New Look! New Blogs!

I am thrilled to announce a change in my blog. (Can't you see my thrill by the picture on the left)

First, you will notice the new look. We wanted to update it and make it more exciting. Also, since this blog is about achieving goals, I introduced a subliminal suggestion in the background--picture goals. The background picture will change regularly to different places that people like to go. I love Hawaii. I visited Hawaii six times--and someone else paid the price each time. We shared how to do that in our blog on February 13, 2010.

Second, we are please to announce that Larry Stevenson now offers three blogs for your inspection.

Larry on Careers will examine the goal of improving your career. It will focus on selecting the right career, finding a job, gaining new skills, and receiving bigger raises and better promotions. We will post it on Fridays. We hope you will follow it also.

Larry on Business will explore the goal of growing your business. It will focus on business planning, sales and marketing, accounting and finance, legal, human resource management, exit strategies and more. We will post in Wednesdays. We hope you small- and home-based business owners will enjoy it.

GoalsGuyLarry will continue to explore personal and family goals. We will focus more on vacations, purchases, personal development, marital communications, and such. We will post it only once a month on the last Friday of each month. We hope everyone who wants to improve their lives and families will continue to enjoy it.

So, each week we will explore how to achieve career, business, and family goals. Choose one or all three to follow. Also, please invite your friends to follow also.

Accelerate Your Job Search

Recently (April 19, 2011), I shared a post about influencing 3 vital behaviors to make change. The thought came from the book Influencer by Kerry Patterson and the group at VitalSmarts. I mentioned that several colleagues and I studied what 3 behaviors were vital to accelerating a job search.

We identified 3 key actions that we thought would help people find jobs faster and at higher salaries. We tested our findings with two dozen professionals earning salaries of $80-150,000. More than half found a new job at their desired salary within five weeks. Some of them had been looking for more than 18 months. Next, we tested our theories with 12 people looking for low-salary jobs. A couple had criminal records, a couple had disabilities. Ten of the twelve found jobs in less than three weeks!

Let me share the three vital actions that will accelerate your jobs search, or the job search of someone you know.

1. Call 10 people a day: Do not limit calls to hiring authorities or advertised job openings. Call friends, colleagues, associates, and others who may have information about companies that would benefit from your skills. Ask questions to explore their needs, projects, goals, and challenges. Once you have enough information, prepare your approach to the decision maker to schedule the appointment. Ten to fifteen of your phone calls will be to follow-up on meetings and interviews.
   
2. Schedule 10 meetings/interviews a week: Meetings or interviews provide useful forums to gather additional information about a company's needs, priorities, or projects. They also allow you to impress both the hiring authority and their team.
   
3. Follow-up four times: Follow-up is not the time to ask if the hiring authority has made a decision. That only irritates them. Instead follow-up provides additional opportunities convince them you can do the job the want done, can fit into their team, and will provide a good return on investment. One should send a thank you card the same day as the interview. Three phone calls spaced every 4 working days allows you to fix the things you said poorly, say the things you wish you had said, and compensate for requirements you did fulfill.

There three vital actions accelerate your job search. You will find a job faster and at a higher salary if complete them each week. We've proven it.

How I Achieved a Major Life's Goal

GOAL: I didn't post a blog last week because we were touring the Holy Land. I set a goal to visit the Holy Land more than 45 years ago.

Our family visits the Holy Land. My father taught Sunday School for more than two decades. He could draw free hand maps of the Holy City. People who visited the Holy Land swore his drawings were accurate. He had never been to Jerusalem. He visited the Holy Land with my mother in the 1990's. My grandparents visited the Holy Land in the 1970's when they were in their seventies. I visited it last week with my father, my wife, my brother, my sisters, and our spouses. My mother could not come due to health reasons.

OTHERS: My mother and father helped us achieve the goal. They paid for all of us to go. They put together a private tour when our original tour cancelled four weeks before our departure. They worked with the tour guides to make the tour great.

