View the video after the jump…

Yep. You’re welcome. 

Thoughts?

Over time, I have learned that the number one rule of creating a great relationship is ______________.

It’s ok to take a break. There I said it. Having fun is ok!

But, you have to be honest with yourself and know when you need a break. Some need time away more than others, but start thinking with your family about how often you need vacations.

Here are a few reasons that you have to get away every once and awhile…

1. Things will keep going, even without you.

No matter who you are and how important you are, there are other capable people that will help you take care of things while you are gone. Find your “go to” person(s) and communicate what you need from them. There are just some things that are more important than you micro-managing things. Take your hands off of it for a second to enjoy life. Things will still be there when you get back. Trust me.

Time away from the normal routine can knock you out of your funk and make you think about getting out of it when you get back into your environment.

2. It will make you a better person.

Time away gives you time to stop and note what you are thankful for, what you need to take time process and allows your mind to take a break. If you have been operating at 75%, would a break help you operate closer to 100% again. If so, you will be more productive, get more things done and ultimately become a better person to be around.

3. You get to share new experiences with the ones you love the most.

I love sharing these times with Jasmine. It’s fun to think back to the great times we’ve shared on each trip. They become great conversation pieces for years to come. Life is better when you’re around those you love.

Maybe you’ve been struggling with pulling away for just a weekend or maybe even a week and spending time with your family, reflecting and having a good time. We all need reminders that time away can actually improve things. Once you decide that it’s time to get away, plan your vacation out in advance and get it on the calendar. A lot of the fun is in the anticipation of the trip coming up. Once the trip has arrived be intentional with your time while away. Don’t go somewhere and then do the same old things you always do. Make it exciting!

So, how many vacations do you try to take every year and what are some of your favorite places to go? You can leave a comment below.

You don’t know everything. I promise.

Once you realize this, you can begin seeking what answers you need.

It makes you vulnerable and that in itself makes your team trust you more.

A leader that shares what they know and is humble in the areas of where they need to grow, shows others that it’s ok to know where your strengths are and those areas where some work needs to be put in. In the process you will pick up skills that make you better along the way.

Once you know that you don’t have the answer, you can begin to find it.

You can begin looking on where to find the answer and you can also direct others on how to problem solve. This will help you and your team over and over again.

What is something that you have had to say “I don’t know” to? You can leave a comment below.

Ideas come and they go.

Some of those ideas that come are bad, some are good and then some are those great ones in life.

Forget about the bad ideas once you recognize which ones those are. There is no use in spending mental capacity on ideas that aren’t going anywhere.

As for the good ideas, write those down somewhere where you can come back to them later. You may need to spend extra time thinking about how you can make those good ideas even better. With some strategic planning, those will most likely become great later on.

Great ideas are the game changers.  Those are the ones that are bigger than you. Those are the ones that you will need help in making happen. Those are the ones that will impact others the most. Those are the ones you will want to spend time on to craft very carefully in order to make them succeed in the way they were intended to. Those are the ideas that are ready to be seen.

So, You Are Just Down One Step: The Idea

Frankly, all you need is one golden idea to kickstart the process, but wouldn’t it be great if you had so many great ideas that you had options on which one to move on first? When options happen, you don’t settle for just another good idea. The creative juices begin to flow and greatness begins to form.

The idea is to increase the frequency of great ideas. So, how do you do that?

Here are a few ways to put yourself in the way of more great ideas:

1. Don’t settle for the excuse of creative block.

The main reason that people don’t fully go through the process of creating is they stop the flow of thought before they start. They tell themselves that it’s just writer’s block and they don’t go any further than that. They then take some time off and then come back to it hoping that information has fallen from the sky. I will say that sometimes you will need a break, and that’s ok, but it is also good to keep writing through a time of having no new great ideas coming to you.

2. Surround yourself with resources that influence you positively.

Be clear with what you want. Know the area that you want your idea to be in and surround yourself with those resources. Feed yourself constantly with these things. Ask others in that field about resources that they’ve used. Knowing what you want and need to make it all happen might be the most important step in all of this.

3. Change your setting.

If you feel that the ideas aren’t coming to you, the problem might be a lack of inspiration. Sometimes it helps to put yourself in a different atmosphere to get the juices flowing. If you usually write in a home office, move to a coffee shop, a park, the library, your church, a book store. If you don’t listen to music while you get things done, try listening to classical music. If you usually keep the blinds closed while in your office, try opening a window. If you need something fresh, rearrange your work space to bring a freshness to your environment. Put up reminders on your walls that remind you what you want the outcome to be.  Do anything that will make your mental flow come back. The effort of finding your perfect environment will pay off.

