Hard to believe that another year has come and gone. As we kick off the new year, I suggest you take some time and reflect. Review 2007. Plan for 2008. It will help you start the New Year with a renewed sense of purpose, and joy for life!

1. Celebrate the best. Bury the worst. Take some time to remember the great things that happened to you in 2007. Celebrate them. If you had a hard time this year, or had a certain thing occur that really caused you pain, learn from it, then bury it and move on. Use the start of a new year as a reason to move forward. Stop looking over your shoulder and look straight ahead instead.
2. Renew old acquaintances. Find five people you want to get back in touch with and contact them this week. Old friend from college? Teacher/mentor? In this age of social networking, there is no way you can’t track them down. Say thank you. More importantly, tell them about you and learn about them. Renew the relationship.
3. Commit to doing less, better. In a column on to do items, this will sound funny, but make a don’t do list. Commit this year to do less, and to do those things better. Concentrate on what you really want to do, and say “no” more often to the things that distract from those goals.
4. Schedule at least one mental health day each quarter. Do it now. With the rush of the season, it’s hard sometime to plan ahead. Take time to figure out one day every three months that you can take off – just for you. Holidays don’t count! Taking this time can make you a better worker, colleague, partner. It’s a valuable investment.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

If you are familiar with me at all, especially through my LinkedIn profile, you are aware that I try my best to live the Pay-it-Forward life.

Contrary to the attitude of “what’s in it for me,” the Pay-it-Forward philosophy starts with the question: “How can I help you?”

I am blessed with a wife who is the love of my life and a job I can’t wait to get to in the morning. In return, I try to help and give back to others as much as I can on a regular basis.

Here are a few ways you can start living a Pay-it-Forward life…

1. Enter new business relationships without an agenda. How many times have you met someone in a business setting and the first thing that crossed your mind was “how can this person help me?” Turn it around. Look at new business relationships as an opportunity to help others. Develop a network that will be mutually-beneficial not just to you, but to others you know.

2. Remember where other people are coming from first. When you talk with someone, do you ask them their needs, listen to their concerns, or are you wrapped up in you and your agenda? “Pay it Forward” means working with others to help them along, so in turn, they can help someone else.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

In a society where we are so caught up with getting ahead, obtaining more, succeeding in our careers, we often overlook the “little things.” Things that, if taken advantage of, can be more interesting and fulfilling than the big things we are constantly chasing.

In my 27 years in Public Relations, I have had the good fortune to travel, meet a lot of interesting people and do many interesting things. Here’s a few ways we can enjoy the “little things” that we are blessed with every day.

1. Characterize a business trip as a pleasure trip. In my profession, I travel on a regular basis. But it was only recently that I started enjoying the trips I took. I now seek out friends in my network in each city I visit. I also look for an out-of-the-way restaurant or unique aspect of the city I’m in. There’s great pleasure in eating a hot pretzel from a sidewalk vendor on Times Square!

2. No matter how far you’ve come, always be accessible. The executives I admire most are the ones that are most accessible. The CEO at my company is available to everyone in our firm, no matter what level. He works hard at this. This accessibility means a lot to our employees. Seth Godin answers his own emails. (IF you don’t know who Seth is, find out quickly, you will be blessed!). I know this for a fact, because he replies to mine!

3. Take a mental health day and do nothing. Why is it that we are always “planning” time off? Sounds counterintuitive to me! Take a day. Do nothing. Don’t plan anything that day; just do whatever strikes you at the moment. My wife and I recently took a weekend for ourselves, without anything planned. It was the best weekend we spent together in a long time. Mainly because it was spontaneous and not planned.

