Do newspapers have a future?

Yesterday we talked about learning from our experiences.
Today we’ll talk about something close to many of our hearts:
What lies ahead for newspapers and the publishing industry?
As you’re reading this, my wife and I will be in Atlanta.
I’ll talk with Ruth King on the ProfitabilityChannel.com at 10 a.m.
Then we will meet for the weekend with other consultants.
These include some familiar names you will recognize:
Ed Henninger, Ken Blum, Bob Bobber and Kevin Slimp.
We will discuss the future of newspapers in print and online.
I’ll share our insights with you in next week’s blog.
My take on newspapers’ future? It’s simple and optimistic.
The obituaries are premature. Community newspapers are robust.
They fill a need for local news and information like nothing else.
They tell about your taxes. What your local officials are up to.
About the education your children get. The safety of your town.
Who scored the winning points in the local high school game.
Who was born, got married or died. What’s on at the movies.
We don’t try to cover the world. We cover what we do best.
We should not try to be all things to all people. That’s suicidal.
Local news and sports is our franchise. Our reason for existence.
We should strive to do it better than anyone else ever could.
I hope you have time to watch Ruth and me. To do it, click here.

Learning from life’s experiences

Yesterday we talked about your goals creating your life’s vision.
I know you’ve already listed your top 20 life goals.
Today we’ll talk about learning from the lessons of your life.
Our friend Michael Aun learned about life’s lessons at age 11.
His grandfather, Eli Mack, was the mayor of our small town.
He gave Michael a book for his birthday. The pages were blank.
"It’s worthless," Michael said. "It doesn’t have anything in it."
His grandfather was patient. He gave Michael this advice:
"It’s what you will put in it that will make it valuable."
That fueled Michael’s lifelong passion for keeping a daily journal.
He calls it his love notes to his great great grandchildren.
He will never see them but the notes are his legacy to them.
His grandfather urged Michael to list 500 goals for his life.
His grandfather would go through the newspaper with him.
They would read about something the President had done.
His grandfather asked if he wanted to be President.
Michael decided against the presidency but listed 510 goals.
At last count he has achieved 487 of those life goals.
How’s your list? Are you checking off what you’ve achieved?
A reminder: Ruth King will interview me Friday at 10 a.m.
We’ll talk about my new "Terminate Your Profit Killers" book.
To watch, go to www.JerryBellune.com. It shows you what to do.
For more about goals, vision and purpose, click here.

How your goals create your vision

Yesterday we talked about setting your life’s goals.
I trust you’ve already listed your top 20 life goals.
If not, do that right after you finish reading today’s blog.
Keep them in a notebook and add to them as they come to you.
Believe me, they will come to you. It is providential.
Today we’ll talk about your goals creating your life’s vision.
Permit me to share a personal story about mine.
I wrote "Your Life’s Great Purpose" to help you find your purpose.
I wanted you to find it in eight key areas of your life.
The three most important are faith, family and community.
The others are career, financial, body, mind and just for fun.
I thought that was the book’s true great purpose. I was wrong.
God gave me a challenge: Sell books to wipe out illiteracy.
42 million Americans can’t read. We need to correct that.
Millions can’t enjoy reading the way you and I enjoy it.
My goal was to sell 2 million books, to raise $20 million for literacy.
I heard Jack Canfield talk about selling 1 million books in a day.
God was telling me through Jack that my goal was too small.
I raised it to 20 million books to raise $200 million for literacy.
Think about it. What’s your big goal, your great purpose in life?
Write it down. Commit to achieving it. Believe you can do it.
Share it with those you love. Enlist their support.
Let them share your purpose and your belief to make it work.
That’s one of the biggest challenges of your life. You can do it.
Email me your purpose. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.
A reminder: Ruth King will interview me Friday at 10 a.m.
We’ll talk about my new "Terminate Your Profit Killers" book.
To watch, go to www.JerryBellune.com. It shows you what to do.
For more about goals, vision and purpose, click here.

What’s your vision for your life?

Yesterday we talked about making and keeping commitments.
Today we’ll talk about creating a vision for your life.
A vision is more than a list of goals. But goals are where you start.
National championship coach Lou Holtz is a good example.
Early in his career, Lou made a list of more than 100 life goals.
At last count, Lou was closing in on the last dozen.
These include rafting the Snake River through Hell’s Canyon.
Jumping out of an airplane — with a parachute, of course.
Appearing on national TV. Winning a national championship.
Mine include reading the Great Books of the Western World.
Circling the globe. Speaking fluent Italian and Spanish.
Resuming our study of the organ. Writing two dozen more books.
Collecting local recipes we love from exotic places we visit.
Selling 20 million books. Raising $200 million for literacy.
Here’s my challenge to you: Start your list. Make it a long one.
Make it so long you cannot afford to die before at least age 150.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about how those goals lead to your vision.
Special note: Ruth King will interview me Friday at 10 a.m.
We’ll talk about my new "Terminate Your Profit Killers" book.
To watch the show, go to www.ProfitabilityChannel.com
For more about goals, vision and purpose, click here.

What are you committed to?

Today we’ll talk about one of the great keys to success in life.
It’s vital that we make and honor our commitments.
Losers quit making commitments because they fail to achieve them.
They give up too easily. Why not try again? And again?
Giving in too easily reinforces a passive approach to life.
That leads to failure. Repeated, disheartening failure.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s advice is still good today.
"Never give in," he said. "Never give in. Never, never, never, never.
"In nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in."
The solution is not to abandon our dreams.
The solution is to commit to an active life.
To commit to the pursuit, capture and enjoyment of success.
What are you willing to commit to achieve today? Yes, today?
Write it in your journal. Check your journal tonight. "Did I do it?"
Commit to this as well: "I will hold myself accountable.
"I will do what I promise to do. No excuses. No alibis.
"If I fail to do it, it should be only because I ran out of time."
The clock is ticking. I dare you. Start now.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about creating your vision for your life.
For more interesting reading, click here.