The Smarter Resource for Health & Wealth

Character Versus Competence: Who Wins?

How do you screen potential talent during the hiring process? Do you choose second interviews based on intuition, personal preferences, or impressive resumes? Should you be evaluating potential talent based on their personal character?

The dictionary defines competence as: the quality of being competent; adequacy; possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification, or capacity and character as: qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity; good repute. Competence can be learned through education and work experience; character must be earned through life experience.

Dr. Tim Irwin, consultant to SunTrust Banks, Chick-fil-A, Bank of America, Corning, Inc, IBM, Gerber Products Company, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, and Turner Broadcasting Systems, recently proclaimed that character always trumps competence in organizations. Dr. Irwin specializes in organizational effectiveness, talent management and leadership development and recently authored Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership.

When highly visible leaders fail, Dr. Irwin claims that we should take note of their fall and learn from their mistakes. “At the end of the day, you have to be competent, but character still trumps competence and the failure of it why people derail,” says Irwin. He goes n to explain that while competence is important, trust is the glue that holds an organization together. Without sterling character, trust is impossible to achieve and maintain.

In traditional hiring practices, potential employees are screened by how impressive their competence appears on a resume. If Dr. Irwin’s concept holds water in the corporate world, perhaps employers will begin to adjust the hiring process to make an initial selection of candidates based on competence, then further reduce the candidate pool through a process that digs deep enough to reveal the character of potential employees. Could this two-step process help strengthen companies from the interior by ferreting out the most qualified and trustworthy employees to build a potential corporate dream team that has the skills and the cohesiveness to accomplish industry-changing goals?

Does it really boil down to character and not merely competence in the corporate world? The difference could be described as the difference between book smarts and common sense. While formal knowledge is very valuable, it takes character to apply that knowledge effectively in the corporate world.

Questions to Ask within your Organization

• How important is evaluating character in new talent within your organization?
• If you reflect on the actions and reputation of the key people in your organization, how would you rate their personal character?
• In your particular industry, how important are characteristics such as honesty, integrity, and courage?
• What would happen if you put together a team of talented people with exceptional character and placed them in charge of brainstorming out-of-the-box ideas and implementing them?

Competence is a vital part of any team, but character could be the make-or-break trait that determines if your corporation will derail or journey on toward new levels of success.

Jamie Simmerman is a registered nurse and freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter

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photo credit: ©istock/AlexRaths

I Think I Have the Flu! Achoo!

Winter means crisp white snow, Christmas celebrations, and the dreaded flu season for most households. A friend comes down with an unidentified sickness and gets shunned for 10-14 days to avoid contaminating others with hushed whispers of “I think it’s the flu” floating from person to person. Common complaints are, “’I don’t have time to be sick with the flu!’,  ‘You don’t have to share everything’, and ‘I would rather die than get the flu again.’”

The truth is that many illnesses are mistakenly labeled as the flu. The influenza virus can be a serious illness and knowing the symptoms of the flu can help you determine when you should seek medical care, or when you can crawl into bed and wait it out.

Symptoms of the flu include:

• Fever greater than 101 degree Fahrenheit
• Headache
• Body aches/ joint pain
• Weakness
• Excessive fatigue/ tiredness
• Sore throat
• Dry, non-productive cough
• Watery nasal drainage
• Watery, red eyes

Additional symptoms may include paleness, flushed face, sinus pressure, and earache (ear infections are common complications following the flu).  Notice the lack of gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)? Gastrointestinal symptoms may rarely occur in children or elderly persons with flu, and in those with the H1N1 virus, but they are not normally caused by the influenza virus. Gastrointestinal symptoms are usually a sign of food poisoning.

Food Poisoning and Gastroenteritis

Food poisoning occurs when you ingest foods that are contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasites. In an attempt to rid your body of these foreign substances, you might experience nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea. Despite what the media and advertisers would like you to believe, food poisoning is a very common occurrence and can come from take-out food, restaurant meals, and foods prepared at home.  Prevention includes hand washing and proper food handing, cooking, and preparation practices.

Gastroenteritis is an irritation of the gastrointestinal tract caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites (not transmitted through food). The symptoms are the same as in food poisoning, as is the treatment. Prevention includes good hand washing and infection control practices to stop the spread of the disease.

