1. Get Up-Do-Date Information: I use Plaxo so that I always have everyone’s up-to-date information. For more information on this tremendous service, please read: Update your Address Books Automatically. Also, if you use MySpace and other social networking sites out there, they will make you aware of upcoming birthdays. For more information about using MySpace to promote yourself and/or your business, please read: 9 Ways MySpace & Facebook Can Work For You
2. Organize The Birthdays: I then created a spreadsheet that lists everyone’s birthday on 1 page and made it very easy to read at a quick glance. This spreadsheet is organized by month, so you can quickly look at November for example, and see that on the 16th, is my birthday. After you have added all of the birthdays per month, sort the names by birthday. Also, you may want to add November 16th to your list (my birthday)~Download my spreadsheet with sample information~
3. Create Cards: At the beginning of the month, I set some time aside to look at the list of birthday’s, and write out all of my birthday cards.
4. Send Out Cards: Since the cards are all made up, all I have to do it mail it out a few days before their birthday.

This method has been very easy for me to follow because I only need to look at it 12 times a year. Simple enough for anyone to use. Now don’t forget to add November 16th to your spreadsheet 

• Eating dinner at a nice restaurant with yourself
• Going to see a movie by yourself
• Shopping by yourself
• Seeing a Seattle Mariner’s Game (sorry, I’m a little biased) by yourself

If the thought of going anywhere in public alone frightens you, take a deep breath, and ask yourself this thought provoking and philosophical question… Why?
I asked a few people this question and always got the same response back. Doing activities alone makes people feel uncomfortable because they don’t want others to think they don’t have any friends. I understand this, because I felt the same. Once or twice I had gone to go to a movie by myself and I ran out of there as soon as it was over, for fear that someone would see me.

Things changed for me after I watched The Secret. One of the speakers, Lisa Nichols, spoke about how she didn’t look like any of the “beautiful” people while she was growing up. “It wasn’t until I stopped and fell in love with Lisa, full lips, round hips, mocha skin, afro, that the rest of the world began to fall in love with Lisa.”
If you can’t go out with yourself and enjoy your company, how will others? I spoke to a friend of mine, Ashley Holman, who told me that once or twice a month, she would go on a date with herself. She did everything from dinner a movie, to renting videos and drinking wine. Not only did this give her a chance to slow down and relax, but it also gave her the opportunity to fall in love with herself.

Take a few moments to complete an inventory of yourself. What qualities do you have that make you unique? At first I struggled with this, I always looked at the differences as weakness instead of turning them into positives. If you ask me now who Rohit Rohila is, you will get a wonderful answer. Rohit Rohila has a big beautiful smile, he is short which makes him a great hugger, and he has deep brown caring eyes.
Take yourself out on a date with yourself tonight and fell in love 

The other night I was supposed to meet with a person that I am coaching at 6:30 PM at a local coffee shop. At 6:45 I called and left a message. At 7:00 PM I left another message. Finally at 7:30 I left to come back home. The coffee shop is 15 minutes away from my house, and to get ready for the meeting, it took me about 30 minutes. So all said and done, I had just wasted 1 hour at the coffee shop, 1 hour driving back and forth, and 30 minutes getting ready for a total of 2 and a half hours.

I finally got a text message around 10:00 PM that said, “Hey, I fell asleep after I got off of work. Sorry.”

That’s it, no real apology, no real explanation. How likely do you think I am to work with this person again?

I started thinking about how little apologies mean because of how little thought goes into them. How many times a day do you hear, “I’m sorry” said with no emotion or sincerity? Here are 7 points to include in a sincere apology:

1. Be sincere in your apology- “I’m sincerely sorry…”
2. What you did- “That I missed our meeting.”
3. Why you did it, don’t justify by using the word ‘because’- “I had fallen asleep when I got home from work.”
4. How the other person felt- “I know that you must be feeling that I am not reliable…”
5. How it impacted the other person- “And that you wasted a lot of time waiting for me…”
6. Tell them how you can fix it- “But I would really appreciate it if you gave me another chance.”
7. Apologize again and why- “I really am sorry I missed our meeting”

Can you see the difference? Do you think I would work with this person again if they had given me that response? Of course I would because they just let me know that they value my time and want to put forth the effort to make things right. Also, having a sincere apology that explains what happens and how to fix things also does wonders when it comes to defusing a volatile situation.

One of the greatest reasons that most people feel sad, is because they think about what they don’t have, instead of what they do have. I first started my Happiness Journal when I was feeling really down. There really wasn’t anything wrong in my life, but I didn’t have much motivation and was feeling a little depressed. I decided that instead of focusing on the things that made me sad, I would focus on the things that made me happy. It was difficult at the start, struggling to find happiness. But soon I found myself thinking about my journal all day long, and looking for the things that actually made me happy. I went from seeing an old couple walking down to the street, to a cute old couple holding hands in love walking down the street. Soon everywhere I went, I saw the good part of life.

Now the journal was very simple. I put the date down, and then I made a list of all the things that made me happy. You can also download a template that I created that has a spot for a complete week.

