Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

At the peak of his business career, John J. Mitchell was President of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, and a financier of the first rank. Mitchell simplified his code of business ethics as follows:

1.  There is no question that the golden rule is the best one to apply to business transactions.

2.  I put myself in the place of the man with whom I am dealing and govern my actions accordingly.

3.  Success has attended my efforts because of dealing with others as I would be dealt with.

4.  My rule in investments has always been, look to the principal rather than to the interest. 

[Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D. is a Registered Psychotherapist and author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don’t™ at http://ww.pressingyourownbuttons.com]

By Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

Hetty Green

During her lifetime, Hetty Green became the wealthiest woman in the world. Without capital, friend or influence she has built up a fortune estimated at $60,000,000. The maxims, which governed her business life, she has formulated as follows:

1.    Invest in real estate; buy a house for $5,000 that you can sell for $6,000,

2.    Be satisfied with a profit the proportion of which corresponds with the size of the investment.

3.    Imitation may be the sincerest flattery, but the good of it all lies with the things imitated. Success is a stranger to imitation. People with money to invest should pay no attention to the doings of others, but look on things from their own point of view.

4.    The goal of success is not always reached by the roughest road; the path is an easy one to find. That is why so many people miss it.

G. G. Williams

Before his death, George G. Williams was president of the Chemical National Bank of New York. He accumulated a fortune worth $5,000,000 by working his way up from a clerkship to the head of one of the soundest financial institutions in the country at the time. How? He did it by conduct founded upon the principles in his five favorite dictums:

1.    There is no royal road to success. Work is the keynote

2.    Learn to do one thing well and do it thoroughly.

3.    Ambition and common sense will win success for anyone along legitimate lines.

4.    The really successful man is made, not born.

5.    Determination is the lever of the great machine of life.

D. K. Pearsons

Mr. D. K. Pearsons, millionaire, philanthropist, and patron of colleges, summed up the rules of life as follows:

1.    Practice steady economy. Do not spend until you have it to spend. Be strictly honest, awl never take advantage of men. Avoid show and extravagance. Use your money to educate the poor.

2.  Be your own executive. Trust no man to administer upon your estate. You cannot carry out of this world any amount with your dead hands. There is no use for money beyond the grave.

[Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D. is a Registered Psychotherapist and author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don’t™ at http://ww.pressingyourownbuttons.com]

By Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

D. O. Mills

Darius O. Mills, financier and philanthropist, started on his road to fortune with nothing but a good physique and a large determination. His wealth grew to over $25,000,000. He acquired that amount of money by observing these rules:

1.  Work develops all the good there is in a man; idleness all the evil; therefore work if you would be good—and successful.

2.  Sleep eight hours, work twelve, and pick your recreations with an eye to their good results.

3.  Save one dollar out of every five you earn. It is not alone the mere saving of money that counts; it is the intellectual and moral discipline the saving habit enforces.

4.  Be humble, not servile or undignified, but respectful in the presence of superior knowledge, position, or experience,

5.  Most projects fail owing to poor business management, and that means a poor man at the helm.

6.  Success is not measured by the number of his millions one has or by the extent of his power, but by the good that he does.

Joseph Downey

Joseph Downey, was one of the wealthiest contractors in Chicago. He took a pessimistic view of every business venture. Downey said that he always expected the worst to happen, and was agreeably surprised when the reverse occurred. To his intimate friends he often gives these terse bits of advice:

1.  Never figure what your profits are going to be.

2.  Calculate what your possible losses will be on a venture.

3.  Figure what the lowest return will be in a business proposition with all things unfavorable. If matters turn out favorably, you can stand the prosperity that follows.

4.  Buy all the property that you can, but never build to suit you. Construct buildings to please others and they will sell.

C. P. Huntington

Collis P. Huntington laid the foundation of his fortune of over $50,000,000 by peddling hardware in California during the feverish days of 1849. His business maxims were:

1.  Don’t talk too much during business hours.

2.  Listen attentively; answer cautiously; decide quickly.

3.  Do what you think is right and stand by your own judgment.

4.  Teach others, by your conduct, to trust you implicitly.

5.  Never let your competitors know what your next move will be; time enough to talk after you have acted.

6.  Have a definite aim, and keep your eye on the objective point.

7.  Be bold with caution, prudent with boldness.

[Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D. is a Registered Psychotherapist and author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don’t™ at http://ww.pressingyourownbuttons.com]

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

 Among all human fears, one of the greatest is speaking in public. Most of us are at least a little apprehensive about standing up and speaking in front of others, even to a small group of trusted friends. Yet, those who can speak well in public enjoy more success in business than those who cannot. Consider this. Suppose you are part of a workplace team tasked with pulling together a marketing plan for the organization. The job done, someone must report the findings. Whom will the boss remember: the team who put together the report, or the messenger who delivers it? The presenter of course: the one who speaks on behalf of the group.