Most food poisoning symptoms subside after 24-72 hours, once the toxic substances are out of your body. Treatment usually includes replacing lost fluids, forcing fluids to treat dehydration, and medication like Tylenol or Advil to treat discomfort. Most doctors will tell you to allow the illness to run its course since the body will rid itself of the toxins and return to a normal state of operations without intervention as long as you stay hydrated. However, if symptoms persist for longer than 48-72 hours, or if you are having intense symptoms or are having trouble keeping down clear fluids, you should seek medical treatment right away.

Cold, Flu, or Sinus Infection?

How do you tell the difference between a cold, a sinus infection, and the flu?

Colds do not normally produce a fever or body aches, but can produce al other flu-like symptoms. A sinus infection however, can produce flu-like symptoms including a fever. The determining factor is usually if your nasal drainage is clear, yellow, or green. Yellow or green mucous indicates infection and points to a sinus infection. The flu (uncomplicated) only produces clear nasal drainage. However, one of the complications of the flu can be a sinus infection. Seek medical evaluation if your fever goes away then returns a few days later or if you have discolored nasal drainage or severe symptoms.

Treating the Flu

Flu symptoms usually last for five to seven days, with symptoms occurring within four days of exposure to the virus. If you seek medical treatment within the first 48 hours of the start of your symptoms, your doctor can prescribe an anti-viral medication can that lessen your symptoms and shorten the length of your suffering. Otherwise, treatment involves staying hydrated, resting, and treating your symptoms with Tylenol, Advil, antihistamines, and over the counter drugs like Nyquil to make you more comfortable.

The general rule of thumb for treating any sickness is “when in doubt, check it out”. If you think you need to see a doctor, follow your instincts and make the appointment.  Only a doctor can determine for sure if your symptoms are abnormal and require medical treatment and only you can gauge how bad you’re feeling and he severity of your symptoms.

Jamie Simmerman is a registered nurse and freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter

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3 Talent Management Lessons from Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has become one the largest corporations in the world, and hinted this Spring at plans to global in the near future. Nearly every North American citizen has shopped in a Wal-Mart at some time, and many Americans make a trip to the shopping super center at least once a week. Yet, if you take a look at the average Wal-Mart employee, you won’t find an over abundance of competence or training. So how does the corporate giant maintain such wild popularity and levels of success?

1. First Impressions Matter. Walk into any Wal-Mart and you’ll instantly come face to face with a Wal-Mart greeter. Have you ever wondered why they go through the trouble of paying someone minimum wage just to stand at the door and say, “Welcome to Wal-Mart!”? They are setting you up for the ideal customer service experience- even if you don’t get it. From the moment you cross the threshold, the subliminal message is “we care about you- the customer”. Even if the rest of the employees you come in contact with are miserably incompetent, you still received the initial message that you matter to Wal-Mart. If you’re struggling with training new staff and finding new talent, you can still provide a quality customer experience if you pay attention to first impressions.
2. Bigger is…well, better. Have you ever counted the number of cash registers in the front of a Wal-Mart store? Have you ever seen more than a handful of the registers open at one time?  The message is clear, “We have the potential to meet your shopping needs- even when the entire city goes shopping at once- and we expect hordes of customers to shop here regularly.” Even if you have to wait in line to check out, you always have the hope that a cashier will open up in the empty aisle next to you and speed you through the checkout process. This scenario happens frequently: A customer waits in line for five minutes, a cashier puts out a call for front line assistance, a new register opens up, and five customers who were facing another ten minutes in line flock to the cashier and speed through the checkout line in the next five minutes.  Wal-Mart responds to the flux of shoppers by meeting their need for speed. However, they do not staff twenty empty registers so that each customer spends less than five minutes on checkout consistently. They make good use of their resources by putting idle cashiers to work elsewhere in the store until they are needed. Besides, customers who have to wait a bit are much more appreciative of a speedy checkout when the opportunity presents itself. Smart and productive.
3. Change is Good. Every few years, all Wal-Mart stores are required to perform certain upgrades. New paint schemes, changes in item placement, and even the layout of the bathrooms are all dictated by corporate decision-makers and each Wal-Mart store has a certain given time frame to comply. Was there anything wrong with putting the bread next to the milk? Probably not. But someone decided that change should take place and Wal-Mart strives for consistency among all stores. Someone within the Wal-Mart corporation knows that change is good; companies should strive to meet customer needs more effectively. Failure is okay. We can always move the eggs back to the dairy case, but we’ll never know if they sell better when placed next to the bacon if we don’t try.  Wal-Mart employees expect change because it happens often.

