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

In Dreams Begin Responsibilities

Tom Cronin Success Magazine LTD.


“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” — Thomas Paine

The American dream was and always will be an important element to what makes America such great a nation—all one needs is a dream and the motivation to carry it out. Ambition is the driving force behind the American dream. It allows anyone with a goal, a desire, or a passion to carry out their individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender, or religion. It stands for something great, something that everyone can strive toward. To live this dream is to succeed. It allows anyone, rich or poor, to have the opportunity to thrive. It is the ability to come from nothing and become something. To succeed at anything you do, you must have patience and persistence. It requires hard work and a desire for something better. To have these qualities and the drive and ambition to carry them out is living the American dream.

“Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.” — Harry Emerson Fosdick

My own delving into this abstract subject showed me that I was a member of the first generation to think their dreams could become realities. In my father’s generation, generally you were expected to “earn a living” and your education was geared to that end. After the Second World War, the idea began to take shape that everyone could and should have a dream, that we all had some kind of inner potential that wasn’t being expressed. The most important thing in the entire world is that a child like yours will grow up in a home where there are no limits put on them. Each generation plans to improve the future of their children. We do not want our children to have to work as hard or as long to achieve their goals. We want them to use their God given abilities to make use of our strong educational system, become professionals, and eventually serve their fellow man better.

“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” — Thomas Paine

Ability involves responsibility. America, since its beginning, has been a place where anyone can succeed if they put their mind, heart, and soul to their purpose. But we have to use our abilities to secure our

future. Many of our fellow Americans are suffering under the recession that has befallen our nation, but that does not mean we should rely on the government. As long as the government will pay to extend unemployment and pension benefits, no one will want to work or look to improve their lives. We need to get out of the welfare lines and put our backs to the grind—find a new job, start a new company, design a new future, seek an education. Do not let our future be dependent on a government that will eventually fail unless we change our ways.

“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won you earn it and win it in every generation.” — Coretta Scott King

By burdening our economy with bigger government, we are dangerously creating an economic environment where opportunity and mobility get obstructed. The traditional American faith in upward economic mobility—understood to be the American dream—seems more elusive now than ever. As President Reagan reminded us, “Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.” This perception is the solution to sustaining a healthy, growing economy that expands the prosperity for our coming generations.

“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”

— Ronald Reagan

Our region has been blessed with an extraordinarily large building project. We have a great opportunity before us and we must embrace it and plan for our future success. The future is ours to behold. Show our area’s prowess and be that new creator of the next generation of American dreams.

The challenge for each individual is not what we would do if we had the funds, educational advantages, time or sway; the challenge is what we will do with what we are blessed with. Will we cease to dream, and regret our lack of opportunities? We need to face our situation resolutely, formulate a plan to attack our dream, and bring about an honorable success.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau

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

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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.

What motivates you to feel successful in life?

Tom Cronin Success Magazine LTD.

What motivates you to feel successful in life? Is it power, money, possessions, the love of your spouse or family? According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, money is a motivator; however its motivating effect is short lived. At higher levels of the hierarchy, praise, respect, recognition, empowerment, and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money. I have seen in my own life and throughout my career that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is critical to our desires and feelings of success. If you cannot provide the basic security for yourself,your loved ones and your employees, you cannot have self respect, respect for others, and therefore you cannot attain the higher goals of love, self esteem/recognition, achievement, and then self actualization.

“ We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired to glory.”—Cicero

There are two motivating categories. Intrinsic motivation is motivation driven by an interest or enjoyment of the task itself. There are many intrinsic motivating basic desires that guide all of us: from the basics of food, shelter, and clothing to acceptance from our peers, spouse and family, we need order in our lives. As a husband and primary provider, I know that it is critical for me to give my wife and my sons that basic sense of well being and security. If I cannot provide security (and in a recessionary period all of us are stressed to the max to ensure that we provide such security for our family and employees),

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then they cannot feel secure in their own lives. People need to feel safe and loved.

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion, and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the participant to win and beat others. Achieving a promotion or getting a reward for sales person of the month are also extrinsic incentives. When we receive positive reinforcement for our hard work we are motivated to work harder and do better for ourselves, our families, and our companies.

Entrepreneurs cannot constantly motivate and keep track of an employee’s work on a daily basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for owners, since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism. Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows owners to cope with the situation at hand. In this way, a goal is of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts on a specified path.

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”— Epictetus

People will perform better when they are committed to achieving certain goals. We are motivated by goals no matter how large or small. Positive emotions can broaden modes of thinking, which in turn

can improve ways of coping with a current stress. The entrepreneur in America is constantly fighting an uphill battle. Coping with the stresses of running a business can either make you or kill you. You might fail. So what? A winner must first know what failure is before he or she can enjoy success. The more obstacles you overcome, the stronger you become.

“They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.”—Thomas Bailey Aldrich

In life nothing is certain, nothing is perfect. Just rise above the challenge. Life is a game of chess, learn to live it wisely. The greater the challenges that we face, the more noteworthy the motivation will be in our lives.

“We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson

We must be motivated to succeed in life. Failure might occur, but it is never permanent.Whateveryouarenotchanging, you are choosing to live by. Always move forward to the positive aspects of your life. Never accept mediocrity.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” - Eccliastes 9:10

Your Roadmap to Marketing Success

Tom Cronin Success Magazine LTD.

It is the responsibility of Success Public Relations to predict,evaluate and understand public opinion, thoughts, and concerns that might influence the functions and tactics of your business. We analyze your organization at all levels with regard to guiding principle decisions, courses of action, and communication while taking into account public ramifications and the organization’s social or civic responsibilities. We explore, appraise, predict, and carry out on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to attain the up-to-date public perception necessary for you to achieve your business goals. These may include advertising, marketing, financial, events, and public or government dealings. Success PR will develop and execute the business’s hard work to influence or change public perception. We will plan objectives, forecast budgeting, assist in recruiting and training staff and developing services.

Your marketing plan is a tool to reach target audiences, establish awareness, create or enhance image, and elicit action. Through a customized, collaborative process, we will work with you to develop a marketing plan which more closely identifies your market, your position, your competitors, your strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. This plan includes:

• Situation Analysis • Marketing Objectives • Marketing Strategy • Budget • Goals and Objectives • Timeline & Action Plan • Action and Response Strategies • Effective Communication • Strategic Planning • Evaluation

Strategic planning lies at the root of all public relations and marketing efforts. It helps you define whom you want to reach, what you want to say, what channels you should use to deliver your message, how you will measure your results, and more. Without strategic planning, your outreach efforts may consist of nothing more than throwing a dart at the wall and hoping to hit something, anything.

Strategic planning allows you to define your strategic goals, create communication objectives to support the goals, and develop strategies and tactics to deliver on the promise. It also defines who will implement the activities, when, and at what cost.

SPR can help you implement a strategic plan to build your PR/marketing plan, develop a website, communicate effectively, promote an event, or launch a new company. Our process begins and ends with research. We define the current state of affairs, plan and introduce your project, and measure the outcome.