Just make your boss look good.

If you do, your boss will notice YOU.

There are many ways to do this, but one of the easiest and most productive ways to accomplish this task is to make them look good on paper.

If you produce documents for your boss, they need to be stellar and stand out from the crowd. If your boss produces his or her own documents you need to show your boss how to make them exceptional.

To do this is rather simple… all you need is a …

Secret Weapon

Luckily the secret I’m about to tell you doesn’t cost much, or take much time to learn. It’s a step-by-step process that can make you stand out from the crowd in short time.

To accomplish it, you just need to schedule a few hours per week on your calendar and create a STRONG goal to make it happen.

The good news gets even better. Once you have learned how to create better written documents, you can move up the ladder another notch… you can make your boss look good in numbers. Soon you will have amazing spreadsheets at your fingertips, with colorful graphs and charts and data to back them up.

But we are not through yet… here is the ultimate prize. You can make your boss look great on the screen in front of the board, or in the auditorium in front of hundreds of smiling and happy faces. Yes, you can create the ultimate presentation. Polished slides with professional graphics, glowing with precision and accurate to a tee. With each click of a remote mouse, your boss will feel empowered, and your points as an employee will go through the roof.

Soon the advancements come, but your talent doesn’t stop. Now you show your boss the ultimate secret weapon for going home early… tackling e-mail. You demonstrate to your boss and the entire staff how to use secret tools to organize and slay the e-mail monster. Soon in-boxes are empty, folders are created and organized and you have made everyone happy.

So How Do You Do This?

It’s actually as simple as clicking a mouse. Just look at the chart below and order one of the popular step-by-step books for Microsoft Office. Start with MS Word. Learn how to create masterful documents. Advance to MS Excel and learn how to make numbers work magic. And then, tackle Powerpoint and create stunning presentations.

Each Step-by-Step book takes just a few days to complete but the skills you learn will stay with you for years. Once you are done, consider taking the time to study and certify your skills with a Microsoft Office Certification. You can certify on one product or become a master on the whole office suite. With a certification in hand, you’ll have proof of your mastery which will come in handy at your next job interview.

Microsoft Certification Training is offered at many local training centers if you want to purse the whole certification track. Additional certifications are available from Adobe and other companies for creative products such as Photoshop and Acrobat.

Question: Which certification interests you the most?

In the list below you’ll find a list of popular events that are going on somewhere almost every weekend. From the popular 5k to the bucket list Marathon, you’re sure to find something on the list that you can schedule on your calendar and train for.

If you are just starting out, many of the 5k events are walk/run, so you can just walk 3.1 miles and have a great time. If you enjoy team sports, the Ragnar Relay provides a long distance race (200 miles) that 12 competitors run as a relay. You compete against other teams and the overall event is an incredible team building experience. If you liked to play in the mud as a kid, a Mud Run may be for you. Take lots of dirt, add water, and thousands of people for a muddy mess you will never forget.

If you want a triple challenge, check out a Sprint Triathlon. Take a 5k run and mix it with a 12 miles bike ride and a short swim. The three events will challenge both upper and lower body. If you are insane and have lots of time on your hands, you might want to compete for the ultimate challenge, the Ironman. You swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a full marathon. Hey… you just have to finish under 17 hours (yea… right).

Whether you are just competing with yourself for time or have a challenge with your friends or co-workers, you’ll be sure to find something on the list that will make training and fitness… FUN!

Fitness Related Strong Goals…

Question: What Fitness Strong Goal would interest you?

So if creating New Years Resolutions doesn’t work, what does? Is there any way to change bad habits and create the life we want to live? I took a look at the latest research by some of the top goal setting experts and came to some conclusions. Some people are getting amazing results while others give up. What is the difference?

It seems there are some simple yet overlooked items that can cause the best goal setting strategies to fail. I took these items and combined them with the most proven goal setting tips to create STRONG Goals.

STRONG stands for

1. Scheduled: You have to be able to schedule the time to complete your goals. Many people overlook this simple fact. You have to have the time available if you want to complete your task. If you can’t schedule it, you can’t do it.

2. Timed: The best way to accomplish something is to blot out all distractions and do one thing for a set amount of time. Research has found that multitasking does not work. Setting a time period of forty five to ninety minutes to do a single task will result in a much better completion rate than trying to do multiple things at once.

3. Realistic Routine: One of the greatest reasons goals/resolutions fail is that they are unrealistic. When planning a goal it’s best to make it challenging but not impossible. One of the best ways is to confer with others who have accomplished the goal before and create a routine that works with your schedule.