What can you learn from Wal-Mart that can be applied to your own corporation? How are you managing your talent? Evaluate your customer’s first impressions, your employee productivity level, and your approach to change and failure to see how your business measures up to one of the largest corporations in the world.

Jamie Simmerman is a registered nurse and freelance writer. Follow her on Twitter

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Ten Things to Do To Jump Start Your Productivity for Next Year

For many of us, work slows down and we have a lot more free time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Of course, a lot of that is taken up by holiday preparation and celebration, but why not take a bit of time to get a great start on your next year?

1. Purge and declutter. Do you need it? Will you ever need it? Is it irreplaceable? Make it easier to put your hands on the things that you do need by getting rid of the things that you don’t.

2. While you’re decluttering, go ahead and put all receipts and other documents you’ll need to file next year’s taxes in a folder or box.

3. You won’t be able to file your taxes until after the New Year and after you have all your documents in place, but that’s no reason you can’t get things started now. Find out what documents you’ll need that you might be missing (such as a social security number for  a new baby or tax identification numbers for contractors) and sort receipts by type.

4. While we’re at it, find out ways that you can still do this year to lower your tax bill.

5. You know all those broken things that trip you up and vex you every time you go to use them? Fix them or replace them. Life is easier when your things do the job that they were meant to do.

6.  Get caught up on your sleep and work on developing good sleep habits and hygiene.

7. Take some time off and completely relax. Your brain needs to see and do new things to keep growing and working its best so why not try exploring areas of your town that you’ve never gotten around to visit or playing new board games?

8. Read a book that can help explain how your mind works and what you can do to take advantage o f its natural inclinations rather than going against it. I recommend Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long by David Rock.

9. Do care of all of those little nagging items on your to do list like returning library books and donating those old clothes to Goodwill. Breathe a sigh of relief.

10. Reevaluate your schedule and obligations. What makes you happy and motivates you? What makes you feel tired and hopeless? Even if you can’t immediately rid yourself of the energy drains, you can start on a plan to free yourself of them, which in turn can help with motivation and enthusiasm.

photo credit ©istock/warchi

Is Gratitude a Part of Your Business Plan?

It’s easy enough to say “thank you” to our customers, but how often do you stop to reflect on the many ways that your business enriches your life?

Most of us would have never started our own business or entered the freelance game if our only goal was money. Sure, you could make a fortune working for yourself, but you could also lose one and the rewards don’t come quickly or in a smooth, reliable stream. I believe that most people that choose to work for themselves do so because they want more than just a paycheck.

It’s easy to lose sight of that, though when our days are filled to the brim with obligations. Even during times when everything is going right, we get so caught up in the whirl that excitement pushes aside the more quiet, contemplative feelings of gratitude.

Here are a few things I’m grateful for as a freelancer this Thanksgiving. Sure the list might seem a little hokey in places, but I’m fine with that. As I grow older, I find that pride is far less important than sincerity and enthusiasm.

I am grateful for my easy clients the ones that have clearly articulated, reasonable needs, the ones that pay on time with a smile and a thank you because it makes me so happy to talk to them and I get so much energy from their positive attitudes.

I am grateful for the client I had to fire. I wish it hadn’t had to be that way, but finding out firsthand that I could calmly say no to a work situation that was untenable was an empowering experience.

I am grateful for all the times I got to practice thinking fast on my feet. While I might have grumbled or been scared at the time, it kept my mind fresh and active.

I am grateful for every call I had to make. At first it felt like I had to vomit and pass out before each one, now I just feel vaguely queasy, this time next year I think it won’t even phase me at all. I am so glad I had to push past my fears and found out that a few flubbed lines wouldn’t kill me, dismember me or get me exiled from the human race.

I am grateful for learning that I could find a way to make it work with no money and learning how to make the fat times supplement the lean.

I am grateful for the people who gave me constructive criticism and helped me get past defensiveness to learn to appreciate the opportunity to improve.

I am grateful for getting awful, hurtful comments because now I understand that I can choose not to pay attention to things that are meant to wound, not help.

I am grateful for the crap jobs, scut work and other things I had to do in the beginning to make a living. It wasn’t glamorous but it kept me going until I worked my way up to the juicier, meatier jobs.

