Susan Schneider’s Blog

Fear or Faith

The choice is simple. There are really only two options. You can either choose to live your life in fear of the things that you cannot control, or you can choose to have faith in the things you can control. Fear is paralyzing. Faith frees us.

I know that life and all that comes with it can be overwhelming and scary. All you have to do is watch TV or read a news article and it can literally become numbing. Take the health care bill. Do any of us really understand the impact? The idea of trying to sort out the details is complicated and requires an education and pay grade well beyond most of us…well maybe.

Whether it is the health care bill, the recent unemployment numbers or a friend that was just laid-off, there are plenty of reasons for us to be afraid. But really, how does spending time carrying this emotion around help us? The reality is…it doesn’t. We can only control those things that lie in our immediate path. Yes, we can educate ourselves and have an awareness of the bigger “global” picture, but to the extent that we let it fill our mind requires boundaries and limitations.

Having faith isn’t easy, but it is necessary. When you have faith it allows you to open your mind to possibilities. Each day, I take the approach that I would like to see “one” positive impact. Just one. I am not asking for the world to change overnight but if you add up one a day, that at a minimum gives you 365 reasons to be positive each year.

On a final note, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday. We can truly be thankful for so many good things.

And the Oscar goes to...

Not me. And it wasn’t really the Oscars, but in my mind it felt like it. You may have noticed a Stevie Awards logo on my blog recently. Last weekend, I was in New York City at the International Women of Business Awards as a finalist for Blog of the Year. And I have to admit, it was exciting. I was all ready to present my acceptance speech, even willing to give Beyonce partial credit if that is what it took. Unfortunately, I was beat out by a rather awesome website that celebrates women taking C-Suite positions.

My point of blogging on this topic today is not to toot my own horn, but to thank all of you weekly readers. Someone asked me what inspires me to write a blog each week. In addition to fulfilling my love and need for writing, it has really been the continual support of all of you. Your feedback, emails, and ideas for new topics is what makes it sustainable and a lot of fun along the way. I just reached the two-year milestone of writing Wednesdays with Susan and look forward to writing long into the future.

So, while I didn’t win, I did get the chance to sit with some pretty amazing women. Some of them received awards for best executive, best entrepreneur, and 50 other categories from companies all over the world. I don’t want to exclude my male readers today, but for all of you women out there who manage your careers and your families, continually striving for excellence each day, I just wanted to say congratulations. It is no small feat.

"The Go-Giver"

Every once in a while I come across a book that I feel compelled to share with others. This week, it is "The Go-Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann. I don’t want to spoil the book for any of you, but I am going to go ahead and share the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success; they are just too good to keep to myself. I am sure the authors won’t mind me spreading their message (free marketing, right?).

1. The Law of Value - Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
2. The Law of Compensation - Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
3. The Law of Influence - Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.
4. The Law of Authenticity - The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
5. The Law of Receptivity - The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

The phrase "value proposition" has most likely been overused. I fear that "out of the box" thinking or "re-inventing the wheel" have begun to lose their impact. But for the sake of an inability to come up with anything better, I will reference it here. This book does an incredible job of reminding us of some of the greatest virtues…treat others as you would like to be treated. Give more of yourself, more of your time, and more of your knowledge. Growing others will bring twice as much to you in return.

The message is clear. If you are only in business or investing time on something with hopes that you will earn more money, gain more recognition or fulfill an immediate need, you will find yourself heading down a dead-end road. To be truly happy and satisfied, it requires giving of ourselves first.

It's Time for a Negativity Diet

Forget the Zone or Atkins…we may be in need of a negativity diet. Did you know that some experts say that 80% of our thoughts are negative? And guess what that does to our conversations? I would challenge you to try trimming back the negative “trans-fat” thoughts in your mind. A colleague challenged me to do this last week. She admitted that it is not easy; while we have great intentions, the negative thoughts can take over.

So I began thinking. What are some of my negative thoughts? Like French fries and Halloween chocolates, I sometimes find myself focusing on fat and sugar-filled thoughts like…the stock market, unemployment rates, a less than desirable 401K portfolio, and whatever else comes to mind…crime rates, the education system, the list is endless.

To begin, I make a conscious decision. I can only focus on what I can control. My actions, my behavior, my thoughts; I train myself to get on a “positivity diet” full of fruits and vegetables, filling my mind with thoughts like…the future is not cancelled…within today’s problems lie the greatest opportunities…innovative ideas.

In the end, you have two directions you can take…positive or negative. And unless you are planning on moving to a different country, or leaving the workforce in the very near future, I really can’t see why anyone would choose the latter.