Use This Christmas Season Wisely

At this time of year, many of us are caught up in celebrations surrounding the season.  We attend Christmas programs at schools and churches, we enjoy office parties and evenings out with friends, and we spend tremendous amounts of time and money doing our Christmas shopping and decorating our homes.  Many of us also take time to give to and provide for those less fortunate than ourselves, thereby embodying the true meaning of the season.  My family and I also spend time in church and with our Christian friends as we celebrate the birth of Christ and thank God for loving us enough to send his son, Jesus, to earth.  All of us then make our New Years resolutions and ring in the New Year with much celebration and fanfare.

Is that all there is to your holiday celebration?  I am serious.  Is that all there is?

What I’m getting at is this:

Have you prepared yourself for 2013? 

Consider the following:

• Have you done a thorough review of everything you accomplished in 2012?
• Are you happy with what you accomplished?
• Did you achieve all of your goals? 
• If, yes, what are you doing to celebrate?
• If no, why not?  What kept you from achieving all you set out to do?
• What have you learned this year? 
• How have you grown in your understanding of yourself, your family, your community, and your work?
• What is your plan for 2013?
• What goals do you plan to accomplish?
• What new skills do you plan to acquire?
• Do you know what you need to do starting January 1^st to make sure that you achieve all of your goals by the end of the year and keep yourself on track for hitting your 5, 10, and 15 year targets?

The end of 2012 is a time to reflect and take an inventory of what has happened in the past 12 months and what we have planned for the next 12.  The fact of the matter is that if we don’t have a process like this that we go through periodically, we will never achieve or become all that we can in our very short lifetimes.

At Optechs, we specialize in helping our clients reach for more in life and become better people in the process by teaching them how to dream and how to develop and implement personal development strategies that will literally propel them toward the attainment of their goals.

Let us help you.  Visit optechs.com and then contact us for a free consultation.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you!!

Personal Development: Your Key to Success

When I mention the words “personal development” to my audiences, many times people mistakenly associate these words with attending seminars, listening to motivational speakers, and generally staying pumped-up and positive.

While these elements can be part of any personal development program, they do not, in any way, make up the entire approach to personal development.

Personal development means just what it says – developing yourself as a person.  In the world in which we live, you cannot become externally what you have not already become internally.  Zig Ziglar says, “You must be before you can do, and you must do before you can have.”  What he means is that each one of us must prepare himself (or herself) by growing as individuals before we can expect to advance and achieve more in our personal, family, and business lives.

A good personal development plan involves the following:

1. Examining your dreams and goals for the future;
2. Identifying the skills and abilities you need to have to achieve those dreams and goals;
3. Performing a personal gap analysis to identify the skills that you need to acquire;
4. Setting goals and developing a plan to acquire the skills you need;
5. Executing that plan to grow and prepare yourself for greater achievement.

At Optechs, we specialize in personal and business coaching.  We work with you to develop and execute a plan that will create a compelling, successful future for you.  We provide you with the tools, teach you how to use them, and then mentor you in your personal achievement process.

Visit our website at optechs.com to learn more, or e-mail us at gary@optechs.com for more information.