I am grateful for impossible demands. I either learned to push myself beyond what I thought was possible or set reasonable limits. I think that knowing when to do which is a sign of wisdom and one day I’ll have it down to an art.

I am grateful for those that took the time to show me the ropes. Their patience and generosity not only helped me, but gave me a sense that I mattered.

I am grateful for those who let me figure out things on my own. Sometimes you have to just dive in there and get your hands filthy to really learn. The confidence that comes with knowing that people trust you to be able to find a way is priceless.

I am grateful for every success that built me up.

I am grateful for every failure. Not just because I learned from all my mistakes but I learned that I do not have to be afraid of failing so why not take a chance?

I am grateful to those who took the time to give a compliment or say thank you. Knowing that I help others gives me the motivation to keep going.

There are so many things that I am grateful for that I wouldn’t have necessarily had without taking the plunge into freelancing. I have learned so much, been challenged in so many ways and my life is filled with opportunities to push myself and my creativity to new heights. The people that I’ve met, even the ones that didn’t necessarily make me happy, have taught me so many important lessons.

What about your business fills you with gratitude? How have your clients enriched your life?

photo credit ©istock/swilmor

Every Superstar Needs a Coach

One of my most vivid memories from junior high school was walking in the doors the first day and not knowing where the heck I was supposed to be or how to find out. My parents had moved me from a one room, 30 student private parochial school to a bustling public junior high school that must have had at least 500 students.

I was a shy, gawky twelve year old and felt like such a baby standing there as streams of much cooler kids with their shellacked, feathered hair  and upturned collars streamed past me in my pigtails and jumper. I would have given anything that day for somebody to take me by the hand and help me figure the whole thing out.

If you’ve started freelancing or own your own business, you probably experience that first day of junior high school feeling more often than you’d care to admit. It’s hard asking for help when everyone around you already seems to know the answers and besides, you’re not even sure what the right questions are anyway.

Of course, we can and regularly do figure things out on our own but not without paying a hefty price in time and blows to our self esteem. The question is, why do we feel like we have to do it all on our own?

How a Coach Can Help

There are dozens of different kinds of coaches available to help you with your business and personal growth. There are coaches that can help you launch a product, get unstuck, balance motherhood and business and even storytelling and personality brand coaching. While they all have a different focus and different approaches, in general a good coach will help you:

• Identify areas of strength and weakness
• Ask yourself the right questions to develop your own game plan
• Work through negative or self defeating thought processes
• Help find ways to get and stay motivated
• Give you assignments that are designed to get you closer to your goals

By enlisting the help of a coach, you’ll be able to work more productively towards your goals and waste less time going in circles, trying to figure out things on your own as you go. No matter how smart or talented we are as individuals, we all have blind spots and places where we get stuck.

Think about how much easier it is to back out of a tight spot if we have somebody who is good at giving signals to guide us out. We’re still the ones doing the driving but having that help makes it less likely that we’ll hit  something and gives us more confidence in going forward.

There is a reason that athletes and performing artists hire coaches. It’s not because they lack natural ability and talent, it’s because with the help of a coach they can develop their talent to the fullest potential by having somebody who can show them mistakes in their technique and give them productive exercises to improve their performance.

How to find a coach

Before you can find a coach, you need to decide what kind of coaching would give you and/or your business the most benefit. You might decide that hiring a personal coach to help you with general self improvement is the best investment. Or perhaps there is a specific problem that you need to solve, like a difficulty with communication or you want guidance before you dive into a new endeavor or take a big step.

One of the best ways to find a coach is through word of mouth. This is one of the many ways that having a strong network can come in handy. Get the word out that you are looking for recommendations for a particular kind of coach and before you know it, you’ll have a strong short list to start interviewing.

If you’ve yet to develop a network, an Internet search can help you find a coach. Be sure to specify your location plus the kind of coach you want to work with if you’d prefer to work with somebody local.

Once you have a list of coaches, you’ll want to figure out which one is best suited towards your personality or communication style. That doesn’t mean you’ll want to find somebody who is just there to tell you “You’re awesome! Get ‘em tiger!” rather that you’ll get better results if your coach’s style challenges you in a good way, rather than repelling or offending you.