4. Say “thank you” more often. I touched on this in my last column. Thank you is a phrase that is both overused and undervalued. We sometimes say thank you automatically and don’t appreciate who we are saying it to. Next time, pause, make eye contact, and say “thank you for what you do” to someone helping you. I have developed this habit with airport security workers. It is a thankless job, to be sure. Brighten up their day by stopping and really expressing your thanks.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

Life is replete with lessons, some difficult, most instructive, all character-building. Every once in a while I find it helpful to remember the lessons I’ve learned – to assure myself that I “got it” the first time and, in some cases, to make sure I don’t make the same mistake twice.

Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years, all with one thing in common: they involve doing what’s right, not just what’s easy.

1. Tell the truth. Easier said than done? Try it sometime. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s the best way to live your life. Does this mean you should be brutally honest? Not necessarily. Tact is an important quality too.

2. Speak up, not out. Avoiding the knee-jerk reaction to want to speak out can do you a world of good. By the same token, learning to speak up and let your voice be heard – with intelligence and grace – will always do you well. The hard part is picking your time to speak, not just speaking to hear your own voice.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

If you are in any “customer-facing” profession, whether it’s Public Relations, Marketing, Customer Service or practically any management position, networking is a necessity.

I am good at relating to people. Nice way of saying I’m a good schmoozer! I have always been comfortable talking to people – at all levels and walks of life. It’s probably the primary reason I got into public relations in the first place. I like talking to people.

Networking is an art that can be learned. You don’t have to be inherently gregarious and outgoing. Just have a genuine curiosity and interest in others. The result can be rewarding in your work and in your personal life. Here are a few tips on how to network effectively and, for those who may have difficulty networking, rather painlessly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

2007 is around the corner. Time to think about 10 Things to make your New Year more productive, and positive.

1. Evaluate Your Position. Remember how you started your current job and the excitement you had on that first day/week/month? Is that excitement still there? Are you finding yourself watching the clock, counting the days to the weekend? Perhaps it’s time to evaluate and decide if you need to move on or…

2. Evaluate Your Commitment. Perhaps it’s not the company that’s the problem, perhaps it’s your commitment to the job. Are you giving everything you can, going the extra mile not just for the company, but for you? Someone once said if you’re only giving 90 percent you’re not giving your all.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

My last post – Ten Simple Rules – walked through ten simple things any PR professional should do to be successful.

I have decided to do my best to post once a week – and the thought of staring at the blank (albeit electronic) page terrifies me (yes, even this writer who has been creating prose professionally for over 26 years). My solution? Ten Simple Rules for…will be my theme. Thus, my newest entry is Ten Simple Rules for Life.

1. Stay in Touch. Thanks to email, cell phones, PDAs and other electronic wizardry, there really is no excuse. I commute 30 minutes each way. I use that time at least once a week to call my parents. And stay in touch with two people I love very much. Who have you neglected because your “too busy” with the all-important career/life you are building?

2. Be passionate. Pick something. Do it. Live it. Be obsessive (in a non-stalker way!) and enjoy it! I have a new passion for Studio 60, Aaron Sorkin’s new series on NBC. Mainly it’s the writing that attracts me. What a concept, good writing on a TV series!

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post

As a “grey hair” in the PR industry, I’m often asked for advice on how to succeed in this chosen field of ours. What skills do I need? What tips can you offer?

I have found there a several simple things that an up-and-comer can do to really make a difference in their careers. These “rules” are based on 25 years experience in PR and marketing, and I might add, life in general.

1. Always be on time. Work, a lunch with a colleague, a call to an editor. Timeliness is a lost virtue. Fashionably late may seem chic and make you feel self-important. On the other hand, the person who has been waiting for you will find it rude and offensive, even if they don’t say it to your face. Are they really thinking, “if he’s late to a meeting, will he deliver the project on time?”

2. Deliver on your promises, and don’t over promise. This is a skill I’m still honing to this day. If you say you’ll get information to someone, do so. If you know up front it may be difficult to deliver what is requested, then talk to the person and set more realistic expectations. I would rather have someone tell me they can’t get something done than find out they couldn’t deliver right at the time I needed it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Share This: Email or bookmark the post