Special Speech

There are many self-help books on the market, especially in the martial arts, that purport to teach readers self-defense.

I believe most are well-intentioned, and much of the advice is honorable and helpful.

But there is no book of wisdom that can make you the warrior you’ll become through steady, long-term practice under expert guidance in a dojo or martial arts studio.

There are several reasons I say this:

(1) Your reflexes will become much faster with consistent practice. If you’ve seen the movie with Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” you’ll remember the dinner table scene when Pitt drops a wine bottle and Jolie snares it out of thin air, without any muss or fuss. Instantly, Pitt’s character knew she had training, and he needed to be wary.

If someone throws a punch at your face, your body needs to know exactly what to do without the intervention of conscious thought. Dojo training is behavioral, reflex-building training, and no book can teach that to you.

(2) In dojos you practice with other people, with partners. You just can’t act and react the same way, by yourself, with a book or by watching video.

(3) You can actually see what happens when people get angry or temporarily lose control. I’ve broken ribs, and mine have been broken, twice. It’s amazing how little force is required to do this, or to put people in the hospital.

(4) Your misconceptions about the glamour of violence can be dashed, safely. Fights aren’t pretty. That’s a great lesson for any punk who thinks he can get away with intimidating people and never get hurt, himself.

(5) You can get so good that the odds of using your skills diminish, tremendously, making you and those around you, much safer.

I’m sure there are other reasons for joining a dojo, but these come to mind. If you’re ready to learn, poke your head into a training hall, and get your nose out of books!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com

Retirement Planning the Offshore Way Why do so many of us constantly push the thought of retirement planning to the back of our minds? Reluctance…! 1 Reluctance to save for an event that seems so far off 2 Reluctance to tie in to an inflexible pension scheme 3 Reluctance to put a large portion of our current income out of reach for the long term But in terms of retirement planning, putting off until tomorrow that which you could get done today will end up costing you very dearly. Every month you delay your retirement savings planning, you significantly reduce the value of your future potential retirement fund.

Or put another way, every month you delay your retirement savings planning you significantly increase the amount that you will need to invest to achieve the same level of retirement income than if you’d started today. If a 25 year old and a 35 year old were to start saving for retirement at 55 and the 25 year old invested £300 a month towards retirement, the 35 year old would have to increase his contributions to £803 a month to achieve the same potential returns. At the state retirement age of 65 the average man will have some 19 more years to live and the average woman, 22 years. You will have to support yourself without work and, very likely, without state income.

This means that you will spend 25% to 30% of your life in retirement. You will need substantial sums of money to support yourself in retirement in the manner to which you will have become accustomed throughout your life to date. Recent figures show that individuals aged between 25 and 44 are saving 1/3rd of the amount they should be saving in order to support their current lifestyle in retirement. In most countries you are forced to make your own pension provision if you want to have any chance of a comfortable retirement. The value of the government pension that you could once rely on is diminishing every year.

Ready to Start Planning? If you’re an expatriate you are in a more privileged position than most - chances are you’re enjoying a higher salary and extra benefits as a result of working away from home. Furthermore expatriates have greater freedom when it comes to making investment decisions: they are not necessarily restricted by the same regulations that domestic investors experience. Decisions That Need To Be Made The most sensible solution would seem to be finding a safe harbour to anchor your retirement investments so that you can move from country to country as necessary without this having any negative impact on your assets. However, if you decide to do this you need to decide exactly where that safe harbour should be.

Offshore financial centres present a viable solution - especially if you are undecided as to your eventual retirement destination. Basing your pension investment offshore should mean that future movements of capital or income are not impeded. What To Be Aware Of Your own personal circumstances are unique. Be realistic about how much you should be contributing.

Consider the charges the bonuses and the flexibility of any investment plan

- generally the more flexible the plan the more charges will be. Know that a good offshore retirement plan should allow you to do the following without penalty:

-1 Reduce contributions without penalty (normally after an initial period of one to two years).

2 Switch investments between different funds to respond to changes in the market. Preferably including funds managed by other people outside of the institution zone.

3 Have the option of retiring when you want to without penalty.

4 Allow certain access to monies invested (again, after an initial period). How to Find the RIGHT Solution Finding out what each provider’s best products are currently, and then hand picking the best to suit your own personal needs and current circumstances is the best idea! But how impractical!

Do you have the time to do this? Would you consider yourself an expert in offshore investments and pension planning? Where would you start? Obviously professional advice will get you the right solution and save you time and money and reduce your cost of delay significantly! To find out more about what solutions are on offer in the market place and to learn more about offshore investing and saving for your future, visit http://www.offshoreinvestmentguide.com today. Discover how to build wealth, enjoy greater privacy, protect your assets and secure your financial future with the Offshore Investment Guide.