Many coaches have a blog which is a good way to get a sense of their personality and approach to coaching. Reading a few posts can help you decide if it’s worth taking the next step and getting a consultation. You may also be able to read testimonials from former clients, although it’s to be expected that these will be uniformly positive, you can also use them to get a sense of  the approach the coach takes. You could also contact the people giving the testimonials to get more information, but be mindful and respectful that their time, like yours is limited.

Of course, the ultimate test of whether a coach is a good fit for you is to simply talk to them. Most will offer a free consultation to allow you to ask questions and get a better picture of the approach they take and their personal style. Be upfront about your expectations and concerns, this will help save your time and the coaches if it turns out that he or she can’t deliver what you want.

I’ve hired a coach, now what?

All of the coaching in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t put forth the effort to put the advice into practice and do the exercises/assignments. It’s a common human foible that we often consider taking the first step towards improvement, such as hiring a coach or joining a gym, as being just as good as completing the entire process. This is simply not good enough and to get the most out of coaching, you will have to make following through a priority.

Schedule specific time on your calendar to work on your assignments rather than assuming that you’ll just fit them in as time allows. Don’t rely on having time in the evenings and weekends to catch up on coaching work, the fact is we’re all tired and need the downtime. Make appointments with yourself to work on your assignments and honor them just the same as you would an appointment with a client or meeting with a colleague.

Don’t be discouraged if you hit a wall or you feel your enthusiasm waning. This is a natural part of the process and you can work together with your coach to make a plan for how to handle these situations. Remember that progress isn’t always even and you’ll have periods of rapid ascent as well as setbacks and plateaus.

Give coaching a fair shot, but if a particular coach or method isn’t working out for you, don’t feel like you have to stick it out no matter what. Don’t let sunk costs convince you to continue investing your time in something that isn’t paying off.

Recommended Reading

The following is a brief and by no means comprehensive list of sites and blogs by well-respected coaches that can give you a fuller taste of what coaching is all about.

A Daring Adventure: Life coaching with Tim Brownson (disclaimer: I have worked with Tim Brownson professionally in the past and consider him a personal friend)
Jonathan Fields: Conversations at the crossroads of work, play, entrepreneurship and life
Johnny B Truant: The internet made awesome
SuperWAHM: Expert business planning
The Mogul Mom: For moms running a business, raising a family and rocking both
The Launch Coach: I get people to buy what you’re selling
Productive Flourishing: Strategies for thriving in life and business
Escape from Cubicle Nation: From corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur

photo credit: ©istock/pixdeluxe

Fire Your Boss and Start Your Own Business

Are you stuck in a rut? Feeling trapped by your job and unable to escape? Do you dread waking up every morning to drive on the same roads to the same job to do the same thing each and every day? Would you like a greater sense of autonomy over your life and to feel like what you’re doing is for your own benefit? That your work actually matters?

Many hard workers feel frustrated because no matter what they do for their boss and colleagues it’s just never enough to be appreciated and recognized. There is nothing more soul killing than feeling like what you are doing isn’t making any impact.

If you’re nodding in recognition at all of this, it might be time to take the bold step of firing your boss and working for yourself. This might seem to be risky, but what’s worse? Taking a chance or a guarantee that you’ll be miserable?

There have never been more opportunities to work for yourself. Here are just a few examples:

1.      Become a Virtual Assistant. Being a Virtual Assistant allows you the flexibility of staying at home while managing tasks for other companies.

• This is a great option if you enjoy computer work, managing tasks, paperwork, or customer service.

• Though it may take a bit of time to get your VA business off the ground, virtual assistants can command a high price for their services, especially if they have technical skills.

2.      Join an MLM (Multi Level Marketing) company. These businesses are all the rage lately, but they do have their pros and cons. If you think that perhaps an MLM company is the business for you, be sure to do your research.

• Make sure the company you decide to partner with has a good track record. You can confirm this by speaking with other representatives of the company and checking the Better Business Bureau and similar websites for more information.

• Another fact you must be aware of is the sign up fee that can range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. Some companies even charge upwards of $1,000 to be a representative.

• Many people succeed at a multi level marketing business, but countless others fail miserably. Research the details of what you’ll need to do to succeed in your chosen business and ask yourself if you can do what it takes.

• It would be in your best interest to become informed and educated about the business before you sign on the dotted line and hand over your hard-earned money.

3.      Make and sell your own crafts. Are your friends envious about the beautiful things you can make with your own two hands? Then this may be the business you’re looking for! With websites such as eBay and Etsy, as well as local arts and craft shows, many people are making a substantial living selling their homemade creations.

