Erika's Blog - Northern Connections

Now that the hype about "The Secret" has died down, I wonder whether people are really putting the principles into practise. I read the book, but was disappointed that it was basically theory, and other's people's theories at that. Nothing new for me that I hadn't read about over the years. This weekend I was introduced to a woman who teaches and mentors where The Secret left off. I have just signed up for her introductory lesson. The concept is to stimulate your subconscious mind with positive thoughts. The subconscious mind is tuned in to the universal frequency (or power) (I call it God). By sending out your positive thoughts, you will then attract what you want in your life. I have started the homework today and will be anxious to see if it bears fruit in the next month. The program is guaranteed, so if I follow the steps I should become successful. Right? I'll keep you posted.

Labels: inspiration, success

Recently someone has come into my life. I needed some temporary office help and this person was sent my way. She was very friendly, outgoing and humorous. We hit it off immediately. Over the past 3 weeks, we began to learn more about each other and found ways that we can be supportive to eachother with the challenges that we are facing. I was able to give her advice in my areas of knowledge and expertise and vice versa. I believe that people are put in our paths for reasons, whether they need us or we need them. Being able to render a service to someone to help them on life's journey is a special blessing.

Labels: inspiration, networking, spirituality

The interesting thing about life is that whenever you think things are going rather smoothly, something always comes along to challenge you. If you can take a moment to look at life objectively, you will find that we are not meant to live in a status quo environment. Our mortal existence is to develop character through trials. In our family we have been dealing with ill and ageing parents which is difficult but inevitable. Then along comes some unexpected trials that stretch your endurance even further. I am thankful that I have an eternal perspective and the knowledge that all good things in life are counteracted by negative occurrences, just to keep you grounded. I ask for help and guidance daily and that's what keeps me going.

Labels: family, health, spirituality

In my last blog I talked about building relationships, either family or work-related. I volunteered to be on a communications committee recently to see where improvements can be made in the corporate environment. It was interesting to note that there is always much to do to make communications better. Front line workers often feel undervalued when their opinions are not listened to. Management may feel that they don't have time to relay important information down the line, or don't know who really needs (or wants) to know about high level issues. We often get deluged with emails in an attempt to keep staff informed. The real communication skill is not sending out newsletters, or fyi emails. It comes down to whether someone feels they are being listened to, understood and cared for in this busy, rushed world we live in. If you can master that, your staff will become truly engaged in their work and want to go the extra mile.

Labels: business, communication

Our eldest son has just returned from being away in California for 2 years. We have not seen him during that time, just emails and phone calls. For the past 4 months that he has been home, we have noticed some changes in him, some good and some not so good. Our family dynamics seemed to be the same, but there is something that is not quite right. Developing open and honest communication has become a challenge. You really need both parties to want to participate and make it work. If one party decides to distance themselves, it becomes virtually impossible to come to an understanding and work to resolve any differences that exist. It is the same in business relationships, friendships or casual acquaintances. True and meaningful dialogue is the basis of any good relationship, but it also takes skill. You don't want to offend. Speaking with a caring voice and putting yourself in the other person's shoes will go along way to making sure there is no breakdown that will take a lot of effort to patch up when feelings are hurt.

Labels: communication, family

I took the advice of my Business Coach and made some changes to my web site title and keywords. I also started writing articles and publishing on the internet. Between this and some backlinks from organizations that I joined, I was surprised to find my web site on page 2 of Google search. That is very exciting. Now I need to keep up the efforts to remain there and get even higher rankings.

Labels: business, internet marketing, seo

I am sure most business owners know what a strategic plan is, but I wonder how many actually have one and use it to plan their growth. A strategic plan should be a living document that gets revised regularly as demands change. It is not a document that gets prepared once and then sits in a file to be looked at again in a couple of years. I am currently a part of a team developing their strat plan for the first time and it is quite a learning experience for the group. If you haven't had experience in this before, it takes a bit of time looking at indicators and establishing milestones to ensure the results accurately reflect progress being made. Projects need to be planned and tasks assigned to staff. To get all staff to buy-in to the strategic planning process, it's a good idea to involve them in the decision making and also encourage their ideas and input. Our group has indicated they have gained from seeing other's programs and the benefit of working together as a team to move in one direction. There is lots of information available in preparing your Strategic Plan. If your are planning growth, you will need one so you don't veer off course.

Labels: business, strategic planning