4. Organized from end to start: An old Covey axiom is “Start with the end in mind.” This is so true in goal setting. You need to look at the whole process from beginning to end and then work backwards. Set achievable milestones along the way.

5. Nag: The success rate of goals is much higher if you can work with a coach, trainer, or other person that can hold you accountable for completing your tasks. If you are unable to work with a person, using a written or electronic checklist can help keep you on track. (Note: recent research has found that it is best not to tell everyone about your goal plans. Tell just your coach and possibly a select few friends or relatives.)

6. Go for it: This is the big one. You can have the best laid plans, but if you never start, you’ll never get anywhere. While the other five will help you organize a plan, if you don’t start things on your scheduled day you’ll find yourself constantly putting things off.

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While the STRONG goals formula can help you setup a realistic plan, you need to be able to visualize your goal in a positive way. The human mind cannot conceive of things in a direct negative context.

For example, lets say you want to go on a diet and stop eating brownies. To picture in your mind not eating brownies, you’ll first have to visualize brownies on a plate and then visualize putting them out of sight or dumping them in the trash. Unfortunately your mind has to focus on “brownies” in the process.

All the time you are on a “diet”,” your mind will be focusing on things it can’t have.  Brownies, ice cream, huge cheeseburgers and other things you are trying to stay away from will fill your mind’s eye. Unfortunately we tend to be drawn to things we focus on, and sooner or later you will give in to your cravings.

Focusing instead on delicious food you can have, such as a low calorie turkey burger, or a low calorie Jello desert, will help you stay on track much better.

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Over the next few days we’ll develop the concept more and give you specific ways to apply it to your particular goals. We have a few worksheets which will help you create your own plan and stick to it. We’ll also look at three popular goals and give you the tools to accomplish them in 2011.

So… no excuses… right now… download this simple goal sheet and fill it out. In as little as 5 minutes you’ll have done something that the majority of your friends, relatives, and co-workers have never accomplished.

When you are done, put this sheet where you can refer to it. Setting goals is really this simple, so take a few minutes now and change your life.

5 Minute Success Form (Free Download in MS Word and PDF formats)

Additional Resources

• Goal Setting Toolkit
• Goal Notebook
• Daily Planner
• Focused Project Planner
• Focused Fitness Planner
• Goal Setting Resources

While these people should be part of anyone’s tweet stream, I would like to share with you five people you may not have heard of, but provide great resources in their particular niche.

1: @Nik_Nik: Nicole Nicolay is one of the top bloggers in the Real Estate field. She posts to My Tech Opinion which is a technology blog for Real Estate Professionals (and anyone interested in the newest technology). She also tweets out great content on a daily basis and is just a fun person to follow. If you are having a bad day, her video’s are sure to bring a smile to your face. She also has an online guide to Twitter that will get you up to speed fast.

2. @Iannarino: Anthony Iannarino publishes The Sales Blog and tweets out great sales tips on a daily basis. If you are in sales, this is someone you should definitely follow. He runs a sales coaching company called B2B Sales Coach, so he is in the trenches and speaks from experience. Be sure to check out his excellent 90/12 Challenge, that will motivate you to prospect more and get better results.

3. @Michaelport: If you are interested in Marketing, Sales, or Business Development, be sure to Follow Michael on Twitter and pick up one of his best selling books, such as The Think Big Manifesto, Book Yourself Solid or his newest, The Contrarian Effect. His books will give you new insights into blogging, social media, and will help you find a unique niche that no one else has. He’ll even give you the first chapters free if you sign up on his blog.

4. @AngelaDeFinis: If you want Poise, Passion, and Power in your Presentations, look no further than Angela DeFinis. Angela sends out very helpful tweets during the week that will help you tighten up and refine your next speech, Powerpoint or Keynote presentation. She also has some great resources on her LinkedIn page and her own speakers group. If you are a public speaker or Toastmaster be sure to bookmark her site.

5. @PatriciaRossi: With culture and customs changing on a daily basis it’s nice to know what the current etiquette and protocols are. Patricia comes at this in a unique way. Instead of rigid rules and regulations, she espouses this motto: Focus on kindness as opposed to formality. Relationships not rules. I enjoy her insights from a leadership point of view. Her blog will help you improve your presence and move to a new level.

If you are on Twitter, make sure to add these personalities to your tweet stream. You can find most of them on Facebook and LinkedIn too.

Since we don’t feel like doing anything after a long day, we come home and watch three or four hours of TV. Repeat this pattern day after day. From my experience, it’s hard to break out of this cycle. This is where the Focused Fitness Planner can help.

