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Business Speaker Says Easy To Add Blogs

As a business speaker, I create new websites and blogs if they warrant them as separate topics.  So in addition to this blog about motivation, personal development and diversity, I have different websites along with their blogs on such diverse topics as native art, dogs and puppies, martial arts and even one on my former corporate field of pharmaceutical sales careers.

In the past, it was a bit of a challenge and time consuming to create new WordPress blogs customized to the way I want them.  Although Blogger is a much easier blog platform, WordPress is much more powerful and I want blogs that can be attached to my websites.

New Rent To Own Homes Website Blog

One of the new areas I’ve expanded my business activities in is real estate investments and within that field itself, there is a niche area that warranted a new website and blog.  This niche area is the rent to own programs specifically for real estate.

Many people out there who are current renters but want to become homeowners but do not currently qualify for conventional mortgage financing can benefit from a rent to own homes program.  However, this is a novel concept that does need explanation to those who are not familiar with such programs.

So a new website and blog was recently created to accommodate this need of showing people how rent to own work.  The website itself was easy enough to create since all I did was use some of the webpages from my existing websites as templates for the new site.  It was just a matter of changing the header image and navigational bar to fit the needs of the new website.

Business Speaker Role In New Website Videos

Then I put on my business speaker hat and did my role in explaining the rent to own concept and program on a video which forms the main information outlet that visitors to this new website will see.  A few shorter videos will also be shot over time as ones to entice curiosity and draw potential clients to the website.

The new blog, again using the WordPress platform, was then created but this time, the process was even easier than ever before.  At my website hosting service Bluehost, which everyone should check out if thinking about having websites and blogs, there is a program called Simple Scripts found in the cPanel area.  Using Simple Scripts, I basically used two keystrokes and created a new WordPress blog onto my new website.

It was incredibly easy.  Then it was just a matter of putting up a custom header image for the blog as well as some custom links which are all done through the WordPress administration area.

So now the new website and blog is off and running.  Remember, I’m just a business speaker, not a computer techie.  If I was able to get this new website and blog up in no time, so can many other people.

Again, it is a niche site that will appeal only to a certain audience – those who rent but want to become homeowners despite not being qualified for a mortgage yet.

If you are in this demographic or know somebody who is, check out my new website and blog, Canadian Rent To Own Homes.

photo: Yogendra174

Personal Development Against The Flow

I’m writing this blog post about fifteen minutes after waking on a Sunday morning because it’s one of those rare occasions when I actually still remember what I was dreaming during the last part of my sleep.  The dream itself has many elements of my real life and is also a good lesson on personal development.

The dream is loosely based on many of my past corporate sales meetings when I was in the pharmaceutical industry.  We would have these week long meetings with the entire sales force from all across the country at a hotel somewhere.  The meetings themselves were long days and immediately after the conclusion of each day, there would be some free time before the group met up again later in the early evening for group dinners.

My Personal Development Dream

My personal development dream was about near the end of one of these meeting days.  Although like in many dreams, there were some really wacky things in this one that didn’t make any sense at all.  For example, I remember that there was a washing machine outside on the street for some reason.  Don’t ask me what that was all about.

But the elements of my dream that were quite real life included the times when I would be asking my work colleagues at the end of the meeting day if anybody was going to work out at the gym.  There was always a hotel gym facility where out meetings were held.

Just like what happened in my real corporate life, one by one in my dream, everyone told me that they were either too tired to work out or they just didn’t want to go to the gym for whatever reason.  In the end, it was always just me who would end up going to the gym.

What also came out in my dream for some reason, was the end results of both my efforts to get to the gym as well as the refusals of my colleagues to do the same.  There were clear visions in my dream of some of my colleagues who ended up becoming obese while I stayed in pretty good physical shape.

This in fact has happened in my real world as most of my former corporate colleagues, some of whom I still get together with on occasion, are indeed quite out of shape.

The Personal Development Lesson

The lesson here from both my dream as well as this example from my real world is that sometimes for personal development, you have to go against the flow that everyone else is headed towards.  If you truly believe in what you are doing, then you can’t depend on many others to do the same.

In the end, you will achieve what you deserve and the others will also have whatever they deserve based on everyone’s actions.  Unfortunately, not everyone chooses to do the right things for their lives but you have to ignore what others are doing if you think they are heading towards the wrong direction.  This is the part about going against the flow.