Download Happiness Journal
Template By Clicking Here

• Had a great conversation with Ashley, Karla, and Sarah at Cutters Point
• Watched my pet frog Pimpy swim around his aquarium for 5 minutes
• Talked on the phone to my best friend for 20 minutes

Amazon

So how about today you get some flowers from your mom and pay her a little visit. If you don’t live near her, order some flowers online or better yet, give her a call. For a mom, it’s never an inconvenience to hear from her kids. If your mom is no longer reachable… well then take a few moments to remember her, about the goods times that you had, and how she always made you feel special when you were not feeling well.

Today, I’m feeling extra loving, I might even buy her a balloon

One of his most popular concept is what he calls the “30 Day Mental Fast.” Here is a short video explaining one of the ideas behind this concept. At the end of August, I will be going to a convention for my Network Marketing company. After I return, I will be doing the 30 Day Mental Fast and I challenge others to do it with me as well. Enjoy this short video:

Monday, December 13, 1999- Enthusiasm
Today I learned that…
One of the key points to being a leader is enthusiasm. Everything you do must be with 110% enthusiasm. The best way to get others to follow you is to show them, not tell them, but show them how excited you are to do what you are doing.

Tuesday, December 14, 1999- Partnership
Today I learned that…
Being a leader means that you have a partnership with those that you serve that should be equal. Everyone down the line, from a President to the Committee Member should feel like they have an equal responsibility within the group and the groups’ move towards their goals.

Wednesday, December 15, 1999- Self-Attitude
Today I learned that…
Depending on how my attitude is, people will either follow me or they won’t. The more positive and energetic I am, the more people will increase their confidence in me and the more that can be accomplished.

Thursday, December 16, 1999- Self-Confidence
Today I learned that…
One of the greatest things that I can do to increase my leadership is to understand and play the difference and similarities involved with Power and Self-Confidence. One leads to the other and with effectively using both, others will see it also. Often self-evaluations should be done.

Friday, December 17, 1999- Thinking
Today I learned that…
You should build your behaviors based off of experiences. And to gain experiences, you need to increase how often you reflect about your small victories.

Tuesday, December 22, 1999- Big Picture
Today I learned that…
In order to be more creative, I need to take a look at the big picture, and see how everything works within the big picture. Creativity is a tool that far too few people use, and if I use it, it will help me be more of a leader in others’ eyes.

Monday, December 27, 1999- Charisma
Today I learned that…
In order to be a leader that many people will follow emotionally, you must be more emotional. Be a more charismatic person and try also to make behavioral observations of people when you first meet them, and then see how close you came.

As you can see, I don’t go too in depth because it is easier to review this way. Just being aware on a daily basis of what you are learning, will go along way into developing your skills!

Make it a goal to spend 5 minutes outside everyday. Not while running your errands or the walk to get the mail, but actually go outside, stand for 5 minutes, take some deep breaths, and just let go. Make sure you are breathing correctly, to learn how check out this previous post How To Breathe Properly. You will begin to look forward to this time when you can just relax, let go of stress, and enjoy one of the simple pleasures in life.

Does this sound familiar? You go to an appointment, wait about 10-15 minutes in the waiting room, and then another 10-15 minutes for the doctor to actually shop up, about a total time of half an hour. The thing that amazes me is that everyone goes to their appointment, knowing that they will be waiting for at least a half hour, yet they don’t do anything about the time lost.

Here are some ideas of what you could do with that extra half hour of waiting time:

• Read a book on personal development. Sure romance novels and magazines might be entertaining, but do they even bring you 1 step closer to your goals?
• Don’t listen to music. MP3 Players have become very inexpensive; why not listen to some of your favorite personal development audios. I would highly recommend the Creative Zen Stone, very reasonably priced at around $40. There are hundreds of sites online where you can even download free personal development or motivational MP3s. For more information on this, read the following post: Personal Development Where Ever You Go
• Make those calls. Does your to-do list include making any phone calls? This is a great time to make those calls.
• Make contacts. Do you have your own business, home-based business, or Network Marketing business? Well this is a perfect time to talk to other patients waiting about your opportunity.
• Get some work done. Why not bring your laptop or your other work-related tools? That’s what I’m doing right now

Next time you have an appointment, don’t just sit there looking at all the pretty pictures in the waiting room, or all of the nice, shiny, tools in the doctor’s room. Instead, put some time into your greatest investment, you.

A while back ago I was having a conversation with a person who had bad breath. I wondered how many other people also felt he had bad breath, but never told him because they didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Then it hit me, what if I am that guy? The guy with the bad breath that nobody will tell on the count of they don’t want to hurt my feelings.

Since then, I always carry around breath mints with me, and I always pop one in before I am meeting with someone. Here are some interesting facts about bad breath:

• 65% of the population is believed to have bad breath
• The number reason why people don’t purchase from a salesman is because of their breath
• The Romans believed that the cure for bad breath was strawberries
• Dry mouth is a major cause of bad breath
• 90% of bad breath is caused by bacteria on the back of your tongue
• You should rinse your mouth after Coffee, Milk products, meat, and fish
• Not flossing your teeth everyday is the same as not brushing your teeth for 2 weeks

I would recommend brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing, and using a powerful mouth wash. Also, use breath mints and sugarless gum. You might also want to ask someone you trust to be honest if you have bad breath. Start to notice patterns of bad breath associated with food and then work on eliminating those foods or using mouth wash afterwards. I just got done drinking some coffee over at Cutters Point Coffee on Lacey Blvd so I better go brush my teeth now…