R L Williamson is an independent offshore financial specialist. She has worked in the fields of financial advice, specialising in retirement planning and she has worked in investment banking. Through her work she has travelled widely and lived in many different countries around the world. Meeting expatriates, international investors and being an expatriate herself, she is well versed in understanding the different financial needs of the individual, and she is an expert when it comes to finding the RIGHT offshore solutions.

To Keep Growing, Replay The Call - Every Time

Most salespeople continue to make the same mistakes over and over, never recognizing their errors. Therefore, beyond a certain point, they never really get much better at what they do. How can you avoid that trap?

Top salespeople never stop improving because they ‘replay’ every sales call they make.

To continually improve your performance, you need two things. First, you need a systematic, step-by-step approach to planning and conducting the sales call that gives you a clear picture of what the whole process looks like when it’s done right. Second, you need a strategy for critiquing your own performance regularly in light of that ideal approach.

The nine-act structure of Action Selling provides you with the systematic process. And by mentally reviewing your performance in each act after every sales call you make, successful or not, you ensure that you will never stop improving as a sales pro.

Here are some sample questions that top-performing salespeople ask themselves after every sales call:

1. What Commitment Objective did I set for the call? Did I achieve it? If not, what commitment did I gain from the customer and how?

2. Was the person I called upon the ultimate decision maker? If not, did I gain a commitment that will take me closer to that decision maker? Why or why not?

3. What needs did I uncover and agree upon with the customer? Are they needs that will let me differentiate my product?

4. How did I show that my company would be a good match for the customer’s company? Could I have done this better? How?

5. Did I tie the needs that I uncovered to the capabilities of my product? Did I describe my product’s benefits in terms that address those needs specifically and powerfully? How could I have done better?

Objections are the customer’s response to unasked questions. Ask The Best Questions early in the sales call, and customize your presentation so that you’ll hear far fewer objections later. If you do hear an objection late in the call, figure out the question you should have asked and ask it now.

In The Field:

After the conclusion of an Action Selling Sales Training Workshop not long ago, I was approached privately by one of the more mature attendees. “If I had only learned this 30 years ago,” he said ruefully, “my life would be much different today.”

Naturally, I had to ask: “What would be different?” I will never forget his response. “Everything,” he said. “I wouldn’t be working at this stage of my life. This workshop has pointed out so many mistakes that I have been making throughout my sales career. Those errors have hurt my income for 30 years.”

Those may be the saddest words I’ve ever heard. If you have a feeling that you may be repeating the same old mistakes in your sales approach, take charge now.

Duane Sparks is chairman and founder of The Sales Board, a Minneapolis-based sales training company that has trained and certified more than 200,000 salespeople in the system and skills of Action Selling. He has personally facilitated more than 300 Action Selling training sessions.

In a 30-year career as a salesperson and sales manager, Duane has sold products ranging from office equipment to insurance. He was the top salesperson at every company he ever worked for. He developed Action Selling Sales Training while owner of one of the largest computer marketers in the United States. Even in the roaring computer business of the 1980’s, his company grew six times faster than the industry norm, differentiating itself not by the products offered but by the way it sold them. Duane founded The Sales Board in 1990 to teach the skills of Action Selling to others.

Contact The Sales Board for more sales information or sales training that’s been documented and research-proven to help you sell more! 1-800-232-3485

Pia Morelli loves Thanksgiving. It is the one holiday of the year that the Mendham mother of eight and grandmother of eighteen sees her entire family. Not even Christmas brings as many people to her home at one time.

“My children are scattered up and down the east coast. Between flying in and driving over, they need several days to make the trip, visit, and to return to their homes. I would love to have everyone here for Christmas, but that just doesn’t happen, especially when the holiday falls during the middle of the week and people are unable to take extended time off from their jobs.”

Since her husband, Joe, died in 1995 Thanksgiving has taken on an added meaning. “Prior to Joe’s death we would get together, but not under one roof or at the same time. We would see some of the children at Thanksgiving and the rest at Christmas or get together between the holidays. It wasn’t the same. Joe died suddenly and unexpectedly and each of my children have insisted on this annual reunion. What better time than Thanksgiving?”

While her family members would prefer to go out to eat, Pia insists otherwise. “I’m retired, living with Cocoa [her terrier] and have plenty of time on my hands. I start baking my pies on Sunday and by Wednesday the gravy, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and green bean salad are done. On Thanksgiving morning, my daughter, Lisa, comes over and puts two turkeys in the oven. Joe Jr. and his wife bring the hams, while the stuffing and other fixings are completed by me in the morning. All the setting up, serving and cleaning up is done by the children. I kick back and watch football while eating pumpkin pie!”

Kyle McGathry will be continuing a tradition that has been going on in his family for nearly 50 years. With sons Kevin and Michael in tow, McGathry will be sitting in the stands watching a high school football game between Ridgewood and Paramus. “When I was a kid, it was Ridgewood-Fair Lawn. Years later Paramus replaced Fair Lawn and for awhile it was Bergen Catholic and Ridgewood.” The Ridgewood native looked at the Ridgewood- BC rivalry as hopelessly one sided. “Most of the games were never played on Thanksgiving because it was a given that BC would still be alive in the playoffs and would have just played the Saturday before. I think we had to wait until Saturday and it usually meant that Ridgewood was massacred.”

