Trust your intuition

Cliff Brenner was a highly creative thinker.
He was one of my clients at Philadelphia Electric.
I was one of his unofficial clients when I had a problem.
Over the years we have talked for hours.
Often together over lunch, later by long distance.
Cliff lived in Philadelphia. I live in South Carolina.
We always talked on April 30, his birthday and mine.
No matter what the obstacle was, Cliff helped me solve it.
Cliff’s gone on to that great creative agency up there.
I truly miss his sound reasoning and creative solutions.
There has to be at least one Cliff Brenner in your life.
Maybe you are a Cliff Brenner in someone else’s life.
Many of us limit our intuition by becoming super analytical.
We analyze problems to death. And it prevents bold decisions.
Call it “paralysis by analysis”. It’s what bean counters do.
My wife — and business partner — is highly intuitive.
I have learned to trust her judgment about my crazier ideas.
Sorry, guys, but most women are more intuitive than we are.
Some seem to have forgotten we have an intuitive side.
Women trust their instincts and feelings.
They listen to their “inner spirit” and trust it.
Here’s one way to fine-tune your intuition:
Think about how you “feel” — not just what you “think”.
If it doesn’t smell right, it probably isn’t right.
Listen to your “inner spirit”. It will guide you.
That’s a God-like sense we’re endowed with.
It’s the Great Creator inside every one of us.
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Life’s five critical questions

I’ve been reading Michael Masterson’s “Ready, Fire, Aim”.
Masterson writes about three critical career questions.
They are good ones but I have amended them.
I believe you should ask yourself five critical questions.
And not just today. Ask them of yourself often.
1. What am I doing in my life and career?
2. Where and when do I want to do it?
3. With whom do I want to do it?
Now here are the two additional questions from me:
4. For whom am I committed to doing it?
5. What great purpose does it serve?
Your answers should all align with the final two questions.
For what great purpose am I working?
And who should benefit from my labors?
You want to blur the line between work and fun.
Your work and your life should become your passions.
Here’s another question for you:
Am I keeping my passions in balance?
You might look at life as a three-legged stool.
One leg is your work, career, pursuit of wealth.
Wealth can be a goal in and of itself.
For many of us, it buys security for our families.
It buys us independence and freedom to live fully.
But it is only one leg of life’s stool.
Are you balancing your stool with the other two legs?
One of those is family and all those you love and care for.
One is your faith in a Higher Power who speaks to you.
Do you dare answer these questions for yourself?
Do you dare send me your answers?
For more on putting purpose in your life, click here.
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Pay for performance

Tiger Woods may be the best pro golfer in the world.
But he wasn’t last weekend in the Masters at Augusta.
Phil Mickelson was the best in this single tournament.
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer, friendlier guy.
Phil and his family have had a rough time of it lately.
His mother and his wife Amy were diagnosed with cancer.
Amy gamely made it to Augusta National for the final day.
She was there beaming when Phil won the tournament.
Pro golfers play in a tough league. They can’t afford bad days.
You have a bad day as a pro golfer, you have a bad pay day.
Golf is one sport that pays solely for performance.
Most team sports don’t. You have a bad day, you’re still paid.
In business, we can’t afford bad days.
No money in. No money out. Sales is like that, too.
You don’t sell, you don’t collect a commission.
That’s what I like best about sales and business.
If you succeed, you’re rewarded. If you don’t, you won’t.
It’s just that simple. So don’t complain.
If more jobs were paid on performance, more would get done.
A friend of ours set up a meritocracy in his business.
If the business had a good month, everyone shared in the profit.
If the month was poor, there was no profit to share in.
We’re fortunate in our business. Our people work hard.
We’re up 151.6% at the bottom line year to date over 2009.
We’re up 242.7% this March over March 2009.
How was your March? Was it this good?
Want to know how we did it?
Email me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com
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Celebrate your days

Our family will be celebrating a birthday this month.
It’s my birthday and I won’t tell you my age.
You wouldn’t believe me anyway.
When people ask and I tell them they are surprised.
They say they thought I was at least 10 years younger.
That’s what comes with marrying a Trophy Wife.
MacLeod’s much younger and she keeps me young.
One of my favorite curmudgeons, Tom Peters, says:
“This day belongs ... ultimately ... to you.”
Great observation, Tom. I would add to that:
“This life ... ultimately ... belongs to you.”
What you do with it in a free country is up to you.
Count your blessings. You have them in abundance.
You could have been born in the Third World.
Every morning I thank God for another great day.
I thank Him for the great purposes He has given me.
I hope you have found your great purpose in life.
All of us have at least one. Some have several.
We come into this life without an instruction manual.
God leaves it to us to figure out our great purpose.
If you are alert, God will give you lots of clues.
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Believe in the good

Ralph Waldo Emerson advocated optimism.
“Don’t waste yourself in rejection,” he wrote.
“Chant the beauty of the good.”
Those who make it in life and business tend to be positive.
We’re believers in the beauty of the good.
Our late friend Jerry Fowler was positive to the end.
Jerry was diagnosed with cancer and set out to beat it.
He finally lost the fight but he carried cancer to 15 rounds.
Jerry acted as if getting cancer was a gift from God.
Maybe it was. It certainly brought out the best in him.
I felt honored to speak at his memorial service.
Successful people think like Jerry Fowler did.
They welcome challenges. They appreciate life’s tests.
They believe what they do brings value to others.
Copywriter Clayton Makepeace advocates optimism, too.
But he writes that optimism must have a foundation.
Your idea -- what you do -- must be believable.
It must be based on provable, demonstrable reality.
Pessimists may think they’re realists. They’re not.
They just drag down themselves and those around them.
Think you’re a victim? You'll always be a victim.
If you look for a reason to be depressed, you’ll find it.
Quit trying to justify failure by blaming it on others.
Look in the mirror. There’s the culprit.
As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Put a smile on your face. You’ll soon feel better.
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