It Is Up To You

So, you want to get promoted. The possibility really lies in your own hands. Remember trite but true saying, “If it is to be, it is up to me!” Don’t wait for things to happen. Set yourself apart from crowd and make things happen. Most people look outward for success. They look for someone else to appreciate them, someone else to promote them, someone else to motivate them. Success is not external shining in, it is internal radiating out. If you look for other people to define your success or happiness, you will never find your full measure of either. If you want a promotion, set up conditions to get promoted. Don’t dwell on your limitations or what you can’t do. Instead, look to magnify and capitalize on your strengths and potential. Spend energy focusing on finding Incremental Advantages and changing and improving areas you can. Big success is built on a series of small successes.

You, Inc. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you are self employed regardless of who signs your paycheck. Failure to recognize this leads to dependence on others and a failure to develop your single most valuable asset - you! Even if you are an employee, you are basically self employed. You are your own personal services corporation selling to one customer in this case, your employer. Whether you earn minimum wage or are in top bracket of income earners, your business entity, You, Inc., is at heart of your earning. The quickest route to earning more money is to provide more value to your organization. The more you develop your skills, talents, abilities, attitudes and efforts into value for your employer or your clients, more you earn and are worth.

Add To Your Value Create a personal balance sheet for yourself. List your assets and your liabilities in areas of knowledge, talents, skill set, abilities and attitude. Your liabilities in reality are only what you have yet to learn and apply to improve items on asset side. What are you doing to push boundaries and improve production capability of You, Inc.? Keep learning. The best education is application of knowledge to your goals. Incremental learning is like climbing a mountain. The more you climb, more you see and better you can improve your perspective of all that is below you. The more knowledge and information you gather and put to use, easier it is to gain new information and apply that information to your life.

1.Pack those “small” things.

You haven’t had a vacation for a while, so you’re forgetting what a hang nail, an itchy mosquito bite and a heel blister are like.

Those “small” things get really “large” on a trip.”

The nail clippers, bandaids, hair bands, suntan lotion, and Neosporin will not only cost you 5 times as much on your trip, they will cost you precious pleasure TIME while you hunt them down.

2.Check your medical insurance and car rental insurance two weeks before you leave.

Policies are different and you need to know WHAT will be covered on your trip and WHERE. Some policies cover accidents, injuries, and illness abroad and some do not. You also need to know what your car insurance covers and where. Call your insurance companies to make sure, get names, etc. and take this with you in writing.

3. Then fill in gaps with travel insurance.

Pay for peace of mind. Consider health insurance that includes air evac back to US unless you relish emergency gall bladder surgery in El Disastro, Peru when you don't understand Spanish. Bring proof of your coverage in writing.

3.If you buy special travel insurance, for instance, cruise travel insurance, read fine print to see what’s covered.

It may give you another cruise if you have an accident for instance, that interrupts your vacation.

4.Adopt mental attitude that you’ve never flown, cruised or gone by train before. Why? Because it’s changed since 9-11 and keeps on changing. New security measures, restrictions, and time-consuming safety procedures are being added all time. On my latest cruise I heard people saying, “They don’t do it this way on cruise line X.” Little did they know!

5.Call ahead for important information but, sigh, don’t rely on it.