At this point in the season, Ridgewood is still alive in the playoffs with a scheduled meeting against Morristown on December 6th at Giants Stadium. “I know that Ridgewood just had a big battle with Hackensack on Saturday, but I think they’ll be ready. Funny thing, I think this is one Ridgewood team that could beat BC!” After the game, McGathry will be going to his mother-in-law’s house in Paramus. “My wife graduated from Paramus a year after I graduated from Ridgewood. She isn’t much of a football fan and stays home with our youngest. Fortunately, the rivalry isn’t dividing our family,” he noted.

Anne Chomesky doesn’t “do” Thanksgiving at least in the traditional sense. For years the single 40-something woman served food at a soup kitchen in Newark every Thanksgiving day. This year she will still be serving, but over at a friend’s house in Cedar Grove. Her friend, Clare, lost her father, who was her only living relative, this past Summer and Anne felt that she could be more useful spending the time with her. “The holiday season is very difficult for those without family. Clare’s father died in June and he was all that she had as far as family goes. Eight of us who either no longer have family or can’t be with them will be gathering together at Clare’s home to keep her company and to give thanks for what we do have. I thank God for this opportunity to be with friends who have become like family to me.”

However, wherever and with whomever you choose to spend the day, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This article originally appeared on Townstead.com, a defunct site managed by Matt Keegan. It was part of his “Life in New Jersey” series of articles.

Matthew Keegan is the owner of a successful article writing, web design, and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several sites including the Corporate Flight Attendant Community and the Aviation Employment Board. Please visit The Article Writer to review selections from his portfolio.

YOU WANT REVIVAL? IT TAKES PRAYER

Joel 2 verse 17 “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?”

Indeed, where is our God? The God of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Paul, Peter, John and others is waiting for our prayers unto him. I don’t know about you, but I know we need a revival in our land, a great turning unto the LORD God. He is waiting to show himself strong in behalf of those who love him. Prayer is the key to moving the hands of God, and the effectual fervant prayer of a righteous man availeth much. When is the last time you have gathered with others just to pray? Maybe your church is going through a dry spell, and you earnestly want the LORD to do a new work in your midst. Gather together to pray.

I remember my late Uncle Rev. Owen Rozier’s church, Pleasant Hill, having a revival right after Uncle Owen went to be with Jesus (see story below). Although I was not a member there, I was invited to a men’s prayer meeting before the revival was to begin. We turned the lights down low, and gathered around the altar to seek God’s blessings upon the revival (out of over 70 men that attended that church, there were only 15 of us there praying). Let me tell you, the glory of the Lord fell down in that little Baptist church, as we all brokenly poured out our hearts to the Lord. To hear grown men weeping before the altar is a sound I will never forget!

The next week, the Lord added 15 souls to that church, and the members were greatly encouraged. What if ALL 70+ men had attended? Maybe the Lord would have added 70+. Prayer is the key!

Joel 2 verse 18 “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.”

Gone Home…God Honors Faith And His Servants

This is a short version from story number five (out of 50) from my recently published book, My Walk with the Lord.

Psalm 116.15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

I had a dear uncle, the Rev. Owen Rozier, who came down with cancer. Although his body was weak, his faith in the Lord was strong. Just like the verse in Amazing Grace “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come”, Uncle Owen had his share of tribulations while preaching the word for over thirty years. He and my father, the late Rev. A.J. Rozier, were close in age and close as brothers. Daddy went home to be with the Lord in 1966, and here it was in 1987.

On July 17, 1987, about 7 PM, the Lord spoke to me and said, “I’m going to take Uncle Owen home tonight. Go on over to his house.” As I was driving over there, the song “I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone” came on the radio. It played twice. As tears filled my eyes, the Lord gave confirmation of what He had told me.

When I arrived at Uncle owen’s, I noticed several other cars were there. Other people started arriving. No one had called them to come. The Lord drew them so Uncle Owen could preach his last sermon. We all gathered around his bed; I read Psalm 23. Uncle Owen called on someone to pray, and then feebly preached his last sermon..the few words he spoke was precious.

As one of his daughters sang a beautiful song, one she hadn’t sung in 20 years, Uncle Owen took his last breath and went home to be with Jesus.

What was amazing about this, is several days earlier, Uncle Owen told me that he desired to preach one more service. As I prayed for him that day, I asked God to honor his request. On his deathbed, Uncle Owen preached a sweet service. God honors the faith of his servants!

Rev 14.13: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”

Rev. Irvin Rozier, Captain (Ret) US Army aka walkin2e

About the Author

Author, preacher, retired military