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Letter From The Editor

Dear Friends,

Recently I was asked to describe the single most important thing that I do on a daily basis to keep my edge sharp and maintain, and even grow, in my success. I can honestly say that there are several things that I have put into practice in my own life that contribute to my success – such as exercising each and every day (if not in the morning, at noon time), starting each morning with a dip in the hot tub, and having a clear picture of my plan for the day and the results I want to produce. However, the single most important factor in my ability to successfully juggle my clients, my team, my family, and all the stuff that comes up during the day, is something I call Clearing. Each and every morning, and often times during my day, I call a person on my clearing team and clear.

Now Clearing is nothing more than a process for getting rid of all the mind-chatter that keeps us from moving forward with a clear head and an unstoppable attitude. Mid-chatter can consist of both good and bad things. For instance, you finish a massive project, the return on investment is huge, and all you want to do is forget what is on the calendar and go celebrate… those feelings, the excitement is a form of mind-chatter! Or how about the mind-chatter an argument with one’s spouse can cause? You know, “I’m right and she’s wrong!” The kind of thinking that gets in the way of creative juices flowing freely. You can even think of clearing as a verbal journal… by getting the thoughts and feelings out verbally you simply get rid of it! There is no keeping it stored in a book for later digestion and consideration!

Not only do I practice Clearing myself, but my clients do too, and it’s an invaluable tool to all those who use it! So, for those of you who officially learned how to clear during a Personal Planning Workshop, I’d suggest you brush off those skills and get back to using this phenomenal tool. For those who haven’t, give it a try – ask a trusted team member if you have permission to say what is on your mind and for their agreement that they won’t gossip what you say or attempt to fix it – and give up the mind-chatter that so often gets in the way of our moving forward successfully… being fully committed… and being unstoppable!!

Best regards,

Clay S. Nelson

Raising a Responsible Teen

Getting teenagers to be more self-sufficient, responsible, and respectful is most often about who we are to them as living examples and what we allow them to experience. You see, teenagers aren’t going to be respectful of the adults in their lives if they have no idea of what those adults take on in the teen’s behalf… while they are at school, after the teen goes to bed or while they are playing on their computer. So my recommendation to all parents is:

1. Allow your teenager to do the things that require survival in the world. Teach them how to do laundry and let them do it. Teach them how to do housework so that when they leave the nest they know how to clean a toilet! (You’d be surprised the numbers of young adults I’ve come across that don’t know how to do these things because it was always done for them, which can make for one scary bathroom!)
2. Teach them how to manage money and let them manage it. Once they make a poor decision and loose it all, they’ll think twice about doing it again. And which is better… wasting a $20 a week allowance or an entire paycheck their first month on a new job?
3. Teach them the value of community service and participate in making a difference for others as a family, which will help to maintain their connection to the planet, not just their connection to a computer or an IPod. In addition, there is no better way of teaching your kids how to be socially responsible and appreciative of what they have, then to show them how little some have and how those who have little appreciate what they do have!
4. Have family meetings where you have room to say what you need to as a parent, and possibly even more important, the teenager can say what they need to say, no matter what it is, with the agreement that you listen until they are finished talking. You show them respect… they will show you respect!
5. Last but not least, be the question and not the answer. Quit telling your kids what to do and instead ask them what they think they ought to do and listen to their analysis. Then suggest other ways if appropriate. Don’t tell them that they are doing wrong and then what you think is right – of course, unless we are talking about life and limb here… there is a limit! Do give them guidance and coaching and allow them to create a future that they live into and are responsible for.

Just as you, the parent, are responsible for that which you create, plan for, and put into action, your teenager also needs a place to call his/her own. Without an opportunity to create that place on their own, kids eventually end up floundering, unsure, low on self-esteem, and getting into trouble simply out of never having the opportunity to discover who they really are and what they really want for themselves.

For all our good intentions, often times we as parents create in our children the exact opposite of what we had hoped for them. So next time you do a load of laundry or wash the car, get your kids involved. Yes, even your younger children – the younger you start the better. (Besides you’d be surprised how lit-up a 7 year old can get over putting laundry in the washing machine or wiping the fingerprints off the front door!) And allow them to be a responsible member of the family, respect them as such, and you will see a responsible and respectful teenage emerge before your eyes!

Succession Planning

One of the toughest jobs any business owner has to take on is to determine when enough is enough, and it can be a tough spot for many to get to. They have to first be able to get to a place where they are ready for their life to change. That not only involves making the change but, handling the fear of someone else taking over what they have built or determining just how much they want to be involved. And once they move through those questions, they have to determine what they need in their own replacement. Asking, “How do I find and then train my replacement to think the way I do; to learn my own default way of thinking which has built this business into what it is?“

For some it is an easy question to answer, but for most it is very, very difficult because they want perfection in their replacement. They, rightfully so, feel a responsibility to what they’ve built and, mostly out of the responsibility they feel for the people they’ve cared for and the team they’ve built over the years.

So, succession planning can be a treacherous and even emotional journey for a business owner, which is why so many avoid it. However, beware of the dangers that avoidance hold!

The greatest danger in not having a plan for succession (one that is written and you are being held accountable for following) is that when the business owner gets to a place where they are just flat tired of doing the things necessary to make their exit, they actually end up breaking stuff (unconsciously, of course) so they have stuff to work on, or fix, that they like doing! In other words, they actually get in their own way! So they become the problem; they derail their own progress! And eventually, they end up loosing the passion and freedom they have worked their entire career to have!

The greatest challenge for the business owner is often documenting and putting in written form (yes, a job description) the job they do, what they are responsible for, what they do every day, and what they do on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis as the company leader to stay on top of EVERYTHING! Without putting these things in writing, they’ll likely overlook something down the road that frankly was too buried under other stuff for them to remember it. And they can’t afford to miss anything when they are the owner with the liability and their heart in the company, as well as the person responsible for teaching what they know to their replacement.

Obviously another great challenge is finding someone to bring up through the ranks or bring into the company that fits into the humanity side of the company and is smart enough to be their replacement and run the company. But they are out there!

What the company owner who wishes to put a succession plan into action has to realize is that it takes patience, commitment, and an unstoppable outlook to find their replacement, train them, and then do what the plan says and walk away… go fishing… spend time with family… and enjoy the life they’ve built by being who they were over the last 30 years of their life!

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