Category: Wisdom Sharing

25
Sep

3 Pillars for Boosting Memory

It is important to remember names, recall your grocery list, give your elevator pitch, or to be able to recite your speech.

Learning is remembering. —Socrates

From a seminar by Jim Kwik of Kwik Learning, here are three pillars of memory to help you boost your ability to remember.

M. Motivation.

Ask yourself: “What do I need to do to incentivize or reward myself and increase my motivation.” Why? Reasons reap results. You remember more when you are interested, enthusiastic and energetic. Put your heart into remembering.

O. Observation.

Pay attention. You build retention from attention. Memory is not something you have, it’s something you do. In this time of digital dementia—where we are outsourcing recall to a smartphone—it is critical to sharpen the saw of memory and own this superpower. Be present when taking in new information. Build your memory and your ability to remember.

M. Mechanics

Use tools for remembering. From associating a list with items in a room or with parts of your body, to creating a mnemonic clue, there are infinite  creative ways to prompt recall.

31
Mar

MindSet: A 5-Step Workout for Mental Toughness

When you need a mental edge, toughen up your mind. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Start with a centering breath. Breathe in for six seconds. Hold for two seconds, then breathe out for seven seconds. Controlling your breathing this way is a stress reliever, and it reduces your state of arousal.
  2. Recite a personalized identity statement to yourself in five seconds. A good identity statement emphasizes one of your positive qualities and pinpoints something you want to become, like “I am confident and passionate. I’m consistently excellent every day as a leader, executive, and mother,” or “I care more about my clients and I will outwork the competition. I am a million-dollar salesman.
  3. Visualize your own personal highlight reel for 60 seconds—seeing in your mind three things you’ve done well in the past 24 hours and mentally rehearsing three important things you need to do today.
  4. Repeat your identity statement to yourself for five seconds (see #2).
  5. Finish with another centering breath cycle—breathing in for six seconds, holding for two and then exhaling for seven.

Your mind is now ready to focus and perform.

This excerpt from The Two-Minute Secret to Mental Toughness by Jason Selk in INC magazine.

2
Nov

GRAMMAR: ME vs I

It is important to use language correctly so not to diminish credibility of your content. Here is a tool to help guide the use of I (noun) versus ME (pronoun). Keep it handy till it becomes a habit.

Guide for the proper use of I vs ME.

Guide for the proper use of I vs ME.

“I” is the noun—refers to oneself as speaker or writer.  “ME” is the pronoun—refers to self as object of a verb or preposition.

RULE: If you can’t replace the “YOU and I” with “WE,” you’ve got it wrong. If you can’t replace “YOU and ME” with “US,” you’ve got it wrong. Tweet: RULE: If you can't replace YOU & I with WE—you've got it wrong. If you can't replace YOU & ME with US—you've got it wrong. @tamaraparisio

Thanks for meeting with HIM AND ME. (Thanks for meeting with ME. Thanks for meeting with HIM. Thanks for meeting with US.) vs HE AND I appreciate your time. (I appreciate your time. HE appreciates your time. WE appreciate your time.)

It is bigger than YOU AND ME combined. (It is bigger than ME. It is bigger than YOU.) vs YOU AND I are smaller than this idea. (I am smaller than this idea. YOU are smaller than this idea. WE are smaller than this idea.)

To YOU AND ME, this idea is big. (To ME, this idea is big. To YOU, this idea is big. To US this idea is big.) vs When YOU AND I succeed (When I succeed … When YOU succeed… When WE succeed…)

They will praise YOU AND ME for this. (They will praise ME for this. They will praise YOU for this. They will praise US for this.) vs The praise YOU AND I receive will be stellar (The praise I receive will be stellar. The praise YOU receive will be stellar. The praise WE receive will be stellar.)

Between HIM AND ME there is chemistry. (Between US there is chemistry. Between HIM & ME. Between ME & YOU. Between ME & HIM.) vs HE AND I share an office. (HE shares an office with me. I share an office with him. She shares and office with HIM AND ME. WE share an office.)

He took a photo of HIMself AND ME. (He took a photo of US. He took a photo of HIMSELF. He took a photo of ME. He took a photo of US.) vs HE AND I posed for a photo. (HE posed for a photo. I posed for a photo. WE posed for a photo.)

26
May

A Bit About Twitter

Social media is on the rise, and it can be daunting. Here are a few tips to help build twitteraderie.

SET UP
Present your brand image consistently. Include images that are indicative of your business.

Header. The measurements of the Twitter header is at least 1500px x 500px and Twitter seems to render png files better with less loss of image quality, so create it as PNG.

Profile. Your profile image should be at least 210px square.

Be sure to include your website and a brief brand message.

THE MEDIUM THE MESSAGE

The primary Twitter audience is young adults. They are interested in news, text updates and links to information. Twitter is good for sharing original and curated content including links to interesting articles or blogs; quotes, industry news, announcements or newsletters, Vine or YouTube videos and event updates. Comments, shares and retweets are a good indication of efficacy.

For twitter, it is good to post daily and as often as hourly. It is reported that 22 tweets per day is optimal.

TWEET FODDER

Here are some idea starters for your twitter feed:

  • Post an event. Share a link to a conference, a webinar, a program of interest.
  • Created content. Link to your recent blog article with an attractive headline.
  • Reflection. Report on a lesson learned or Seen-&-Heard incident.
  • Imagery. Upload a photo worth 1000 words in this arena of 140 characters.
  • Curated content. Post a link to an article you find of interest.
  • Interact. A direct tweet using the @ sign can be a good conversation starter.
  • Retweet. Share tweets from others that you find of interest.

Images. It is good to include an image with your post. The optimal size for a photo uploaded to twitter post is 506px wide by 260px high.

Links. Place links about a quarter of the way through your tweet message for the highest click through rate.

While the length of a tweet is limited to 140 characters for easy consumption across mobile and text, it is best to keep your post between 70-100 characters. A report by Buddy Media revealed that Tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate.

Be chipper. Be chirpy. Be choosy.

3
May

A Picture Worth 1000 Words

The right image is worth a thousand words when included to reinforce your brand message. Add a photograph to punctuate your point in a post. Upload an illustration of your topic rather than just talking about it.  Share an example of your work to “show & sell” your expertise. Brand the images and make the photos available for sharing.

When you use compelling images, your message stands out from the rest. In fact, posts with shared images are five times more likely to engage viewers and help build relationships. So post a picture and build a relationship with your ideal clients. Perhaps you’ll find yourself starring on a Pinterest board, and more!