ACTION: We worked hard to prepare for the trip. My wife and I read several books about the Holy Land and the life of Jesus Christ. I listened to Cd's of the Old Testament to understand what happened anciently. We watched three documentaries of more than 16 hours each. We acted to mentally prepare. We also prepared physically by walking more, climbing more stairs. and eating less. Our actions made the trip more meaningful. My wife, who suffers extreme motion sickness, tested some medical patches, that helped her travel well.

LIMITATIONS: We recognized several limitations to our trip. Carol suffers motion sickness. We wanted money to spend. We wanted to be able to physically keep up with the others. We overcame these real solutions by testing patches, exercising, and saving money. My parents resolved how to pay for the trip. We also encountered several limitations in addition to real limitations. My wife suffered a windmill in her fears of sickness, allergies, and not sleeping her own bed. We dealt with them through prayer, psychology, and illogical methods.

SYNERGY: Finally, we met frequently to review other people's pictures and experiences. We exchanged multiple emails to keep one another informed and motivated. We reported our preparations to one another.

I loved our trip to the Holy Land. I treasure the memories stored in my mind forever. I'm grateful to my parents, especially my mother, for making the trip possible. Finally, I appreciate that GoalsWorked to make it happen. I will add another blog about the trip tomorrow.

Protecting Personal & Family Time

I read a posting by one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, titled Fun Need Not be the Enemy of Good (http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/orson_scott_card/?id=13517). He recounted a lesson taught to his children by a wise teacher. She taught them to use three index cards. On one they wrote the things they wanted to accomplish by the time they were 21. On the second they recorded all the things they enjoyed doing and made them happy. On the third they recorded the things that got in the way of doing what was written on the other two cards. He appreciated the approach of including the things we like to do (fun) with the things we want to do (goals) and controlling the things that get in the way.

Mr. Card reminded me of some great council given to me in 1985. I had just been appointed to a leadership position in a community service organization. A friend of mine, in a higher position in the same organization, gave me council that changed my life. He said

"This position can consume your life. Take time at the beginning of each month to mark your calendar with all the time you want to spend with your family and on yourself. When someone asks to meet with you at a time you already reserved. Don't change what you already reserved. Instead tell them 'I'm sorry. I already have something marked for that time. Would XX be alright for you?" "Don't think" he said "that your alone time or family time is less important than the time you give others."

I have practiced that counsel ever since. I started taking my children's and my wife's birthdays and our anniversary off as annual leave. I reserved times to attend any game or performance my children had. I set aside time to "sharpen my saw" as Stephen Covey would say. I set aside times to "go to beautiful places to ponder, meditate, and recharge."

I carried the advice a step further. I block out family times at the beginning of each year--and confirm them each month and week.

It changed my life. I didn't lose those precious moments that pass too quickly as our children grow. I spent time building a relationship with my wife that keeps growing as our children move away and start their own families. I rejoice that one of the legacies I gave them was my time. I thrill to see them putting the same counsel into practice in their own lives.

Setting the time aside didn't lessen what I accomplished. I look at my career with a few regrets of things I would have done differently, but mostly I feel I accomplished something worthwhile. I gave back to my community by serving on several boards including the United Way and others. I reached out to others to lift them and try to improve their lives with my time and money.

I don't hold myself as an example of what you should do. Each person needs to live their lives as they see fit. I just want to share some great advice that was given me by a man who wound up living his life the fullest, even though he died in his early 50's. I want his example, his counsel, to help you improve your life as it did mine. Thank you Keo.

Others Will Help--to a Point

I help people find jobs. I've been doing it for more than 30 years. People think I'm pretty good at it. I've helped people in 22 countries. This blog, however, is not about me. It's about other people being willing to help you achieve your goals. More to the point, this blog will focus what to do--and not to do--to keep those relationships strong.

As I said, I help people find jobs. This economy increased the number needing help. Traffic in our center rose from an average 360 a month to an average of 1,100 a month. People in my church congregation ask more assistance finding jobs. One Sunday five people stopped me in the hall asking for assistance. I felt completely overwhelmed. I wanted to run away and hide.

What they asked me to do, and what they were willing to do, impacted my desire to render assistance. So, I would like to share some simple rules for asking others to help.

