Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing-By Learn New Skills Blog

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Top 50 Free Websites 2011 Skills and Perfromance Tools

Top 50 Free Websites 2011 Skills and Perfromance Tools

There is no better time to talk about joy, smiling and laughter than at Thanksgiving when everyone is hopefully in a good mood, sharing and grateful for what life has brought all of us. That’s the theme for today’s post.

Also, next week is Thanksgiving and time for annual top 50 free websites.

Top 50 Free Websites 2011 Skills And Performance Tools

We are getting excited about the BUZZ on our top 50 free websites for 2011. We publish this list just in time for Thanksgiving…keep your eyes open for it.

Why the BUZZ for this list? Our theme explains it best.

No Money. No problem.

All the FREE skills and tools for employees, managers and entrepreneurs looking to learn new skills and tools for improving performance:  Grow Yourself.  Grow Your Organization.  Inlcudes internet performance tools, for small businesses looking to grow and take their business to the next level.  Great for online//offline marketing.

More on that next week, now back to thinking, creativity and laughter.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing-Article Post

So now you ask, what does laughter have to do with thinking? OK, let’s look at the medicinal value of laughter and thinking and at the same time, lay down some background on the value of laughter, smiling, joy and happiness.

The good, the bad, the ugly- laughter is the best medicine and when you smile, the world smiles with you.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing- background
Being full of joy, smiling and laughing and enjoying even the smallest things reduces the effects of stress, increases brain activity and heightens creativity, all of which helps you overcome challenges in difficult time.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing-the bad

Hey, doom and gloom consumes us today, at every corner. Work and unemployment, economic slowdown and no jobs, 401K’s reduced to 201K’s and the story just starts there. It is easy to get consumed by it and become negative thinking: this is no time to laugh or enjoy life.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing-the ugly

It’s easier to be depressed in bad times than good. When you get depressed, your mind shuts down, you lose your creativity and people tend to isolate themselves. Depression comes with a full laundry list of symptoms, none f them good. It’s also a huge precursor to stress. The two make you uptight, cranky and allow you to easily push people away when you need their support the most.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing-the good-
We typically use the left side of the brain in most activities, but not when we laugh and smile and experience joy. When we laugh, we light up the right side of the brain. Our research reveals that when people have been struggling with a problem and feel stuck, our focus narrows, and our ability to solve problems is greatly reduced and limited. Experts say, we do much better when we break a way and enjoy a good hearty laugh.

Here’s the bottom line: if you have a sense of humor, and smile and laugh regularly, you mind brightens up and you come up with fresh ideas and make better decisions and your problem solving abilities are enhanced.

Think Better And Be More Creative By Laughing is published by Learn New Skills Blog.

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Thinking Skills- Reflective Thinking: Learn New Skills From The Inside Out

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Reflecting and refelctive thinking

Looking from the inside out with reflectve thinking

Thinking Skills-

Learn new skills from the inside out

Here is a great opening quote on learning thinking skills on reflection and reflective thinking

When it came to thinking skills, Confucius said it best…

…”By three methods we may learn wisdom 1st, by reflection, which is noblest; 2nd by imitation, which is easiest; and 3rd by experience, which is bitter sweet.” – Confucius

Thinking skills-history repeats itself

They say history repeats itself. Lessons from the past are one of the smartest thinking tools you can use.  Embracing the lessons from the past is what “reflection” and reflective thinking skills are all about. When you reflect, you draw on past experiences. Drawing on past experiences puts things in perspective and sheds a new light on the teachings and lessons learned.

Thinking skills-reflective thinking turns experience into insight”

Having been through something once, gives you a sense of confidence that experience teaches.  We call these “AHA” moments-teachable moments.   Thinking skills like reflection and reflecting is a sure fire way to jump start any thinking process. When you reflect on something you get to see the entire picture.  The good, the bad, the ugly. You can learn something from both positive and negative perspectives, so don’t turn your back to the negative side of the lesson.

Here is a pointed quote for you on experience on thinking skills- “Those that forget the past are condemned to relive it”

When you look at both the positive and negative side of a coin using reflective thinking skills, it has a unique way to take a bad experience and turns it into a valuable one. Do not miss the opportunity to get something of value from it.

Thinking skills-two sides of the coin

It’s easy and fun to pull the wisdom from a positive experience. A good experience is the most valuable. Having done it once successfully, you should be able to repeat the positive experience. To ensure that you get the same results with the next new experience, ask yourself these questions:

Was there one big factor in the experience, and what role did it play in the solution and outcome?

