Refine Your Character: Mind, Body, Spirit

As we enter the New Year, it is imperative that we look to the future to refine our character and enhance our lives. There are many who set their New Year’s resolutions—to lose weight, stop smoking, or to find a new job—without a true life plan. Without specific goals and objectives the resolutions will fall by the wayside within the first month. But, it takes more than just a list of goals and objectives; it takes an indomitable spirit dedicated to refining their character to bring about a better life: mind, body, and spirit.

A positive person with specific goals and objectives will have a better life, whether building relationships or building a business. Time-honored coaches told us that we should “be confident.” But where does the manner of assurance really come from? It comes f rom your veiled, subconscious mindset about how life should treat you.

Refine your focus: Clearly define who you are and where you are going.

Refine your purpose: What is your purpose in life and how will you reach your endgame.

Refine your meaning in life: What beyond the basic norms are you here for?

Refine your desire to succeed: What is success to you? Money, power, possessions, family...?

Refine your body, mind and spirit: How can I live a better life and be healthier in all arenas?

Liberate your self-imposed boundaries: Determine what things limit you and how to overcome them.

Revitalize your confidence: Learn how to cope with anything that impairs your ability to enjoy life.

Redesign your career: Create a mental picture that aligns with your life goals.

Discern your dynamic force: Determine how to manage your corporal, psychological, emotional, and spiritual energy in order to refine your life and create success.

The successful, high achievers you most admire have had to master their inner game. You must refine your life in order to reach your aspirations.

“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.” Roy L. Smith

There are times in life, no matter how well we plan for our success, that life takes a turn for the worse. We think that we are on top of our game and that we deserve a break at all turns, but then it happens. Our lives fall into the abyss—a lost company, a failed relationship, an untimely death of a loved one, or a damaging event that drives us into a chasm that we can’t seem to get out of. We are being refined for a better purpose. The suffering that we are going through, no matter how bad it is and no matter how it seems as if it will never end, is temporary. The only way we can be equipped, is to allow the process of some suffering. God permits us to go through fires of affliction; to take the dross, the defilement, the impurity out of our character—to separate the worthless from the valuable. He is watching every trial that we are going through and He is using these things to prepare you—to refine you like silver.

“Behold, I have ref ined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10

When we go through this refining type of experience, it is difficult to understand why it’s happening to us. This has certainly been true for me during my most challenging times. Now years later, I look back and I see things that I went through and realize that there was a divine plan and purpose for my life. When you look back on your life you can see that there was a reason for the adversity; a reason that God had to get your attention and,attimes,humbleyouwithalife-changing experience. We had to go through the fire in order to experience hardship and refine our character and purify our motives. There is a purpose for every challenge—to prepare us for a greater calling in our lives.

“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can Public Relations and Advertising Coexist in one Department?

By Tom Cronin

Public relations, advertising, events, and sales are all sub-sets of marketing. It is imperative for them to work with each other—in most organizations the marketing head is responsible for all these tools. The key is successful integrated marketing infrastructure. If PR, advertising, events and sales teams work independently, the organization is doomed. It is about delivering one unified message across all channels to meet your business and marketing goals. After all, clients do not just pander to public relations to gain third party credible endorsements. Ultimately, the PR goal is to positively impact the business of the client.

I have found the most effective communications campaigns are those that are highly integrated, both leveraging and enhancing the other. This creates greater impact and maximizes the investment across both. The lines are continuously blurring between PR and marketing now with the continuous evolution of social media, so I believe that it is in the professional communicator’s interest to have a good understanding of both disciplines in order to integrate them in the most efficient ways possible. The

marketing strategies and the talking points for a PR campaign need to be compatible and mutually supportive. If you can get good, positive media coverage, it supports your marketing campaigns since many people in the public trust that the news media will filter out any spin and portray only facts in the news. If the messages match, your marketing becomes much more trusted by your audiences. That’s why it’s important to speak with one voice. You also need to coordinate placing ads, conducting mailings, or posting items on the Internet. The timing of your messages is just as important as the messages you are sending. I have seen ad campaigns kill news stories, and alternatively, I have seen them generate media interest—all based on their timing.

The great strength of PR is reputation management. It has a great influence on sales by creating a good environment for the marketing message to be delivered, while the strength of marketing is more directly linked to sales. The messages delivered by both disciplines need to mesh well to achieve trust in the audience and achieve the final results. Both

disciplines can and must coexist—and their efforts must be coordinated.

The social media environment will bring the two departments together by default as it spans both disciplines. Both PR and marketing are claiming the social media space as their own, in terms of budget and vehicle. In my experience of providing social media analysis solutions to the industry, the winners have been the teams that grasp the opportunity to work together to achieve the client’s goal.