• Unique or one-of-a-kind items always sell at higher prices than the common ones.

4.      Become a Life Coach. This business opens up a realm of possibilities. If you enjoy listening to people and providing advice, becoming a life coach may intrigue you. A life coach provides good, solid advice to individuals relating to a particular area in their life.

• A life coach can specialize in many different areas. For example, some coaches only deal with stay at home moms, while others help those wanting to make more money or lose weight. The options are absolutely endless.
• You can go for training and become a certified coach at your local college or online.

• You must promote and market yourself strongly, and it may take awhile to get the business of the ground. But if this is something that you truly hold a passion for, it can turn into an extremely lucrative endeavor.

5.      Become a Caterer. Does everyone say that no one can cook like you do? Do you get request after request for your recipes? Do you find spending time in the kitchen relaxing? Then starting a catering business may be something you’ll want to explore further.

• As in any business, it may take a bit of patience and energy to get it started, but the benefits will be well worth the energy. Make sure to call your friends and family and tell them to spread the word about your new catering business.

• Once you can secure your first party or event, you’ll have word of mouth recommendations marketing your business for you. If cooking is your passion and you learn how to manage food costs and market your business, then you’ll have no problem succeeding in this lucrative industry.

These are just a few ways to fire your boss and start your own business. Your next step is to decide where your passion lies. Decide what you enjoy doing and go from there. Beginning your own business is not easy, but with a dash of hope, dreams, patience, and hard work, you’ve just won half the battle!

Vincent King is available for hire for various ghostwriting services. He loves to workout four times per week, and lives an active, healthy lifestyle.

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Tricks and Tips for getting dinner on table on a busy schedule!

I’m all about the planning!  Planning your week’s meals is an important element to making sure that our family receives a balanced and healthy meal in today’s over scheduled world.

However…. Planning isn’t always done. In order to be ready for these crazy days where everyone is hungry at 6PM and you’re home at 5:55PM with no ideas for dinner you need to have some basics at home:

• Pasta
• Rice
• Chicken Tenders (homemade from previous dinner)
• Black Beans
• Frozen vegetables
• Frozen potato wedges (Alexa’s recommended)
• Frozen Shrimp
• Veggie Burgers (we like the Chipotle Black Beans from Gardenburger)

Here are some quick & easy meal Ideas:

Cuban Style Black Beans over a bed of white rice
- heat up pre-made frozen black beans or open up a can of black beans. Make rice (25 minutes). Serve black beans over white rice with side of veggies or a salad.

Veggie Burgers with Salad
- Grill up some frozen veggie burgers and serve with a salad

Chicken Tenders
- heat up frozen (homemade) chicken tenders and serve with roasted potato wedges (from frozen, Alexa’s) and vegetable of choice (fresh or frozen, no canned veggies please).

Pasta with sautéed shrimp
- sauté some minced garlic in Olive Oil, add defrosted shrimp and add S&P and basil (fresh if you have it) and cook until shrimp is done.  Serve over cooked pasta.

These are just some of my ideas, what are your favorite quick & easy meals?

Betty Hakes is a working mom and entrepreneur. Her passion is to bring families back around the dinner table and to help business succeed locally and in the online space.

Photo credit: ©istock/kzenon

10 No Cost Winter Activities to Enjoy with Your Family

You don’t have to go skiing at a pricy resort or jet off to Tahiti to enjoy the winter. Although the days are short and the weather is cold, there are plenty of low or no cost activities to keep you and your family busy and occupied all winter long. The real trick is to have a positive attitude and throw yourself into whatever you are doing, instead of worrying or being resentful about money.

If you’d like to keep expenses to a minimum, the good news is that there are plenty of ways to have an excellent time without spending a dime.

Consider the following ideas as you build your list:

1.      Cuddle. Sometimes when you’re both busy, you may forget how good it feels to cuddle up to each other and relax. It’s a great activity to enjoy when things have been stressful and you just need a calm break.

2.      Go to the mall. You don’t have to spend money when you go to the mall, although it may be tempting. Walking the mall can be a great way to get out of the house without having to worry about the cold weather. In fact, when my children were toddlers, going to the mall early before the stores opened was a great way for them to get exercise when it was too cold and wet to play outside.