The planner allows you to set a twelve week goal and track your daily activities. Utilizing our F.A.S.T System, you schedule a block of time to exercise or do weight training, pick a location to do them, and then do the activities for a focused length of time. You block out distractions and focus on just one thing.

You write down a couple of accountability partners to keep you honest and plan out a start and end date. The planner has a place for weight, waist, and fitness goals as well as a place for equipment and supplies needed.

The daily tracker has four shaded boxes to track individual goal items and two larger white boxes to track calories, distance, or other performance data.

The planner is flexible and will work with numerous fitness plans such as Body for Life. It’s a simple way to keep track of your progress that you can keep on your desk, a wall, or where you are sure to see it, the refrigerator door.

Over the next few days, I’ll provide some examples of how to use the planner to track individual diet and fitness items, and help you make the most of this simple tracking tool.

Be sure to check with your doctor before taking on any diet or fitness plan to make sure they are compatible with your individual situation. The planner is a free download and comes in PDF and Publisher formats. Take a look at the diagram above to see an example of how the planner can be used.

Focused Fitness Planner (Free Download)

Additional Resources…
Dieteer Diet Planning Cards
Goal Setting Toolkit
Focused Project Planner

Here is how it works…

On the right side of the document there is a generous white space for taking free-form notes. As I follow along in the meeting or lecture, I make notes about major points as they are presented. I usually start at the top and work my way down the document. The white space gives me room to add diagrams, simple pictures, and even flowcharts.

Once the meeting is over, I now have a collection of notes, pictures, and notations. This is where my note taking used to end. While this mass of scribbles was sometimes useful, it was easy to forget how things tied together and the document usually wound up being an exercise in futility.

But one day I went Hmn… What can I do with these notes to make them more useful?

The Hmn was the key… as I discovered Hyatt Markup Notation, a set of special characters designed to make action points out of esoteric notes. This markup language was created by Leadership expert, Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and popularized by this article on note taking at Lifehacker.

To add this notation to the template, I added a markup column to the left side of the document followed by an action column. Adding a special notation character followed by a specific action lets me take these notes back to my office and act on them in an organized fashion. Here is an example…

The Hyatt Markup Notation consists of

• [ ] A square checkbox denotes a to do item
• ( ) A circle indicates a task to be assigned to someone else
• * An asterisk is an important fact
• ? A question mark goes next to items to research or ask about

To make this work in this document, I use numbers for To-Do items and a regular circle for delegated items. In the picture above you can see an example of my notes from a software proposal session.

1. I marked important software facts about the proposal with Asterisks
2. I put a question mark next to questions about the platforms that I had
3. I put a circle next to a question that I delegated to Betty to call about
4. I numbered the To-Do items in the order they should be done

This template gave me a central one document focus on the project for reference and follow-up.

At the bottom of the document is a summary area, where I can summarize my action steps and come to a conclusion. After considering the facts, asking necessary questions, delegating research to others, and performing 4 To-Do steps, I was able to come to a firm conclusion on which software vendor to use. Writing this in the summary box gives me a complete project roundup which can be filed away or three hole punched and kept in a notebook for further reference.

Note System Blank Zip File

Note System Lined Zip File

In the zip file, I’ve enclosed a template with a blank note taking area and also one with lines. I’ve included templates for Word 2003, Word 2007, and also PDF versions. I’ve also included the markup notation at the bottom for reference. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.

I have been amazed at the uses people have found for it. From a handy planning utility for meetings to an employee workflow tool, these cards have found their way onto many desktops.

In the spirit of innovation I would like to introduce the 2008 Deluxe Version of the Five Minute Flowchart with five new pages of symbols, arrows, and callouts. With this new tool you can complete a very complex flowchart right on your desktop. It is easy to copy and paste the symbols you use often onto one sheet, or print out the whole set for an upcoming meeting.

This new set prints out in Microsoft Word and is compatible with Word 97 and up. You can easily add text while you are in Word or use a Sharpie to add text right on the desktop. You can also add color and texture for added emphasis.

Instructions:

• Download the Deluxe Five Minute Flowchart template
• Open in Microsoft Word
• Add text to the shapes or print blank
• Cut & paste shapes as needed
• Print out on Avery Business Card stock (10 card)
• Break cards apart
• Lay them out on your desk or table
• Create a great flowchart
• Modify as necessary

Options:

• Add color and texture to your shapes for added emphasis
• Add other shapes and lines from the auto shape menu in Word
• Print cards double sided for added versatility
• Take a picture of your final flowchart to transfer to Smartdraw or Visio

These cards are easy to carry around in your Walleteer for quick access at your next meeting. Have fun and go with the flow!