What was the one negative thing about the experience, how could I have prevented it, more importantly, what lesson did I learn?

  • What steps did I take?
  • What questions would I have asked if I had another expereince similar to it?
  • What was my biggest surprise?
  • What could I have done differently to improve the results?
  • What did I learn?
  • What could I have done to improve the past experience?

Thinking skills- exploring the past

Exploring the past is definitely inspirational. It also provides integrity to your thinking, and most important of all, it puts the past experience into true perspective. You can use this thinking tool for any challenge. You can also use it to just sit back and reflect, you will be surprised what you learn.

Here is a practice exercise that is simple to do. Think back in time, and then think through these different subjects-one at a time:

  • Opportunities
  • Family
  • Career
  • Hobby
  • Goals
  • Giving
  • Short Comings
  • Problems
  • Work

You can also use this thinking skills tool and strategy to think about any scenarios to see if you experienced something similar in the past that you can draw on. Always keep balance and perspective in mind when you reflect. If you have a current challenge you are working on, reflect on it, give it some mental energy, give yourself a place to reflect that is quiet and a time that is most peaceful for you, and what is really important here is-let it incubate.  Give reflective thought time to blossom, grow and develop.  Time is your friend with reflective thinking…so give it some room

Reflective thinking skills is the first place to start when you want to think about something and think better.

Thinking skills- looking ahead

Exploring the future is definitely inspirational. Thinking associated with new ideas, planning different objectives and also stretching your creative thoughts on how to proceed in a different way, provides you with loads of positive energy!  Use the past to think ahead, set goals and cherish the insight these thoughts give you.

Reflective thinking is just one of hundreds of different patterns, strategies and insights from our Be Thinkful© thinking and creativity E-Book and skill development program.  Learn new skills and check out our special limited time intro offer now at www.thinkingskillsets.com.

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Learn New Skills- Develop Your Personal Value Proposition And Learn New Skills

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Increase your value prosoposition with thinking skills

Learn New Skills-Insight Career Development

 Learn New SKills Video-Thinking Skill Development

Learn New Skills-

And increase your value

Are you tired of hearing no?  No, you don’t have the skills we need.  No you didn’t get that promotion.  Maybe it’s time you take steps now to learn new skills that every employer and company are looking for.

 When it comes to increasing your core values as an individual or in growing your company, nothing can enhance your value proposition more than to learn new skills.  Companies spend a great amount of time and money developing their value proposition and here’s way.

Learn new skills- defining a value proposition

A value proposition is promising some value to be delivered and a belief from the customer of value that they will experience. A value proposition can apply to an entire organization, or parts thereof, or customer accounts, or products or services.  Creating a value proposition is a fundamental business component and a critical high level business strategy.  Kaplan and Norton are two world known business strategists, and here is a short summary of what they have to say about a value proposition. “Strategy is based on a differentiation and satisfying customers is the source of a sustainable value creation.

Learn new skills-high level strategy

If it holds true for companies, doesn’t it make sense for individuals as well?  In these tough competitive times with high unemployment, erosion of good quality jobs and intense competition on the jobs that are out there, now more than ever you need to increase your value proposition and the best way to do that is by learning new skills.

Here is the key point to value propositions.   A value proposition is the solution to a customer’s problem and in your case, maybe it’s a prospective employer.  It goes hand in hand with the problem the company or the product is solving or what the company needs from a job candidate.  With that knowledge in hand now we need to take a deeper look at developing a personal value proposition so that you can increase your own personal value.

 A personal value proposition “should be a statement of the tangible results a company will get from hiring you, the unique skills and benefits you will bring to an employer that others won’t.”  That is where a unique and differentiated strategy comes in.  Before we begin to develop a personal value proposition (PVP) let’s digress and look at a new term we need to introduce called: “value drivers” and the best place to start for understand this term is the investment banking world. 

Did you ever wonder why one business has buyers lined up willing to pay top dollar while another sits on the market for months, or even years?   What do buyers look for in a prospective business acquisition? The characteristics buyers seek must exist before the sale process even begins.   It is the job of the business owner to create value within their business prior to a sale.