1. Ask for small assistance at first
2. Ensure that they know you are doing more than them
3. Follow-through on the help they give you

Ask for small assistance at first so others don't feel overwhelmed. Many times people unnerve helpers by asking too much up front. Let me share two examples,

• One person asked me to help him find a job. He wanted me to do everything from finding the job openings for him (he didn't have Internet), call the people to see if they were interested (he feared rejection), and drive him to the interviews (he didn't have the car and felt the bus ride was too long). He gave me no incentive at all to provide assistance. He didn't want assistance. He wanted someone to do it all for him.
• A colleague asked me to help her husband find a job. I found a company looking for someone with exactly his skills. I emailed him the information and called him to give him details. His response was to request that I review and edit his his cover letter and resume. Neither one reflected the "insider" information I had provided. It was his stock resume and cover letter. No action had been taken on what I gave him. Just another request. A black hole of requests loomed before me dissolving my interest in helping. So, ask for small assistance at first, and always thank the person for what they did. Don't automatically ask for more.

Ensure they know you are doing more than them to avoid reluctance and irritation. A small-business owner recently requested assistance from members of Marketing Success Institute. He wanted to create a marketing survey on a possible new venture. The group spent about 60 minutes helping him create survey questions, refine them, and edit them. He did all the typing. He did the initial editing. He created the survey, using Survey Monkey, before the meeting ended. He tested it. He refined it again, and retested it. He sent a thank you to every person who helped him create it. Everyone felt good about accomplishing something good. They felt better, because he only asked them to do something small, but everyone recognized that he did most of the work.

Follow-through on the help they give you so they realize they didn't waste time. One person who asked my assistance getting a job did it perfectly. He started small by asking me to spend 3 minutes checking his on-line profile. I spent about 5 minutes and emailed him some suggestions. He thanked me immediately upon receiving the email. The next day he sent me the new text and asked if he had captured my suggestions. He had. His action stimulated me giving him additional suggestions on his profile. He acted upon them and sent me the results. His small requests, followed by prompt action, kept me interested in helping him.

We can't achieve our goals, in today's world, without the help of others. Others are willing to help--to a point. Abuse their willingness, and lose their help. Show sensitivity by following these three guidelines, others increase their desire to help.

Travel Goals: Why Not?

My youngest daughter flew to Long Beach, California today. She and several of her friends will cruise the Mexican Riviera next week. She and some other friends will travel to Las Vegas he weekend after she gets back from Mexico. This is the same daughter who traveled to Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic in 2008. She also worked as a youth counselor for a year on the ship that cruises the Hawaiian Islands. She pays for some of her travel, and gets others to pay for other travel.

Many people love to travel. Many have the money and the means to travel on their own. Most do not. Yet, travel does not have to be out of your reach. There are several ways that you can do the travel you desire:

1. Find a job that pays you to travel

2. Share the costs of traveling with others

3. Plan ahead and save the money you need to travel

My mother loves to travel. She and my father have been to every continent. They shared a small road with a lion in Africa. They walked the great wall of China and the pavement of Red Square. At one point, she worked as a mystery shopper for PSA Airlines (now Southwest Air). She flew all over California and got paid to do it. She even helped the company realize that she would look more like a real passenger if she had a child with her. She flew my first three children with her (one at a time). They were ages 5, 4, and 3.

You can start a part-time job or business to earn money for travel. I sold light bulbs door-to-door when I was 13-17. I used the money to attend the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Idaho. We traveled to Canada as part of that trip. I also went to the Boy Scouts world jamboree in Japan. I climbed Mount Fuji in a typhoon, toured Tokyo, Nara, and Kyoto. All from money I earned selling light bulbs.

You can get other people to pay for the travel. In addition, I have been to 32 countries on four continents. Someone else paid for almost every trip. I made sure I found a job that paid me to travel. When 60% travel became too much--I changed jobs.

I know a lady who watches travel inside advice web sites. She recently found one-way air fares to Hartford, Mass for $125. She knows a web site where Priceline shoppers share the deals they got, so that others will know what to bid. She usually shaves 40-70% off her travel costs using these methods.