For health and personal development, you have to have the faith and strength to keep on your own course.  Success and good health will be your reward.

photo: Adelphi Lab Center

Conference Speakers Should Avoid This Time Slot

By far, the toughest time slot for any conference speakers to speak in during all day events is the hour right after lunch.  That’s when the audience is most prone to falling asleep due to the big lunches full of sleep inducing carbohydrates they consumed.

This is the time slot that I always avoid but for today’s event at a youth conference, I was purposely slotted in right after lunch.  I did spoke at this event last year just before lunch which was a pretty good time slot to speak in.

The organizers this time around, thought that since I’m able to energize the crowd and keep them interested, I would be the best speaker to keep audience members awake after lunch.  Although I’m kind of flattered that they would have this faith in me, nevertheless, it is still a challenge for any conference speakers to speak right after lunch.

Audiences Like Take Away Items From Conference Speakers

I was going to request the event organizers move my time slot but after thinking that they do really help in keeping the audience awake after lunch, I decided to help them the best I could.  And also the event organizers are buying a copy of my book, The Life Champion In You for each member of the audience much like how they do it on Oprah or Dr Phil.

Plus the fact that they are also providing limo service to pick me up at home to bring me to the conference site and back, I really should not be too picky about which time slot I speak in.

I’ll try to post a report on how this event went today along with any photos taken.  I’m just going to have to be extra energetic and interactive with the audience to keep them engaged.

If you could use any conference speakers for your next event, check out my speaking page to see the details of my available keynotes for your specific type of audience.

Best Motivational Sayings

Here are the best motivational sayings I posted at my Motivation Facebook page during the last part of April through to early May.

“Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.” ~ Brian Tracy

“99% of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.” - George Washington Carver

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow.  It empties today of it’s strength.” ~ Corrie T.Boom

“Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.” – Alexander Graham Bell

“I will act as if what I do makes a difference.” – William James

“A problem is your chance to do your best.” – Duke Ellington

“It is always your next move.” ~ Napoleon Hill

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” – Anthony Robbins

Out of the above motivational sayings, the one that really rings out ot me is the one by George Washington Carver.  When I posted that one on my Motivation Facebook page, it actually came along with a graphic that really hit home.  It was the word ‘Excuses’ with the red circle with diagonal line through it that indicated that it was not permitted.

The picture implied that ‘Excuses’ was in a sense illegal.  What a great way to get the point across.  We should wipe the word ‘Excuses’ out of our vocabulary.

Here are the other motivational sayings I posted during the same time period.

“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” ~ Turner

“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“What is called genius is the abundance of life and health.” — Henry David Thoreau

“We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

“Forever is composed of nows.” – Emily Dickinson

“Go big or go home. Because it’s true. What do you have to lose?” ~ Eliza Dushku

“For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.” – Harry F. Banks

The first one from the second set of motivational sayings above really paints a great picture.  Imagine just being stuck in a rocking chair and not really going forward towards your goals.  I just love these phrases of imagery.

Share These Motivational Sayings With Others

I post these types of motivational sayings on a daily basis at my Motivation Facebook page.  If you would like to get them at your Facebook newsfeed as they are posted so that you could be inspired on a day to day basis, just hit the LIKE button at my Motivation Facebook page – can also do this at the sidebar of this blog.  Also use the various social media buttons below too.

Which one(s) from the above do you really like?  Feel free to comment at the comments section below.  If you missed the last motivational sayings summary, see it at Motivation Quotes Beginning Of April.

How To Tell If You Are Ready To Be A Pet Owner

If you have been following my Motivational WebTV series, you might have seen some past episodes where my two dogs Chester and Roxie were guest stars.  So as you can tell, I’m a dedicated dog owner.  In fact, I can’t imagine a life at home without my dogs.

I’ve always been a huge advocate for being a pet owner since the benefits are great.  However, I’ll also be the first to say here that not everyone is cut out to be a pet owner.

So how do you know if you are ready for pets?

Well, hopefully I’ll work you through some of the considerations in this new episode of Motivational WebTV.  I’ll also have these important factors on text below.

Do You Have A Suitable Home For A Pet?

This is the first factor to consider as different pets require suitable homes.  Although cats, fish and gerbils can be happy in almost any type of residential dwelling including apartments, dogs do better in certain types of homes.  Yes, dogs can be quite happy in both detached houses and high-rise apartments as long as there is access to outdoors nearby.

I lived with my first two Lhasa Apso dogs for many years in high-rise condos and with dog litterboxes available today, many dogs do well in high-rise apartments or condos.  Just make sure that there are parks nearby where they can get fresh air and exercise.  All of my dogs are potty trained indoors with a dog litterbox placed in a designated location inside.