These are great places to start when you are searching for your next BIG idea, but what do you do once you find it?

Finish what you started and think of the outcome.

This is the step I have to work on in 2012. During the process, I need to think of the possible outcome and imagine what it would be like to be finished with that specific goal. It will make me want it more, because if I don’t think of the outcome, I can become complacent.

What are the feelings that you have when you reach your goal?

What does it look like when you are finished?

Who does it affect when you reach your goals? How does it affect them?

What is a great idea that you have seen recently? You can leave a comment below.

Mission statements are important. Really important. They take time to process so you can come up with the one that is right for you. Be specific. Keep it just long enough to get the point across. You want to be able to remember it so you can tell others and so you can keep it handy for when you need to use it. Make sure it will lead you to your desired outcome. And once you find that fitting mission statement for your personal life or for your business, it is now time to put it to use.

Here is why using a mission statement in every area of life is so important:

You now get to filter each action you make through your mission statement.

It is important not only to make your mission known to your team and those around you, but decision making becomes easier once you run each circumstance through your mission statement. Your goal is handwritten, visible and is now effective.

Know it and communicate it.

Doing this will keep you on point.

This step keeps you from wandering around, just like when you write things down. If you know what you want and need to do, you will start heading in the right direction. Life will become easier. You will empower and influence those around you to make the best decisions.

Know what you want from life and go get it. Don’t wait for it to come to you.

Using a mission statement will keep you from that dreaded “gray area”.

Notice that I used the word “Using” and not “Having”. You have to use something to make it effective. Making decisions will become easier. Right and wrong become clearer. You will discover who you are and what you want to become, and that builds confidence.

It is a great feeling when you can make decisions with more confidence.

If you don’t have a mission statement already, I challenge you to start thinking about constructing one. It helps a lot more than it hurts.

So, tell me…

Why else is using a mission statement important? You can leave a comment below.

If you are like me, if you don’t write things down or type it into Evernote, then you will forget it ten minutes later. Personally I’m a fan of Evernote, but if you don’t mess with technology a leather binder will do the job just fine.

If you don’t write or type a to-do list yet, then here are 3 reasons why writing everything down is so important:

1. You waste time trying to think of what you needed to do in the first place.

Your to-do list keeps you on point. It makes you more productive and effective throughout the day. It tells yourself and others that you are on a mission and sets the tone for the entire day. If you don’t give your day the direction that you want, you will end up wandering and getting lucky if you achieve your daily tasks that get you to your desired outcomes. Every day should  have some aspect that moves you towards your goals. Knowing what you are doing gives confidence and pays huge dividends. If you don’t have a lot of time already, why not make the most of it? Make every second count.

2. Writing down memories in vivid details help you remember what things were like, even years after you wrote it down.

Whether it be a handwritten letter to your spouse or a journal that you keep, you can look at it years later and see how you used to feel about any given subject. This is so important when you need to convey your story to others. It brings back those small details that you would have forgotten otherwise.

The same applies with taking notes in meetings, while someone else is presenting or just on something that you find to be an interesting topic. First, it lets others know that you are engaged at that moment. That’s just respectful to the speaker, folks. Second, it keeps you engaged to the speaker. That and coffee my friend. Some meetings need extra activities to keep you awake. I know that you’ve been there. This information will also be a reference later on when you need to bring up that information again, even years later.

This might seem like elementary stuff to you, but I can’t believe how many times I have sat in important meetings and nothing is written down. Nothing at all. If you get this easy step down sooner rather than later, I guarantee that it will help you your entire life.

3. If it is written down, then you are one step closer to what you want to achieve.

Goals that are handwritten are achieved more often than those that just stay in our heads. I’m not really sure if that’s fact, but it seems correct. Writing goals down is effective because these goals stay visible. They stay in front of your face until you achieve them. They keep reminding you that you haven’t quite made it yet. They stare you in the face until you start chipping away at them, one by one. That’s the beauty of it. This concept lets you live life on your terms, not luck.

Keep writing things down. And if just that doesn’t work, add in some focus. Do everything you can to become the person that you really want to become.

So, how do you keep up with everything? You can leave a comment below.