While I like visual media, I have struggled with it greatly. As a speaker, using any one of the mediums tends to distract me and draw my attention away from the audience and focus it instead on the visual media source. I have found that it takes a lot of practice to present well and communicate with the media smoothly.

I have had some blundering failures with visual media and also some amazing successes. Here are five things I’ve learned by trial and ERROR that have helped me move further into the success column and stay out of Powerpoint Hell!.

1. Be Prepared: If it can go wrong… it will… when presenting. I have made a new rule for myself and that is to arrive an hour early for any visual presentation in unfamiliar surroundings. Having an hour will give you the time needed to overcome the worst technical problems. Here are some of the common things I’ve run into…

• The projector doesn’t work
• My laptop won’t sync with the projector
• A cable is not available to connect the laptop to the projector
• The overhead projector’s bulb is burned out
• There is no electricity to hook up the projector or overhead
• A flipchart is NOT available
• There is no adapter available to hook up my Mac laptop

These are just a few of the things I’ve run into that can be show stoppers. The audience does not want to see you fiddling with a projector or cables. Giving yourself an hour of prep time will help immensely in overcoming them. The other thing that will help is to …

2. Develop A Presenters Toolbox: This is a collection of gadgets, wires and other items that will save the day. Mine has morphed over the years as technology has changed but here are a few of the common items that are now priceless.

• Memory Stick to carry a copy of your presentation on
• Presenters handheld slide changer/laser pointer for Powerpoint
• A long and short extension cord and duct tape to secure it to the floor
• A VGA cable to connect a laptop to a projector
• Batteries of all types: AAA, AA, and 9 volt are a must
• A burned CD of your presentation in case the computer doesn’t have a USB port available (this one has saved me multiple times)
• A copy of the free Powerpoint 2007 viewer program (saved on CD)
• If you use a Mac laptop, there are two common VGA adapters that are priceless. Make sure you have both types. (Apple doesn’t ship them with the laptop)
• A portable flip chart easel that you can store in your trunk

3. Keep It Simple: While many things can be visually presented, your overwhelming amount of data should be put in a handout… not on your slides. If possible, limit your slides to one point and one graphic per slide.

Lots of bullet points will distract your viewer and have them reading the screen. Remember… you are the focus of your presentation… not your slides. The slides should reinforce and enhance what you are saying. They should not be a reading script.

Using the notes feature of Powerpoint will help you keep your slides simple but quickly be able to see your notes by printing them out or using the presenter’s view in Powerpoint.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice: Get familiar with the media source (laptop, overhead etc) before you give your presentation. Go through the entire presentation at least once to make sure there are no glitches or technology problems and that the presentation flows properly.

Arriving early will give you a chance to use the equipment provided and make sure that everything works together. It will also give you a chance to visually check the room for blind spots and distractions.

One of the big things is to test any wireless devices (microphones-pointers etc) and make sure they work consistently at the distance you will be presenting. If your audience can’t hear you, they will let you know!

Use the slide sorter in Powerpoint to re-order and fine tune your presentation for maximum impact. Make sure you have enough handouts for your expected audience and that you have printed your slides in handout view (6 or 9 per page) so you can refer to them throughout the presentation without looking at the screen.

5. Set Up The Room: If you have a meeting room that is configurable, you can enhance your presentation by following a few simple steps. For Powerpoint, set the projector and screen to your right (as you face the audience) and put the laptop or other computer source on a table facing you.

This will allow you to use Presenter’s mode in Powerpoint where you can preview your slides and see any notes as you face the audience. This will prompt your memory slide by slide and help keep your attention on your viewers. It will also keep you from turning your back to the audience and reading the screen.

Putting the screen to your right (audiences left) will help place your slides in your viewer’s Visual Remembered Mode. Researchers have found that people tend to look up and to their left when recalling things from memory. If you place your screen or flipchart in this position (upper left as the audience sees it), they will remember more of your presentation. It also puts you center stage where you are the primary focus of attention.

It’s also a good idea to have someone sit in the back row and listen to you. Can they hear you without a microphone? Try raising your voice slightly a few times until you reach a comfortable range for your listener. As you are presenting, focus from time to on time someone sitting in the back row and direct your voice to them. This will help you remember to keep you voice at a proper level for everyone to hear you.

Wrap Up: These are just a few of the things I’ve encountered when using Visual Media. A great place to practice in front of a live audience is Toastmasters. Many Toastmaster clubs have visual media tools available, where you can practice your Powerpoint or Flipchart presentations in front of a supportive audience.