We don’t have to go outdoors if the weather is really nasty like blowing winter snowstorms or heavy rainstorms.  Plus I’m not worried if I end up coming home too late.  My dogs just go to their dog litterbox whenever they need to.

Keep in mind that not all high-rise buildings allow dogs so make sure that you check with your building rules regarding pets before bringing one home.  Some do allow pets but only a certain type and/or a certain maximum size.  For example, I lived in a condo building where dogs had to be 20 pounds or less in order to live in the building.

Do You Have The Time For A Pet?

Many baby pets like puppies and kittens are so cute that many people can’t resist bringing them home for themselves or their kids. However, the realities of pet ownership soon set in when we realize just how great the responsibilities are with pet care.  Pet care also includes having the actual time each day for a pet.

You might want to think about whether your busy lifestyle is in fact too busy for a pet in your life.  Dogs and cats require considerable time and this is especially true for dogs.  Dogs are not happy if left alone for long periods of time since they are naturally pack animals who like to be with others.  There is a good chance that they will destroy your home and make all sorts of noise if left alone all the time.

If you can’t devote enough daily time to play and interact with your pet, do not get one that requires a lot of time.  There are pets that are less time demanding such as fish, turtles or gerbils.  But remember, you still need to take the time to clean and maintain fish tanks and mice cages.

So part of your research should be the amount of time and maintenance required for each type of pet.  You have to be totally honest with yourself as to just how much time you can devote to a pet for the rest of its life.

How Much Travel Do You Do?

If you travel a lot away from home for work, you might want to reconsider which type of pet might be best for you, if any at all if there are no other family members or outside people like pet sitters who can come and look after your pet while you are away.

If you have to end up boarding your pet for two weeks each month during your trips, this might indicate that you should not become a pet owner unless your travel schedule becomes much lighter.  A few days of boarding here and there are okay but anything more is not really fair to your pet.  After all, how would you like to be put in a boarding kennel for a week each month?

Again, if you have to travel a lot and still want to be a pet owner, consider having animals that might not miss you as much such as fish and turtles.  These kinds of pets are easy to take care of by other people while you are away.

Can You Properly Train A Pet?

A  huge reason for pet ownership failure is the training involved.  You really have to be honest with yourself with your own ability and time required to train a pet.  Some pets like dogs require a lot of training while others like gerbils, rabbits and turtles will not involve any training at all.  Many dogs and cats have been abandoned because of ignorant owners who failed to properly train their animals.

Dog experts claim that there are really no such things as bad dogs as there are only bad dog owners who did not adequately provide the right training for their dogs.   Now, it is not expected that new dog owners automatically know how to properly train a dog but that’s okay.  If you are a new dog owner, make sure that you get proper dog obedience training which is education for both yourself as well as your dog.  Sign up for organized dog obedience training classes.  Ask other experienced pet owners on tips as well.  Training, including housetraining, will be required for dogs, cats and ferrets.

If you are a future or new dog owner, make sure you catch my Free Dog Training Video I produced with my two dogs Chester and Roxie demonstrating basic skills they learned.

Do You Have The Budget For Adequate Pet Care?

You might recall a past episode of Motivational WebTV where I revealed I had to spend $2,500 on eye surgery for one of my dogs.  Some pets like dogs, cats and birds can have significant health costs, especially if they get ill or injured.  Talk to existing pet owners to find out what their average annual veterinary costs are.

You certainly don’t want to be in a position where you can’t afford the regular and unexpected vet costs for a pet.  It is so unfortunate when pet owners have to give up their animals just because they can’t afford the pet care expenses anymore.  If these innocent animals cannot get new homes, they are often euthanized as a result which is a real crying shame.  These incidents should never happen.

Does Anybody Have Pet Allergies Or Are Kids Too Young?

If you or any of your family members have allergies to pets, certain animals will not be appropriate for your home.  You need more hypoallergic pets that your family is not allergic to.  Also, some animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs do really well with children as do cats and some breeds of dogs.  However, some breeds of dogs and exotic animals might not be appropriate in families with infants and small children.  You want to do some research on the different breeds of dogs to match up a dog breed’s temperament with the age of children you have at home.

My Lhasa Apsos for example, although small and cute, have not been known to be friendly with children.  Some breeds just do better with only adults at home.  Again, do your research to assess suitability of specific animals and breeds for your family household.

Are You Prepared For A Lifelong Commitment To Your Pet?