Some people will shrug off their reputation because they either don’t care to know or they think that the public’s perception isn’t accurate, but here are three reasons why you NEED to know what others think of you:

1. Your reputation is all you need for your “branding”.

People try to do all sorts of “flashy”, gimmick events to build their marketing in the community and online, but let’s go deeper than that. Specials and events can help make up a company’s dynamic, but it can’t define them. Those things don’t last a lifetime.

So, what defines a great experience from a business?

It has some to do with the price of course, but real relationships and remarkable service are the keys. That’s what people remember. And those things have to be continuous. Repetition is the only thing worth coming back for. If you keep people guessing on what they’re getting, they’ll eventually lose trust and go somewhere else to get what they need.

People will pay a premium price for a premium product and for great service. Now, apply this concept to whatever you do.

In this case, I’ll apply it to blogging…

Take a few minutes to think about what you are offering your readers. Also, work on getting a better grasp on your personal reputation in the real world and online.

2. You need to know where you stand along the way, instead of at the end when big decisions are made.

Think about those work evaluations and reviews that come along every six months or so. Have you ever gotten to one of those and been blindsided with things they say you need to improve in to grow in the company? That’s probably because there wasn’t enough communication in between. Leadership forgot to coach you in areas in which you could improve in. So, expectations weren’t set. You had goals that you thought you were pursuing each day, but communication was lost and you became a drifter.

Businesses can become this way as a whole, if they aren’t careful. If they don’t know where they really stand along the way with the public, they can look up one day and find that they fell short of greatness. This happens way too many times, but there are ways to prevent it. Paying attention to feedback is huge and even asking for it is ok.

Again, let’s apply this to blogging…

When is the last time that you heard honest feedback about you blog? Find those experienced people in that specific field that will be honest to you and soak it all in. Trust me, none of us know everything there is to know. You will learn something!

3. You need to know what brought your audience to that conclusion.

Don’t forget to investigate the “why” behind it all. Why are you where you are at today? If you don’t find out the “why”, then you can’t expect to know the “how” to fix the problems. But just as important, what are those things that you can keep doing to bring great results again and again? Finding solutions is what your audience wants. They want answers.

Take time to think about where your blog is today. You might don’t like every single part of it, but what are those positive things that you love about it?  Fix the blaring issues and keep building on the positive things of your writing.

How important do you think someone’s reputation is? You can leave a comment below.

I hope 2011 was a great year for you and your family.

Here are the 10 most read posts of 2011:

10. Nobody Talks About Sin Anymore

9. Social Media In 2011

8. Who Am I?

7. Write It Down

6. I Want to Know You

5. The 3 Signs of a Miserable Job

4. Bell & Hell

3. Where Are The Men?

2. I’m Scared

1. Let’s Do Something

Thanks for reading (re)made in 2011.

Yes, 2011 was a great year, but what’s that one thing that you’re looking forward to most in 2012? You can leave a comment below in the comment section.

I absolutely love the folks over at LETGOdwork. I have had a long time partnership with them because I love what they stand for and all they do.

So, first I want to introduce you to their great merchandise. Great looking stuff, right?

And second, I want to spread some Christmas cheer by giving away a lot of LETGOdwork gear. Sounds awesome, huh?

Here on (re)made, I promote a brand/organization twice a year that I think you would enjoy and would want to get behind.

What I need from you is to tell others through your social media outlets about a great product that others will want to find out more about anyways.

I know you really want to join in, so here’s how you can help…

All you have to do to win is:

1) Follow LETGOdwork on twitter and Like them on Facebook.

2) If you use twitter, send out this tweet. 

3) If you use facebook, share some LETGOdwork love to your friends.

Example Facebook post: Enter to win a huge Christmas giveaway from @LETGOdwork ! http://jkid.us/w4cD7y

4) Post a comment below telling us which item on LETGOdwork.com is your favorite.

That’s it!

And the more you tweet out to your followers on twitter or share with your friends on facebook, then the better chance you have of winning!

The contest ends on Friday, December 23rd at 5:00pm MST and I will announce the 3 winners at 6:00pm MST.

The first place winner will receive, $100 in free merchandise from LETGOdwork! Whoa!

The second place winner will receive, $75 in free merchandise from LETGOdwork! Wow!

And the third place winner will receive, $50 in free merchandise from LETGOdwork! Sweet!

So, go win you some new LETGOdwork gear now and Merry Christmas from LETGOdwork and (re)made!

This contest has ended. The winners list is in the comment section below.