Walk The Talk Chock full of resources to inspire, motivate, encourage, and challenge you!

If you’re searching for your life’s calling—whether it’s beginning a business, founding a charity, raising a family—Dream Big: Finding the Courage to Follow Your Dreams and Laugh at Your Nightmares can help you find it. Lisa Hammond, founder of the successful, woman-based company Femail Creations, tells all in this whopping inspiration of a book. In fact, we’ve found the book so inspiring that we picked Dream Big as the July selection for the Inspired Living Café Summer Book Club. Join us July 13-17 at the Inspired Living Café as we discuss this book!

To Your Success,

Excerpted from Dream Big

Years ago, I was at a motivational conference when the speaker asked the group what at the time seemed like a simple question. She asked us what we would do if we knew we would not fail. If we were guaranteed success, what would we attempt? I find that question to be one of the most clarifying we can ask ourselves. When we eliminate all of our self-doubts and remove all our inner (and outer) critics, we have a better chance at getting at the truth.

Therein lies the answer to the age-old question: What do I want to be when I grow up? Think about it. What would you do if you were absolutely guaranteed success? Would you be a stand-up comic, an architect, a photographer, a social worker, a café owner, a clothes designer, a midwife? Whatever your fantasy, that’s what you should be doing—guarantee or no guarantee.

I truly believe that discovering our own passions and finding the courage to follow them are our greatest callings. When people ask me what the single most important tool is for unearthing our dreams, I tell them solitude. In order to find our authentic purpose, our passion, we have to spend lots of time listening, really listening, to ourselves. It seems so simple really, but how many of us actually do it? Our days are so overflowing with to-do lists and phone calls and emails that we rarely just unplug and hear what our hearts are telling us. At the beginning of something there has to be nothing. We have to give ourselves a clean slate—and permission to dream.

By giving myself that permission to dream, I gave birth to a company that has been one of the most worthwhile adventures of my life. My hope is that through telling my story and sharing a few of the lessons I’ve learned (usually the hard way!), I will inspire you to dream big, too.

Dream Big

In Dream Big, Lisa Hammond details how she and her sister entrepreneurs followed their dreams and managed their fears to become happy and successful

Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see the shadows.
~Helen Keller

Today’s quote comes to you from Finding Joy: Simple Secrets to a Happy Life

In business the competition will bite you if you keep running. If you stand still,
they will swallow you.
  ~William Knudsen

Today’s quote comes to you from Listen Up! Customer Service: A Guide to Develop Customer Loyalty

Interpersonal Conflicts … When There’s No Time for Planning

It’s bound to happen. Sooner or later you’ll be caught off guard – finding yourself smack dab in the middle of an unexpected conflict with someone on your team. You’re in it before you know it, and there’s no time for formulating a well-thought-out resolution strategy. You’ve got to respond in some way, and you have to do it NOW! What do you do? How can you keep the situation from escalating and ending up some-where you DON’T want to be? Here are a few suggestions:

1.  Stop, breath, and think. Stop whatever you’re doing, take a couple of deep breaths to control your tension, and then immediately (and quickly) think about exactly what you need to do and say next.
2. Acknowledge the conflict by saying something like: Michael, I’m sensing that there are some issues between the two of us that we need to talk through, or, Kim, I’m feeling that I might have done something to upset you. Can we talk about it?
3. Buy some time. Suggest that you meet at a later time that day (or the following day) so that you both have an opportunity to relax a little and gather your thoughts. If the other person agrees, use the time to prepare for the meeting. If the person doesn’t agree on a time delay …
4. Take it somewhere else (if other coworkers are present). That way, you’ll avoid disrupting the rest of the group – and you’ll eliminate any temptations you and the other person might have to “showboat” or maintain some bogus image in front of your teammates. Suggest a different venue with words such as: It’s best for everyone if we keep this just between us. Where else would you feel comfortable talking? 
5.  Keep it respectful.  Do your absolute best to conduct yourself in a calm and respectful manner – regardless of how the other person responds. Will it be easy? Of course not! But that doesn’t change the fact that although you can’t control what others do, you certainly can (and do) control your own behavior.

Today’s solution is from What to Do When CONFLICT HAPPENS

By Eric Harvey & Steve Ventura

Time, indeed, is a sacred gift, and each day
is a little life.
  ~John Lubbock

Today’s quote comes to you from To a Child, Love Is Spelled T-I-M-E 

Taking time for yourself should never
be seen as a burden. Not on you, and
not on anyone else.
  ~Elizabeth Franklin

  Today’s quote comes to you from Her Inspiration:  Secrets to Help You Work Smart, Be Successful, and Have Fun

Do you experience miscommunication at work? Have you ever wished that you could discuss issues more effectively with your boss, coworkers, or clients? In Communication Miracles at Work, workplace consultant Matthew Gilbert explores a variety of communication issues and provides you with the skills you need to build stronger relationships and turn difficult workplace experiences into opportunities for growth. If you’re ready to build better relationships at work, understand others better as well as have them understand you, then this practical and informative book is for you!


To Your Success,

Eric Harvey

Excerpted from Communication Miracles at Work
How often have you thought to yourself something like, “If for once Mr. X seriously listened to my ideas, it would be a miracle!”? Well, miracles come in large and small packages, and whether or not something really is “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs” (according to Mr. Webster), it can seem that way. And besides, what to call it is less important than the fact that a breakthrough is made or an old pattern is shaken up.

This book, then, is about how to achieve those breakthrough moments, whether they be with coworkers, the boss, a client, or inside of you. It’s about the challenges of and opportunities for getting what we want while serving our employer’s mission, and how communication can become a tool for achieving workplace harmony and workplace results. It’s for people who want to make a difference, who are tired of playing games and are willing to take some risks. You will learn about good and bad communication, the roll of gender, how to deal with specific situations, and what your own obstacles to being an effective communicator are. You will become more aware of what you are bringing to your on-the-job interactions with others and what others are bringing to you. With this new awareness, you can start making new choices and turn almost any workplace encounter into an opportunity for personal growth, professional success, and a feeling of communal well-being.

Communication Miracles at Work

Communication Miracles at Work is about experiencing breakthrough moments of connectedness and understanding with co-workers, managers, staff members, and clients.

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the
handcuffs of hate.
~William Ward

Today’s quote comes to you from The Power of Attitude: One Little Difference That Always Makes a Big Difference

High-integrity workplaces don’t get that way by accident, coincidence, or luck. They’re molded, shaped, and built by leaders at all levels.
  ~Eric Harvey

Today’s quote comes to you from  Leading to Ethics: 

10 Leadership Strategies for Building a High-Integrity Organization

High-integrity workplaces don’t get that way by accident, coincidence, or luck. They’re molded, shaped, and built by leaders at all levels.
  ~Eric Harvey

Today’s quote comes to you from  Leading to Ethics: 

10 Leadership Strategies for Building a High-Integrity Organization