Other people can help you find the way to travel. You can google them. You can read their blogs. You can send out questions on LinkedIn or Facebook asking people who travel how they pay for it. While I would ignore the ones who encourage you to go into debt and pay for it with a credit card, you may find several other great ideas.

Share them as comments to this blog. Let others see the possibilities.

Get Enoch for Technology Training & Ideas

I want to share a valuable "other" if you want to understand, move in, and prevail in this technological world. I highly recommend you visit www.GetEnoch.com.

I first met Enoch 5 years ago. We were presenting at a regional business conference together (happily we've both been invited back each year since). I was glad that I wasn't speaking opposite Enoch. I felt sorry for the other 3 breakout speakers that were speaking opposite him. He completely dominated his time slot. I'm guessing that he had 85% of the conference attendees in his room, his wall, and his hall. Everyone got Enoch that year.

It's been the same for the last four years. Enoch's presentations so dominate the conference that other speakers wouldn't accept assignments during his time zone. Not only do we not want to speak to empty rooms while everyone attended his sessions, but we want to get Enoch too.

He speaks to a whole range of technology issues. The first year I thought he was "the gadget guy." He completely covered an 8'x4' table with PDA's, cell phones, small laptaps, slate computers, and all kinds of other gadgets. In 45 minutes he explained, demonstrated, and wowed us with gadgets. He was so much more than "the gadget guy" however. His topics help business owners, executives, managers, and all those who want to become any of those things. See for youreself at www.GetEnoch.com.

His breadth of topics amaze me. It really took me five years to get Enoch's vision. Last year he tied the Meyers/Briggs Interest Inventory into making your web site more appealing to the different types of people who will see it. The year before he taught us how to improve our presence as experts in our field in ten minutes a day. He also entertained us with his Peruvian flute and guitar (which he used to teach at a major music school). He created an entire field he calls "social media." He helps people understand the Internet, social networks, and mainstream programs like MS Outlook. His tips truly help you run everything faster, better, and more effectively.

That's why I was thrilled to see that Enoch created an on-line community. He offers free stuff that change all the time. I am hooked on his 10-minutes-a-day ideas. They really allow me to expand what I'm doing, making it more effective in only 10 minutes a day. Want some free stuff www.GetEnoch.com.

He also offers a low cost $19.95 a month membership that provides 3 5-7 minute interactive learning segments, step-by-step technological instructions, twice monthly on-line training sessions, access to other decision makers discussing technological issues, and more. I've seen what he offers. I think you will find it well-worth the $20 a month. It's already returned enough good ideas to pay for my entire year's investment.

If that isn't enough you can buy CD's of his presentations for just $14.95.

I know I sound like I'm Enoch's sales rep. I'm not. I just like to see people accomplish their goals. I suggest you www.GetEnoch.com right away. Look at his free stuff and 10 minute ideas. Sign up for his monthly membership. Enoch is one of those "others" that can help you reach your goals.

Limitations: Scope, challenges, and windmills

Limitations happen when you set goals. That is why Limitations constitute the fourth step of the GoalsWork model. All goals contain limitations. You can classify almost all limitations into three main categories: limitations you want, real limitations, and windmills (false limitations appearing real). Let's review each type briefly. We will also examine how to deal with each type.

Limitations You Want to impose on your goal. You establish certain limitations when you set your goal. You may define the limitations you want as the scope of your goal. Typical limitations include