A smaller group of people, but still quite significant given that their numbers are in the millions, have a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others. They are anxious that what they say will embarrass or even humiliate them. They dread the consequences of their own actions. In many cases, their fear may be so severe that it interferes with their work and other everyday activities. Often, physical symptoms accompany their intense anxiety—their social phobia if you will. They blush, sweat profusely, tremble visibly, may become nauseous, and even have difficulty breathing, let alone talking.

Shyness (social phobia or Social Anxiety Disorder) can be a serious problem. Certainly, it can be career limiting. Characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations, it can be debilitating. While social phobia may rear its ugly head in a very limited number of situations such as a person fearing to speak in only formal situations, in more severe cases it may express itself as a fear of eating or drinking in front of others. In its most debilitating form, a person may experience symptoms every time they find them selves among other people.

Fortunately, as painfully limiting as social phobias may be—including simple shyness—there are some easy-to-learn, practical steps that can help most people deal with them. In many cases just seven steps can make a profound difference. With a little time, some focused effort and these Seven Steps for Personal Freedom™ most people suffering from social anxiety can once again, lead productive, fulfilling lives.
 
STEP 1: Imagine the anxiety-producing situation. Get a clear picture of it.
 
STEP 2: Pretend you are a scientist looking at this situation. Write—be certain to WRITE down—exactly what you and others involved see, hear, and do.
 
STEP 3: Imagine that those who may be negatively affecting you are in a cage, surrounded by a hedge, behind an unbreakable glass barrier, etc. Imagine you are a scientist examining their behavior as they do their thing. At first, do this for just a few seconds, then for longer and longer periods.
 
STEP 4: Now, more comfortable imagining the other person, picture yourself doing something different from what you usually do.
 
STEP 5: When the above situation comes up again, do STEPS 1 through 4, for real this time! At first, just look at the person. As this becomes easier, do STEP 4.
 
STEP 6: Reappraisal. What do they actually say, do, and look like? Chances are, at this stage, these things are not so bad after all.
 
STEP 7: Where did you learn this evaluation? For example, what did your parents do when they were in a similar situation? How about a teacher, your boss, or a close friend? What did they say, or do? How did they look?
 
Repeat these steps for each situation in which you feel yourself getting anxious. Take control of your career so others don’t!

[Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved. http://www.pressingyourownbuttons.com] 

By Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

Here are ten useful guidelines for becoming an effective and welcomed companion. They can help you become a more effective conversationalist:

(1) First listen! Then talk about what matters; avoid trivialities.

(2) Choose your company wisely for a profitable interchange of ideas. The best companions, like the best books, uplift, inform, and entertain.

(3) Study the character of your companions. If they are your superiors, learn from them. Ask them questions. Then, be an attentive listener. If they are your subordinates, render them the best service you can. Always be respectful of others regardless of their station in life.

(4) Fill you mind with suitable topics for use when the conversation wanes.

(5) Make a note whenever you hear something especially new, valuable, or instructive. Enter it as soon as you can into a notebook you keep for such conversational jewels.

(6) Always aim to be pleasing in what you say. Never ridicule!

(7) Avoid making hasty statements or drawing conclusions too quickly. Take time to weigh the different sides of a subject. Take a broad view of things.

(8) Let the conversation drift naturally from one subject to another. Do not hold too tenaciously to one subject. Your companions may wish to talk about other things of greater interest to them.

(9) Make yourself inconspicuous in conversation. Never display superiority. Keep a modest manner. Doing so will be to your credit.

(10) Bear patiently with those holding opposite views to your own. You just might be wrong. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn from them.

[Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D. is a Registered Psychotherapist and author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don’t™ at www.pressingyourownbuttons.com]

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved.

[This article may be reproduced as is with none of the content changed except for spelling as appropriate for the country in which the reproduced articled appears, and further that all links are included as well as the copyright information.]

Russell Sage

Russell Sage was the dean of American financiers. He set out in pursuit of his $100,000,000 as an errand boy in a country grocery store. His maxims were these:

1.  Be temperate and you will be happy.

2.  Plain food, an easy mind, and sound sleep make a man young at eighty-six.

3.  Opportunities arc disgusted with men who don’t recognize them.

4.  Despair is the forerunner of failure. Next to a fat purse is a “stiff upper lip.”

5.  When a man “loses his head,” he mustn’t complain about the other fellow taking an advantage. Keep cool and freeze out the enemy.

C. B. Rouss

At the time of his death, Charles Broadway Rouss was worth more than $6,000,000. He began his business career as a clerk in a small store. His success was the result of, among other things, the following seven maxims embracing the essentials of his very successful business career:

1.  The dignity of labor is the greatest of all dignities; the genius of work is the greatest of all geniuses.

2.  Industry, integrity, economy, and promptness are cardinal requisites to certain and honorable success.

3.  Merit is the trademark of success; quality the true test of value.

4.  Success is not in time, place, or circumstance, but in the man.

5.  Credit and partnerships arc the scourge of commercial history and the bane of commercial experience.

6.  Beware of the gifts of the Greeks; they allure that they may destroy; credit is tempting, but ruin surely follows in its path.

