Serve Strong

One of the great things about the fourth quarter of the year is the anticipation and participation in all the holidays and festivals. Starting with the fall fairs right through Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, it seems like everyone is looking forward to celebrating and sharing smiles. Decorations are up all season long and people's spirits are bright.

As we move into 2010 I offer the challenge to carry that happy holiday spirit into the new year. Sharing joy, encouraging others and most of all sharing with those are in need is what extends the holidays atmosphere and can make our lives happier year round. This is not about forgoing the challenges and tasks of the new year, but rather to take them on with a positive attitude and compassion.

Here's wishing you a Happy All Year in 2010!

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Sometimes in your life you are fortunate to be at the right place at the right time and so it was for me on Twitter in 2009. I began tweeting in March ‘08 to follow @claytonbell during the birth of his daughter Caroline. From the start I was amazed being able to share in the excitement of Caroline’s arrival.  The same same energy and excitement continues and is ignited almost daily in communicating with those whom I now count as some of my closest friends via Twitter: the #PositivePosse.

No coincidence, it is only divine intervention through innovation that brings the unique talents, creativity and personalities together that make up the PositivePosse. Interesting enough no one person ever said “let’s form the group” or let’s call ourselves the PositivePosse” or “let’s include so and so,” it was nuclear fusion social media style. Long before the introduction of Twitter lists, we formed global bonds of friendship and compassion beginning in early 2009. With friends connected from Sydney Australia, to Ontario, Canada, the PositivePosse is what I often refer to as the GlobalGreats. While there are numerous followers and many other great Twitter friends, allow me to highlight the original PositivePosse crew:

@Iconic88 and @Bridget_Cooks – Sydney, Australia: Our Chief Happiness Officer and The InternetChef. There are no finer folks to be first to start a new day on the planet than these two.

@nlupus – Minsk, Belarus: Sasha is a young, smart gent talented in technology and social media innovation.

@funkysteph – Luxembourg: Steph knows information technology; she shares and inspires with her communications daily.

@ph1lm – Cambridge, England: Phil is a great encourager with a caring heart, which is a great talent combined with his web development.

@juliarosien – Ontario, Canada: Julia is the epicenter of energy and combines it with fun. Julia is a talented and spirited communicator personally and professionally.

@stacijshelton – Akron, Ohio: Staci is the superstar of compassion and caring. She goes way beyond networking, she builds strong relationships. Twitter lights up when she logs on.

@aceconcierge – Wilmington, NC: Suzie recently moved from the NE to the North Carolina. She is a master at getting the task done; with a little jolt of java she will literally kick it up a notch. She brings a smile with the fun.

@CoachCharrise – South Bend, Indiana: A treasured friend and talented life coach. Charrise’s advice sets new heights and opens new opportunities continuously. She speaks and writes truth fearlessly.

@johnlusher – Roanoke, Virginia: John is a proven technology connector and social media strategist. He puts his heart into all he does.

@vincenthunt – Albany, Georgia: look up creativity in the dictionary you will find Vincent’s avatar. Innovative, thinker, visionary, collaborator, gentleman genius. He is and has an amazing spirit.

@jerry_cohen – New York, New York: Jerry is an attorney who is informed and innovative in a very positive way. He understands how the value of social media can be an asset to businesses and individuals.

@tkpleslie – Minneapolis, Minnesota: Leslie is a gifted writer and social media leader for the furniture industry. Her passion and talent is evident in every post.

@sandyguerriere – Wilmington, NC: author, photographer and writer, Sandy shares her talent in both her local and online community.

@bkmacdaddy – Tallahassee, FL: Brian knows how to bring social media communication to life. Multi-talented and works to get it right and sings too.                                                                                                                                                                              

Log on just about any morning shortly after 5:00 am and you will see #PositivePosse sharing a cup of coffee and encouraging one another for the day ahead. Our friendships have meant business opportunities, collaboration, sharing, laughter, compassion and the start of life-long relationships. Much has been written about the power of social media but I sincerely doubt there is a better example of global communication and friendships than those forged through the #PositivePosse.

Our circle of friends continues to grow and include countless others whom we look forward to tweeting with on Twitter. No doubt these friends and the PositivePosse serve strong year ’round, which makes for a positively tweet year!

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Have you ever stepped back and taken notice of the patterns that emerge in your work?

We all have a tendency to head off into new projects, begin work with new clients or introduce new products with our minds filled with visions of great end results. Often times we tend to think our great ideas are going to be successful because after all they are borne of our own creativity. Many great ideas have run into brick walls because we stepped off in the wrong direction.

Each of us possesses individual patterns that emerge in our words, thoughts, art, writing and in our daily proceedings. Same route to and from work, catch words and phrases we use repeatedly when we speak, the way we draw and design, work routines and yes, even our thought patterns.

I have found new ventures are much more likely to be successful when you break out and away from your personal habits and cultivate your great idea with three key elements: research, focus and resources.

•    Research – do your homework on what if anything similar to your idea has been done. Who and where is your market? Talk to other successful people.
•    Focus – what is it that you are truly trying to accomplish. What will ultimately determine and how will you measure your success?
•    Resources – from the start and to the best of your ability, surround yourself with professionals to be a resource to challenge and keep you in check.

New ideas become great successful ideas when we are willing to break out of the habits and every day patterns that keep us running on the same level. In order to step up, sometimes you have to step back and change the pattern. New ideas warrant new thinking, focus and resources to knock down the brick wall and open the door to great results.

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ROI - we immediately think of return on investment. The fundamental meaning of ROI does not change in a fluctuating economy. Add  media delivery in swift transformation and the concept of ROI has certainly been expanded to involve vital new aspects.

Today we must measure ROI as the return on impact and the return on influence. As media must now integrate the fundamentals of traditional methods delivered in social networking channels, impact and influence become paramount measures for results.

Where a call to action might have been sufficient in the past, we now must demonstrate the results of action - who did we influence and impact. Suddenly ROI goes way beyond dollars and as we seek invoke emotion and change attitudes.

New ROI is about the return of your impact and influence. It is your influence and impact that will determine the reach and longevity for your message. Business success in an evolving economy is built through tangible investments to influence emotions and postively impact attitudes to ultimately generate a profitable return.

Success in life is expedited from serving strong in everything we do. The results of our life successes are being measured with new ROI - return on influence and impact. Make your tangible investments count.

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Have you ever met someone that brought so much positive change into your life that you were elevated to live it out and share it with others? That is what serving strong is all about.

The blessing of the human spirit is that when you give your best to others, everyone is enriched and positive strength is multipled exponentially. Serving strong allows you to expand your reach - that reach may be a helping hand, a kind word or an unanticipated show of compassion.

While family and friends often receive our attention and affection, the true joy of serving strong is to share it with strangers and those who least anticipate it. It is this type of action that invokes maximum positive impact and best of all you start a positive chain reaction.

Like encouragement, serving strong requires no gifts, cards or special events, although you will need a caring heart. Be warned serving strong is an addictive exercise and you yourself will strengthened for life. Join me, ServeStrong!

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One of the best gifts we can share with one another is encouragement. Simple small words can bring a world of positive impact that enable far reaching impact.

Encouragement has an unlimited shelf life. It is not usual for the receipients of encouragement to recall the kind words they received from years or even decades gone by.

The beauty of encouragement is that it is a two-way gift...when you share it with others and it has an incredible power to bring a postive feeling in return to the encourager. No wrapping paper, fancy ribbons or eloquent cards necessary, just simple words of kindness.

We all need encouragement from time to time, why not share some of yours.

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