• Time is one of the obvious limitations you set. You determine when you will accomplish the goal. You set a deadline. You should also define the limitations or the amount of time you will spend on achieving your goal. You may want to define how many hours a day, week, or month you devote to the goal.
• Money is another limitation you should establish for your goal. You call the financial limit you set a budget. The budget not only limits how much money you use, but how you will use it. Quicken and other accounting software programs eases the budgeting and accounting process. Too many people don't create or follow-through on this vital limitations. Sadly, the joy of achieving their goal reduces because of the cost or debt incurred achieving it. So, set financial limitations.
• Quantity also limits your goals. You may limit you goal to only purchase one car this year instead of six. You may also set a limit on how often you do something. For example, you may say I want to go to Disneyland once every two years (or two months). You may set a goal of how many books you want to read or write.
• Geography typically applies to vacations or trips. Geography definitely impacts where you work or live. Storefront businesses limit their market populations by the geographical location of the business. Hence the oft repeated warning that the three most important things in establishing your business are location, location, and location.
• Other limitations include whatever may impact your goal. Businesses set market niche goals limiting their business goal to a clearly defined client. You may wish to limit your goal to a specific purchase, trip, character trait you wish to develop, or charity to which you wish to donate..

Real limitations you didn't establish frequently deter you from achieving your goal. Ignoring real limitations doesn't help. You can overcome real limitations. In fact, the ability to overcome them defines the difference between real goals and windmills (which will be discussed later). Resolving real limitations requires planning. Others help you find the resolutions and create the plans. Frequently, they encountered the same limitations when they achieved the same goal. Let me share the three most common limitations and options to solve them.

• Time can limit your goal. You may not find enough time to work on the goal. You may not feel that you can accomplish the goal in time. Overcoming this limitation usually requires managing or reallocating your time. For example, I have to give up some television and reading time to write my blogs and books. You many need to sacrifice evening entertainment to finish college or to build your boat. Time is one of the easiest limitations to overcome--on paper--but difficult to overcome in reality. A good time-management course or tool can help resolve this real limitation.
• Money definitely limits goals. Careful budgeting can frequently reallocate money from paying debt to accomplishing goals. I do not advocate delinquency on debts. I advocate setting a goal to get out of debt. Dave Ramsey, Clarke Howard, M-velopes, and others can help you start spending your money the way want to. Businesses can still find money for expansion during these difficult times. Many credit unions, for example, still offer business loans. Micro finance and other sources give small loans (under $10K) to help businesses grow.
• Expertise limits many goals. Frequently, you can't achieve your goal because you don't have the skills. The easiest answer to this limitations requires learning the skill. Several options exist for learning skills: you can read books, go on-line, take a class, or ask someone with the expertise to teach you.

Windmills (False Limitations Appearing Real ) haunt most people. I refer to them as windmills based on Don Quixote's experiences. He and his compatriot Sancho Panza traveled the road. Sancho Panza saw several windmills along the side of the road. The disoriented Quixote saw giants with huge arms waving a challenge to the knight errant. Many times we falsely perceive a limitation. Frequently, we exaggerate the limitation into a giant. Usually, the limitation only exists in our head.

You may discern whether a limitation is real or a windmill by observing how it responds to a plan. Real limitations become manageable with a plan. Comfort and reassurance replace frustration when real limitations encounter a well-laid plan. Windmills resist plans or any kind of resolution. If no matter what you do, the limitation remains usually consider it a windmill.

May I share an example. One woman had a life-long goal to write. She wanted to write short-stories, books, and articles. She heard "You can't do that." every time she mentioned this goal to her mother and father. They firmly established "You can't do that" in her psyche. One day, in her 30's, she quit her job at an advertising agency (where she did not write copy), went to the family cabin, and wrote. She supported herself working freelance as production assistant on commercials. She wrote over 100 short stories, 3 books, and about 50 articles over the next two and half years. She never published them because publishing was not her goal. Writing was her goal.

Now comes the windmill. Every three months during the entire 30 months she called me. "I can't do this" she would say. I responded "OK. Let's talk about it. Are you writing? [Yes] Are you getting freelance jobs? [Yes] Did you earn as much money in the last three months as you would have at the ad agency? [Yes. In fact, I made more money than I would have at the agency. BUT I CAN'T DO THIS]" At this point I would invite her to come to my office and we would discuss what she wanted to do. She never came to my office. She faced the windmill in our conversation and stepped around it without defeating it. As a result she would call me three months later when she met it again, and we would repeat the process. That is how she dealt with her windmill. By the way after writing for 30 months, she left the cabin and went back to work at the same advertising agency as a copy writer. Having achieved her goal she move on with her life.

