challenge you not to complain at all." ~ T. Harv Eker from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Do you complain a lot? Are you a whiner?  Do you know what you're doing when you complain? You're being a victim.  That's right.  You are telling yourself a victim story and living it.  Remember, "There is no such thing as a really rich victim." To help you with this, why not try a little exercise T. Harv Eker suggests? The next time you complain, take your finger and slide it across your throat - just like you're slitting your throat. Feels terrible, right?   Exactly the point. Because that's basically what you're doing every time you whine and complain!!!

"You can be a victim or you can be rich, but you can't be both. Listen up! Every time, and I mean every time, you blame, justify, or complain, you are slitting your financial throat." ~ T. Harv Eker from Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

 

Real Reflection

Dear gentle reader,

My, my,  It has been a very long time since my last post.  You might wonder where I have been for such a long time?  In one word:  Reflection.

My business has been thriving.  Speaking, coaching, training. I am now a contributing author to a new book- Awakening the Workplace.  All is very, very good!

With my blogging practice, I had to do what I advise my personal coaching clients to do- step back and be the observer.  Decide what is working and let's change what is not working.

That included taking a good, hard look at the amount of time that I spent blogging and with social media.  It was not working for me to push myself to get up every moring at 4:30 AM  to write and post a blog entry before the official start of my day at 5:30.  Oh, my blog coach loved the dedication.  But I had to take some good, old fashioned reflection time and examine the purpose behind the madness.  Afterall, I had engaged in the practice of blogging to extend and support my message for my clients or potential clients.  I did NOT begin blogging to meet or exceed someone's arbitrary, unfounded criteria for success.  (The mantra "Be sure that you post early and everyday" still rings in my ears!)

With today being the first day of the rest of my life, and having new blogging priorities in hand, I am taking a small step to move out onto the blogging journey again.  But this time, gentle reader, it is only with your needs in mind. 

Great Hires

Managers, from entry to executive level, face a different set of challenges today than ever before.  Economics, demographics, globalization and the fast pace of change have created new expectations.  But, along with these new expectations come new opportunities for hiring talented employees.

What makes an employee talented?  Certainly a set of fundamental, industry-specific skills to complete job tasks.  More than that, talented employees contribute positivity to the culture of the organization.  They exude a great attitude that is infectious to their entire work team.  Some researchers call it "Emotional Intelligence."

Talented employees also intrinsically understand how to work with others to accomplish goals.  They know how to get the job done while getting along with people.   These employees are efficient and productive as they collaborate and communicate their way through one project after another.  They are also priceless.

Hiring the best and the brightest for your team doesn't have to be difficult.  It just has to be deliberate.