Further Reading: There are some great books that will help you create and fine tune an amazing Powerpoint presentation… here are three of the best…enjoy!

Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft® Office PowerPoint® 2007 to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire by Cliff Atkinson Read more about this book…

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) by Garr Reynolds Read more about this book…

Presenting Magically: Transforming Your Stage Presence with NLP by Tad James, David Shephard Read more about this book…

What can you do to motivate yourself… and your spouse… to get up and get going? You know that if you mention work this early to your spouse that fireworks will erupt. You look at the clock… time is ticking away… it’s almost 8:30. What do you do? The last time Mrs. Nelson came over you were really embarrassed when she wrote, “dust me” on your TV screen with her finger.

Maybe you can buy breakfast out and hope the coffee will motivate you to greater productivity. But then you remember the trap of the Saturday morning sales at the Mall. The last time you took your spouse out on a Saturday morning it cost you three hours and $100. No, it would have to be breakfast at home today.

You crawl out of bed and into the kitchen. You move the pile of dishes enough to rinse out the coffee pot. Soon the aroma of your full strength Columbian full roast is brewing. The mess is overwhelming and just the hint of Mrs. Nelson seeing your dirty dishes is enough to send a surge of apprehension through your body.

You must do something and do it quickly. It’s getting close to 9 am.

All of a sudden a familiar ding rings out from your computer. It’s a new Success-Connect e-mail newsletter and something catches your eye on the front page… its an article about a 50 minute productivity game. Hmmm… a game might be fun. You know that your spouse likes games, even on a sleepy Saturday morning.

You sit down and download the business card template… soon the game cards are churning out of your printer. You break them apart and divide them up. You quickly read the instructions and put some toast in the toaster. You pour your spouse a steaming cup of coffee, butter the toast, and grab the cards. This will be breakfast in bed with a twist.

Your spouse sits up and you give them the toast and coffee. Then you lay out the game cards on a tray and put a 10 dollar bill at the top of the card arrangement. The instructions are simple… pick a card… any card… and do what it says for 50 minutes. If you complete the task you get the 10 dollars to spend at the mall as soon as Mrs. Nelson leaves.

Your spouse looks you in the eye and says… “Add another 10 dollars and I’m in.” You reluctantly add the additional $10 and your spouse grabs a card with some apprehension. The card is slowly turned over and it is revealed that for $20 they will have to vacuum and dust the whole house for the next 50 minutes.

Now it’s your turn… you put another $20 at the top of the cards and you grab one. Arrghh it’s the dreaded clean the kitchen card. But you think of the new book you’ve been wanting and the job seems much easier. You grab your timer with alarm, set it for 50 minutes, kiss your spouse and click GO!

Soon the vacuum is whirring, the dishes are flying, and visions of shopping at the mall are dancing in your head. “Hmmm,” you think to yourself… one more round and I can buy the book and get the CD too. At the end of the 50 minutes you both take a 10 minute break and play a second round for another $20. This time you pick the clean the bathroom card. You reset the timer and click go again.

Cleaning the bathroom has never been so easy and the thought of the new Diana Krall album drives you faster. Soon the sink and toilet are spotless and now you even have time to scrub the tub. Your spouse picked the clean the clutter card and is busy filing items and tossing junk mail.

Soon the buzzer is going off again and your house is presentable. Even Mrs. Nelson would be proud. A little while later you hear the bell ring… “The Nelson’s are here,” as you put the second $20 bill in your pocket. The game was fun, made your dreaded tasks enjoyable, and gave you something to work for.

Your spouse gives you a hug for being so smart as the door opens… “Well, hello Mrs. Nelson”…

You can download the basic Draw 50 productivity game here. You’ll need some Avery business card sheets, and Microsoft Word to print them out. You can easily modify the template to fit your unique tasks.

Here are the simple instructions

1. Download the template
2. Modify as necessary in MS Word
3. Print out the cards on Avery business card stock
4. Break the cards apart.
5. Choose the cards that are applicable & turn them upside down
6. Shuffle the cards extensively and lay them upside down on a tray
7. Put the reward at the top of the tray (money, note, or other item)
8. Set the timer for 50 minutes, grab a card, and GO!
9. After 50 minutes collect your reward and smile for a job well done!

You might be interested in our other MS word templates such as…

Five Minute Organizer
Five Minute Flowchart
Five Minute Outliner
Five Minute Motivators
Instant Garage Sale

Enjoy and have fun!