Getting a pet should never be on impulse.  It’s just not fair to the animals especially if they end up getting abandoned or abused.  You must do adequate research on what is required in order to be a successful pet owner and prepare for a lifelong commitment to the pet no matter what kind it is.  My first two Lhasa Apso dogs both lived to age 15.  Some dogs and cats live even longer so prepare for the long haul with some pets.

The rewards and benefits with pet ownership are huge as I’ve experienced with the four Lhasa Apso dogs I’ve owned so far since 1979.  However, there are great responsibilities as well and as long as you are realistic about them, the happiness you will have with your pet is limitless.

Be totally honest with yourself as you go through the factors I’ve outined here.  If it turns out that you can successfully address these factors with complete honesty, then by all means, you deserve to become a dedicated pet owner.

Share This Article And Pets Video With Others

If you know others who are considering to have a pet, please share this article and pet video with them.   You would be doing them a huge favour.  There are buttons on the blog post to easily share it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and by email.  All past episodes including the last one with my skydiving ski student are at my Motivational WebTV Archive.

Feel free to leave your comments at the blog post (click the link above).

photo: Andres Rueda

Credit Score From Equifax

As a follow up to my post about staying on top of your credit report, I was able to get my actual credit score from one of my power team members since he has access to this type of information.  The credit report, which you can get once per year for free from both Equifax and TransUnion, does not show your credit score.  To get your credit score from one of the credit reporting agencies, you have to pay a nominal fee.

I didn’t bother to order my credit score because I kind of knew that it would be fairly high anyway, especially after seeing the R1s on my credit report.  But my team member was able to get it anyway and he revealed to me that my credit score is currently 801, which is considered very high.

A credit score of 680 and up is acceptable in the eyes of many financial institutions and above 700 is really good.  In my case, I think I was able to achieve my high rating because as outlined in my article about never paying credit card interest, I always pay my full balances each month and on time.

I also maintain a few different credit cards and keep each one active even if I charge only $10 to my backup cards every couple of months or so.  Being able to pay on time on a few different sources of credit is one of the most important factors in determining credit score.

Rent To Own Programs

Unfortunately, many folks who are currently renters and want to become homeowners, cannot get approval for mortgages because their credit scores are too low.  Their past credit habits of spending too much on their credit cards and/or paying balances too late have caused their credit to become tarnished.

Some others, even with decent credit scores, do not have enough of a down payment to obtain a mortgage.  So such folks have been stuck as renters even if they want to become homeowners.

There are ingenius programs out there known as Rent To Own programs which help these kind of people out.  These programs in fact help people with poor credit and/or insufficient funds for mortgage down payments to become homeowners within a few years while renting a home that they will eventually purchase at a predetermined price.

Instead of going through financial institutions, private investors administer Rent To Own programs for homes.  You can likely find such a program near your area if this is something that would help you become a homeowner.

Since I’m now aligned with quite a few private real estate investors (and now own investment property myself), I have also decided to develop a Rent To Own program as well in order to help out folks in Canada.  If this would be of interest to you or somebody you know who is currently a renter and would love to become a homeowner soon, check out my new Canadian Rent To Own Homes website.

Whatever your case might be, I hope that everyone out there takes positive steps to become proud holders of high credit scores as I hope the articles linked in this blog post will help people achieve that.

photo: timsnell

Guest Inspirational Interviews

I thought that since I’ve had quite a few guest inspirational interviews here on Motivational WebTV, I would compile a list of all the past episodes that featured my guest stars so far.  They range from stage actors to disabled athletes.

I do intend to feature more inspirational guest interviews in the future but for now, here is a glimpse of the ones I did so far.  Each of them are quite inspirational in their own right and have useful lessons for us to learn from.

Past Episodes Of Motivational WebTV With Guest Interviews

Here is the list from earliest to the most recent one done.

First Interview With Actress Tali Brady With Stage Scenes

Immigrant From India Takes Up Snow Skiing

Disabled Sledge Hockey Player Plus Action Footage

Toronto Jazz Musician Ivar Kangar With Performance

Second Tali Brady Interview With Her Team Plus Stage Scenes

Skydiver Laura Hampton From Great Britain

Share These Guest Inspirational Interviews With Others

If you know others who would like these videos featuring my guest inspirational interviews, please share with them.  There are buttons on each blog post containing the videos to easily share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and by email.  All past episodes are at my Motivational WebTV Archive.

Feel free to leave your comments at this blog post as well as any of the posts with the past episodes.

photo: Philip Taylor PT

Pull Your Credit Report

Last fall, I wrote an article about how to use credit cards effectively without paying interest. Well, I decided to request a copy of my credit report for the very first time from the credit reporting agency, Equifax (the other big agency is TransUnion).