 Learn New Skills: High Level skills- Value Drivers that enhance value

Here is a short list of the items, common to all industries, which drive up value for an entrepreneur’s called: “Value Drivers.” Here are the critical key value drivers for any successful business:

  • A stable, motivated management team
  • Operating systems that improve sustainability of cash flows
  • A solid, diversified customer base
  • Facility appearance consistent with asking price
  • A realistic growth strategy
  • Effective financial controls
  • Good and improving cash flow

These are the core reasons a buyer is willing to pay a premium price.  The more successful you are in developing each component, the higher your business value. These value drivers are centered on their perception of risk and return.

Now let’s take a look at the core value drivers when you learn new skills to increase your personal value proposition.  These are the critical skills employers are looking for today when you learn new skills.  Interesting to note, for the most part they haven’t really changed for years.

 Job skills and formal education

  • Communications skills
  • Thinking skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Pride in your work and a hard work ethic
  • Creativity and the ability to solve problems
  • Time Management and
  • Self Confidence
  • Flexibility and adaptability
  • Learn new skills

Sure, there are specialized high level skill sets some people have like: project management, graphics art, internet marketing.  The list goes on and on and yes, having high level skill sets greatly increases your value tremendously.  When you learn new skills, these aslo increase your value tremedously as well.

Make the time commitment now and learn new skills.  The best one to start with without a doubt is thinking skills.  Our Be Thinkful© skill set development program includes three skills in one

  1. Thinking skills
  2. Creativity skills
  3. Influence and persuasion skills

Learn these skills now at http://www.bethinful.com/ and increase your value proposition. And most important of all…and keep on learning.   After all, if you have a passion for learning and learn new skills like thinking and creativity, you will already be on well on your way to increasing your value.

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Learn New Skills- Increase Your Value When You Learn New Skills Using Value Drivers

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Value Drivers Increase Your Value Proposition
Value Drivers Increase Your Value Proposition

Learn New Skills-

Skill Development-Why Bother

Today’s economy and the current unemployment rate is higher than ever.  So many people are looking for jobs today and the competition is fierce.  If you are self employed entrepreneur, more businesses are failing at even faster rates.  The same problems apply to managers running a business.

Since the employment rate is so high, that means more competition for you in the job market.  This also means that your current skills just may not be good enough or broad enough to make you a viable candidate.  Sometimes, you just can’t stay in the same position, sometimes you just can’t keep your job forever, or it may not be challenging enough or rewarding.  That means you must learn new skills to increase your value.

Learn new skills– enhances your values

Only when you learn new skills can you increase your value and stay competitive in the current and future job market. After all, if the standard keeps rising but you stay at the same level, doesn’t it mean that you actually become less and less valuable over time? Nobody wants that to happen, of course, and because of that you have the responsibility to keep increasing your value when you learn new skills.

The key to success your future whether you are an employee, a manager or an entrepreneur is simple and straight forward.  To increase your value you must always be learning new skills. Don’t be complacent into thinking a college degree or your current skill sets will take you where you want to go.   

If you are an entrepreneur or manager, the same principles apply…you must learn new skills.  It’s a known fact that 95% of all business owners and managers lack one or more skills required to run a successful business.  The lesson learned for them is the same for individuals.  You must learn new skills to be successful as an entrepreneur.

Learn new skills-is all about increasing your value

Ever wonder why some businesses are so successful and sell at high multiples of earnings.  They spend their time working on their business as they work in their business.  They know what their value drivers are and they work on them every day.  The same rules for increasing value of an individual are the same only value drivers are different.

In future posts we tell you what the value drivers are for a business so you can start working on them, so your business can be more successful and we will also inform you what the value drivers are for individuals so you can start working on them as well.  With today’s internet access you can learn new skills for free or for little investment of money.  Most of your investment is time, and investing in time to learn new skills is your key to future successes.

With the groundwork established, we can outline our learn new skills philosophy for future posts.  There are three basic components we will focus on to learn new skills;

Learn New Skills-Insight Skill Development

Grow yourself, Grow your team, Grow Your Organization

Learn New Sklls-Individual Development

Continue learning and growing with essential skill sets for individual career development that increases value.

 Learn new skills-Organizational Development

Develop the basic skills to run a business including essential E-Marketing skills. We will show you the keys the top 1% performers use in managing their business.

Learn new skills-Team Development

Our wisdom of team development is specifically created to establish expectations, improve teamwork, and build a more cohesive team for you and your organization.  It’s all about having effective high producing teams in your company

 In future posts we identify the core skills to enhance an individual’s value, a company’s value and your teams value when you learn new skills.

Visist our website www.learnskillsets.com to learn new skill on thinking; the best value enhancer skills for everyone.

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