7.  Burn the ledger and learn to say No; this is best for both buyer and seller.

Henry Clews

Henry Clews began his working life as a messenger boy in an English woolen factory. By the middle of the 1800’s he was worth in excess of $8,000,000. Clews attributed his rise in life to his belief in these simple mottoes:

1.  It requires other things than ambition to become a millionaire; making everything count for something is one of the other things.

2.  Sobriety, honesty, and industry arc the three graces of a successful business career.

3.  Save without parsimony; spend without lavishness.

4.  Sound health, a clear head, wise economy, and work, work, work will declare big dividends far any one who looks well after the original investment.

5.  Shun wild speculations, and be satisfied with slow but sure returns for money invested.

[Gary Screaton Page, Ph.D. is a Registered Psychotherapist and author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don’t™ at http://ww.pressingyourownbuttons.com]

Temptations are a fact of life. The problem is many people give in to them. They drink, eat, and gamble too much, or they, steal, cheat on their income taxes or on their partners. They give in to their impulses. Often we give in to temptations by telling ourselves little lies that make yielding to temptation not seem so bad.Perhaps you, as have I, said to yourself, ‘Oh, one more donut won’t really hurt me. Besides, I can always do a few extra pushups tomorrow to work it off.’ This kind of self-talk is in fact fortune-telling. Rarely do we actually get around to doing the extra pushups and worse, we start beating up on ourselves for the extra weight ‘one more donut’ puts on us.

So, why do we do this? We want what we want and so we put a positive spin on otherwise negative thinking. In the case of the extra donut, we put a positive spin on a future prediction. Only this prediction isn’t true. That extra donut can hurt us. We usually don’t make up for it with extra exercise. And the result is we beat up on ourselves later. How much better off we would be if we called the extra donut what it is - unnecessary and potentially harmful.

This is only one of many positive spins we put on the otherwise negative self-talk we hear on the tapes we play in our heads the playing of which leads to depression, anxiety, and other forms of internal stress.

We need to recognize these “lies” for what they are. Learning to speak honestly to ourselves is one key to a healthy mental outlook. We need to be aware when we are making such distortions so we will not yield to temptations that will harm us.

Think of a temptation that you gave in to. Perhaps you lit up ‘one last cigarette’ before you quit ‘for good.’ Maybe you drank one drink too many and risked driving home afterward. Or, like the 46% of tax payers who freely admit that “given the opportunity,” they would overstate expenses on their tax returns. Below, describe the temptation and note the convincing thoughts that ran through your mind to make giving in easier to do. Next, write beside each of these statements, alternative “true” statements that might have changed your mind. How did your original thoughts distort the truth?

Viktor Frankl said, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in numbers, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

We all feel overwhelmed at one time or another. We may even get angry at what appear to be insurmountable tasks ahead of us. Sometimes we just keep putting them off altogether. Their shear size overwhelms us. Be overwhelmed no more. Here is a depressurizing strategy that will help you get that job done and make you will feel increasingly satisfied along the way.

Business coach and Internet entrepreneur, James Maduk, told a story about a man who set out to eat an entire car. Really! Why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. Nevertheless, that was what he wanted to do. But, how does someone eat a whole car? They do it the same way one eats an elephant: one bite at a time.

The “bites” that eat away at major tasks we call “chunks.” Break any task into manageable chunks will get the job done in comparatively short order. Suppose, for example, you wanted to do what I recently did: complete my first mini-site to market my latest book. When I first learned what it would take to make a commercial mini-site, I was overwhelmed. Then, I asked myself, “What are the steps I must take to get the site up and running and start collecting money?”

I began by making a list of all the required steps. Those steps, that themselves were quite big, I broke down into smaller steps. Each step was a chunk of the project. Each chunk I checked off brought me one step closer to the finished product. What is more, with each chunk I checked off there came a bonus. I began to feel more and more satisfied, even pleased with myself, as I checked off each completed chunk. I could see the chunks falling one by one. Before long–far less time than I imagined–my first mini-site was ready for business.

As I got a clear picture of the project and the steps required to complete the many chunks and sub-chunks, I could see the job was, in fact, quite manageable. I relaxed, focused, and got to work. One by one, I chunked my way to success. Now my site works as a mini-store welcoming my customers as they chunk their way to my site!

The point I’m making here is this: every task, no matter how big, is just a pile of chunks that need to be “eaten” before you move on to the next. Chunk the tasks that seem to overwhelm and you, too, will be able to, well, eat a car, an elephant, or simply get the job ahead of you done. And here’s the bonus; every chunk nourishes your business soul, and your sense of accomplishment increases-every “chunk” of the way.

Chunk your way to a successful business!

[Gary Screaton Page is the author of Pressing Your Own Buttons: How to Take Control of Your Life So Others Don't™ at www.pressingyourownbuttons.com.]