It turns out that we are all entitled to one free credit report from both of these credit reporting agencies once per year. This report will show how financial institutions that put out credit cards like Visa, Mastercard and American Express have reported you to Equifax and TransUnion. Other loans companies also report about your status to the credit reporting agencies.

Whenever you apply for a loan or lease, this report is requested from Equifax and/or TransUnion so that the potential creditor, loaner or landlord can see exactly what your credit history has been. If you have a bad history of paying up debts, then your credit report will not be a shining one.

Correct Any Mistakes On Credit Report

However, sometimes there could be mistakes on your credit report. It might state that you have not paid a certain payment while in reality, you have. So in these cases, you are entitled to correct Equifax and TransUnion so that your credit looks better. You certainly do not want an error to make your credit report look less than stellar.

Since we are all entitled to one free copy each year, it’s a good idea to do so just to check what is on your credit report. In my case, all of my credit card companies reported an R1 rating for me which is the top one since I always pay my bills on time.

And there were not any errors either. So if any company ever wants to verify my credit by requesting my credit report from either Equifax or TransUnion, they will see a top rating for my credit.

If you are fixing up a bad credit history, pulling your own credit report should be one of the first steps so that you now exactly what is on it. Then you can take steps to gradually improve your credit rating.

photo: Jeff McNeill

Too Much Procrastination

I did my signature motivation talk based on my book, The Life Champion In You, up in Richmond Hill last night to an appreciative audience.  During the question and answer session near the end of my talk, one audience member asked how he could get past his procrastination.  He admitted that he is a chronic procrastinator.

I’m sure that there are many others out there who also have this issue as well and this can hold back achieving many goals.  So it is very important to manage procrastination or even eliminate it altogether from your life.

To help such folks out, one of my most viewed past episodes of Motivational WebTV is on how to manage procrastination.  I knew that this would be a hot topic so I added this particular episode right at my home page of my website.  Down halfway where a few selected videos appear, the procrastination episode is the second one on the first row.

In this video as well as in my motivational presentation (see my available speaking programs), I maintain that one of the key answers in beating procrastination is to have other people help you.  Being involved in a group of people who will hold you accountable for your actions or in the case of procrastination, non-actions, will be the key difference.  Having others push you when needed will motivate you to take action rather  than keep things on the side as most procrastinators usually do.

If you haven’t seen this particular Motivational WebTV episode yet, just go to my home page of my website (linked on the navigation bar at the top of this blog page) and look for it about halfway down the page.

Other past episodes are at my Motivational WebTV archive.

Photo courtesy of Chris Cook

Lady Skydiving To Conquer Fears

In my ten years of teaching snow skiing, the students I teach usually say that when they are just starting to ski steeper slopes, it is the most adventurous thing they have done.  When I tell them that I’m also a scuba diver, they couldn’t believe that someone could be as adventurous as I am.  However, this past winter, one of my ski students shocked me with her amazing skydiving achievements.

This lady, Laura Hampton from the UK, was in Canada for a three month work assignment and one day during the winter, she took a ski lesson from me as part of a ski day.  Normally, I chat with my students on the chairlift to find out a bit more about them and that’s when I realize that the vast majority of these folks are spending time out on the slopes as their most adventurous activity to date.

Now when Laura told us that she’s a skydiver who has made nearly 500 jumps before the age of 25, I was honestly shocked.

Here’s somebody who has done something in the adventure world that has impressed the heck out of me as I’ve never been skydiving.  To me, skydiving is a far more extreme sport than either snow skiing or scuba diving.  And to have jumped out of airplanes 500 times at such a young age, well that is incredibly impressive.

Skydiver Video Interview

At that moment on the chairlift, the wheels in my mind were turning and I just knew that I had to get Laura for a video interview as part of my Motivational WebTV series.  It’s not often I get an opportunity to interview someone like Laura.

Fortunately, one week before she was scheduled to depart Canada back to her homeland, we were able to nail down a video shoot and here is the resulting episode.

Share This Motivational Video With Others

I hope we can all be inspired by Laura with her achievements and her attitude as she claims in the interview, that what scares us can be used as a strength.

If you know others who would like this motivational video, please share it with them.  There are buttons on the blog post to easily share it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and by email.  All past episodes are at my Motivational WebTV Archive.

If you missed the last episode where I had my camcorder running while skiing down Stoneham Mountain, see it at Work Life Balance.

Feel free to leave your comments below.