3.      Listen to music. If you and your partner happen to share some musical tastes, you can always enjoy listening to music together. Chances are you can even find some live music at public winter festivals with no entry fee.

4.      Play video games. Video games are a popular choice for people of all tastes and ages. The variety is astounding! You can play a slow paced puzzle game against each other or get involved in more active games. Some of them can really draw you into the action. Plus, there are several free video game sites online.

5.      Go to a friend’s house. Gathering with friends is always a good indoor activity you can enjoy together. Invite your friends over to your house for a mini winter party. Have a potluck dinner for a change of pace. This way, you share the cost of entertaining and everyone has fun.

6.      Watch a movie. Agree on a genre and then find a good movie to watch together. You may be able to find one on TV or you can rent one for a day for a dollar or two. Afterward, compare your opinions on the movie or watch the DVD bonuses.

7.      Go out in the snow. Take some time to play in the snow. After all, it’s not something that you can do anytime. Put on your winter gear and go for a walk. You can even bring out your inner child and make snow angels, build a funny snowman, or have a snowball fight.

8.      Make a meal together. You can still have a romantic dinner even if you aren’t going out. Choose a nice meal that you can cook together. You’re probably used to either you or your partner cooking. It’ll be a nice change to have the two of you in the kitchen together.

9.      Share memories. Spend some time reflecting on your past. It’s always fun to recall the beginnings of your relationship. It doesn’t matter if it was months or decades ago. It’s a great way to pass the time with your partner.

10.  Play an indoor sport. Find a sport to play with your partner. Your local community center may provide access to courts as long as you’re a member of the community. Enjoying a sport together can bring you closer together in other areas as well.

Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean that you need to sit around and be bored. Try some of these activities together and take advantage of the winter to create some new memories!

Nicole Spencer offers ghostwriting services and enjoys writing about health and wellness.

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Boost Your Attitude for Success

Want to know the most important factor for predicting future success? It’s not intelligence, it’s your attitude. Even the smartest, hardest working person won’t get far with a negative attitude while those with positive attitudes find themselves with the motivation and tools to succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

You may think that you already have a success-mindset, and perhaps you do. However, you can always benefit from strengthening that attitude and therefore increasing your chances for the success you deserve.

These strategies will help you strengthen your positive attitude:

1.      Find your inspiration. Discover what inspires you the most and use it to jumpstart your motivation whenever you go. Feeling inspired enables you to maintain the drive necessary to find success. Do anything you can within your power to find inspiration.

• Make a list of your ultimate dreams, and then ask yourself if you’re on the right path. If you are, you’ll know that everything you’re doing will be rewarded.
• If you don’t feel like you’re on the right path, perhaps it’s time for a change. Maybe there’s a deeper reason why you’ve felt a lack of motivation. Reflect on what this reason might be, and then decide on how you can renew your drive. When you’re on the right journey, you’ll feel inspired!

2.      Surround yourself with positive people. When you’re around positive and inspiring people, you’re more likely to adopt those traits into your own personality and go for your goals with enthusiasm. Negative people, on the other hand, tend to make you negative also.

• If you must be around people that continually bring you down, do your best to avoid taking what they say to heart. You know that they don’t speak the truth. Keep the peace as best as you can to get through these situations and then move on.

3.      Take a leap. The best way to improve your attitude might be to just jump right into life. Don’t be afraid to take initiative and plunge forward towards your goals. People who take action find success. If you take action and start to see the results of your efforts, your attitude will only improve.

• The increased drive and motivation you get from your actions can be the difference between success and failure.

4.      Strengthen your focus. Your focus can also play a role in your attitude. When you maintain driven toward success, it’s easier to have an optimistic attitude. If you have a lack of focus and don’t know where you’re going, it leads to being unmotivated and uncaring.

5.      Allow for mistakes. You’re only human and you will make mistakes from time to time. Be careful to avoid judging yourself harshly when this happens, as it negatively affects your self-confidence. If you work on more of a “go with the flow” attitude, you’ll find that you’re able to pick yourself back up and continue moving forward when you do make a mistake.

The main things to keep in mind are that the combo of inspiration, positive thoughts, and proper motivation can lead you to a healthy and positive attitude. Follow these strategies daily and you’ll notice a boost in your spirits!

Vincent King is available for hire for various ghostwriting services. He loves to workout four times per week, and lives an active, healthy lifestyle.

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