We have developed the ultimate PR and advertising weapon—Success PR. With our ability to analyze our client’s needs and deliver a comprehensive PR plan integrated with all phases of marketing, we will revolutionize the marketing industry. Success PR is a trusted source for market plan development, website design, search engine optimization, and in-print and online story magnification. Success PR TV will share your video interview, commercial and webinars, and Success Coupon will call to action your purchasing power. We have created Success PR to enhance your market share.

Using state-of-the-art facilities SPRTV creates high-impact advertising with a minimal impact on your wallet through:

• branding • promoting customer awareness • reaching and securing your target market • using your commercial to optimize your website

Wisdom Brings Success

Tom Cronin Success Magazine LTD.


So where do we find wisdom?

Most people have no idea how to define success, let alone how to achieve it. Many of us believe the old saying, “The goal is to see who can die with the most toys.” Others come to believe that success is a reflection of how much power they have. But we know that most people in our society who are supposedly successful with money, power, and possessions are not happy; many die bankrupt after a volatile life. So where do we find wisdom? Albert Einstein, whom many consider one of the smartest people of the 20th century once said, “Wisdom is not the product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Einstein seems to insinuate that wisdom is a never-ending search, that once you think you have it, you find you need to do more work to acquire it. While Einstein said that we find wisdom through a life-long search, others try to find it in much simpler places. Leo Buscaglia made a lot of sense when he said this about wisdom: “We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure.” I think most of us know what he was talking about. I know that I have sometimes learned a lot more through my mistakes than my successes. Another person who could say the same thing was Solomon, who, through writing Ecclesiastes, looked back on his life and, through his wisdom, showed us the mistakes he made so we would not do the same. The wise man in Ecclesiastes 10:10 wrote: “If the axe is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success.”

The person who does not use their intelligence must work harder than the person who prepares and works hard toward a goal.

“Successinbusinessrequires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.”—David Rockefeller

“The first requisite for success is to develop the ability to focus and apply your mental and physical energies to the problem at hand – without growing weary. Because such

96 SUCCESS GLOBALFOUNDRIES 2010

thinking is often difficult, there seems to be no limit to which some people will go to avoid the effort and labor that is associated with it”—Thomas Edison

You choose to succeed by applying the principles of success in your life or any area you desire victory. Success is not guaranteed to every human who walks the planet. However, the potential for success is bequeathed to each of us at birth. Success is not an accident or the result of believing that life owes it to you. Success is not: power, fame, wealth, prosperity, happiness, or independence. Once gained, there is no guarantee that the success you have achieved will be maintained indefinitely in any recognizable or anticipated form. If success is lost, it is not destined to elude us forever. Success is a choice. You need to know these principles. When you know these principles; what they are, what they mean to your life and how to put them into action, you will find that success and its by-products—good health, happiness, wealth, and satisfying relationships—will be yours.

“Many receive advice; only the wise profit from it.” Publilius Syrus

Prosperity can be achieved by the following keys to success:

Vision: We are inspired by those who dream and follow their heart’s desires.

Purpose: Have specific goals in your life. Write down your plans for success.

Preparation: Achieve your goals through education and acquiring knowledge.

Perseverance: Never quit. Always strive toward your goals.

Seek wisdom: Surround yourself with others who have taken the right paths in life.

Resourcefulness: When others quit, find a way to gain new energy and strength to finish the race.

Drive: Once you have achieved each step toward your goal, continue to strive to a greater achievement.

Breathe: Take a step back along the way and assess your situation to ensure that your energies and strength are directed toward your task.

Finish the race: Secure your future and complete the desires of your heart.

Give thanks: Once you have achieved your goals, take a moment to reflect and give thanks to God for his blessings and your good health.

“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture...Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.”— Norman Vincent Peale

“Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”—Ted Turner

“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.”—Proverbs 4:11-12

When you make your plans for your life and business, think big. Plan for success. You need to stir the blood and inspire others to dream dreams; if not, your own vision will not be realized. Design larger-than-life strategies with great vision for a purpose and know that righteous consistent plans, once confirmed, will never perish.

Success PR Network Party

Success PR Network - Launch Party You are invited to a launch party for the most recent edition of Success Magazine, which features many of our areas finest businesses, medical and legal practices, restaurants, and more. We are serving a special 3 course dinner for only $20.12, including appetizer, entrée, and dessert. If you act now you can purchase two (2) dinners for the price of one on our Success Coupon site. We will also have, for your pleasure, "Gold Buyers Direct, Inc" who will purchase your old gold, jewelry, and precious metals for the highest payout in the area. You can keep the proceeds and CRI Refining "Gold Buyers Direct, Inc." will donate 10% of the total to The United Way or your favorite charity. We will have a guest speaker, Tom Cronin, who will share how you can maximize your business sales, reduce costs, and increase profits. Enjoy Dinner and Dancing with our Latin Salsa Dance Party. One lucky couple will win a weekend for two at The Copperfield in North Creek worth $500, compliments of Success PR.