Since windmills are irrational and illogical, then irrational and illogical methods work best on them. I will share some of the common windmills and the illogical tools to defeat them in a later blog.

In summary
Limitations occur when you try to change your life. Limitations raise their head when you set goals and begin to work on them. Limitations come in three flavors: limitations you want, real limitations, and windmills. Don't ignore limitations face them, deal with them, and resolve them. Others can help you do so. Actions make it so.

Good luck dealing with your limitations. List some of your limitations as comments on this blog and see how others can help you resolve them.

New and Improved LDSJobs.org

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently updated their web site www.LDSJobs.org. Be warned, the update is in beta testing (which they proclaim on every page). Like all new web sites, there are problems. Unfortunately, the biggest problem is not in the web site itself, but in the registration process, which is separate from the site, but the intergral access portal.

Be patient with the bugs. This web site is going to be well-worth the perserverance.

First, the site provides a life-time career planning service free of charge. Unlike some of the other big boards it focuses not only on finding jobs and developing careers, it provides a structured forum for people who want to enroll in education or vocational training and for people who want to start or improve a business.

Second, it helps people not only identify long-term and short-term career goals, but it helps them create action steps with deadlines. Simple "click when completed" features allow people to hide completed action and revisit them as desired.

Third, the website use a very simple search feature to search for job postings, companies, schools, small business, and community programs. The searches identify job postings unique to the LDSJobs site, but also aggregates jobs from more than 3,000 major companies throughout the English speaking world. In addition, each job posting includes a link to LinkedIn (the popular business networking system). I found one job at a major employer--and 7,416 contacts on LinkedIn for that company.

Fourth, people looking for jobs may complete a "Candidate Profile" that includes work history, eduction, skills, interests, 30 second introductions, and what they call Power Statements. Companies may then view the candidate's proficel once it is 90% complete. I saw one company identify 25 potential candidates, send an email message (easily done within the web site) to several, and favorite another candidate. One candidate said that he received 2 job offers in one weekend using this system--IN 2 WEEKS.

Fifth, the web site is packed with articles on how to survive unemployment, present your skills impressively, write resumes, improve businesses, evaluate vocational training, and much more.

The web site isn't perfect. As I stated earlier it has troubles with the registrations system. The site also times out too quickly. Especially if you are writing goals, power statements or your work history. The site also has difficulties with people who want to do two things at once (such as look for a job and enroll in vocational training.

The developers say that many of these problems will be fixed shortly. They fix some things each day, and do a major upgrade on the 15th of each month. In addition, they are already translating the site in Spanish and Portuguese. The translated sites should be available by January 1.

As I said, this is a site that can help so many people. The Church of Jesus Christ offers the site free of charge to anybody who wants to use it. You won't have to deal with unwanted pop-up ads or obnoxious banners. The church subsidizes all the costs with no eye to generating revenue.

Give the site a few weeks to work out some of the bugs. Then, try LDSJobsd.org. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Please let me hear your experiences, reactions, or suggestions.

Recommiting to Sharing with Others

I have not contributed to this post for almost a year. I wondered whether the world needed another blog. I questioned the value of my contributions. I adamantly believe in my message. I merely doubted that anyone wanted to hear it. So, I didn't contribute anything else to this space.

I reconsidered my opinion lately. I still don't think that I am unique or something special. However, the world has been through a very tough time the last few months. People seek solutions through politics, business, the media, and many other places. Many don't find their solutions.

I have presented to hundreds of groups during these difficult economic times. Attendance at my presentations continues to increase. People seem to like what they hear (according to their evaluations). They ask me for more information. They ask me for more handouts. They ask to meet with me. I don't have time to meet individuallly with every person who wants my help.

I do, however, have time to share the information with others. I have time to respond to comments on this blog. So, I commit to add something new to this blog each week. I will respond to your comments. I will try to help you achieve your goals whether they are to get a new job, improve your business, manage your finances, or whatever goal you set.

Goals reallly do work. I know they do. So, let's create a few thousand success stories together.