Take That Next Step Toward Your Dream by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

Are you afraid to try for your dream? How about taking your first step? Be bold, be brave!

When our oldest child was 4 years old, he was learning to ride a bike. When we told him that it was time for the training wheels to come off, he burst into tears and was convinced that he would fall over and get hurt. 

But he didn't. He took off and rode for 20 feet before he lost his balance. Then he got back up again with a smile on his face. 

Zig Ziglar tells the story of a young woman who attended one of his seminars and told him about her Mother, who dressed her children in beautiful clothes that she hand made.

While the woman mentioned that she would like to do the same for her children, she was convinced that she just didn't have the raw talent that her mother was blessed with. 

Zig urged her to take the first step. "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.” 

A year latter she came to see Zig Ziglar and brought her 3 children dressed in the beautiful dresses she had made for them.

Remember, “to change your life” you have to take that “first step”! It will not happen until you take that “first step.” After that first step take a “second one” and continue improving your skills by having an expert to get better and better each time you work on it!

Dave Sheffield, motivational speaker and coach says, “Be willing to be terrible. Be willing to overcome that fear."

When I was preparing for a concert tour in Australia and New Zealand, I was learning a new piece on my viola by Ernst Toch, an Austrian composer. My husband came in and said, “What is that awful piece you are playing? You don’t plan to play it on tour?”

I replied, “It is a new piece by Toch that I am just learning.”

A month later, he came in and said, “What is that beautiful piece you are playing?”

I replied, “Do you remember that piece by Toch that I was just learning last month that you said was so awful?”

He said, “ Yes, but this doesn’t sound like it.”

I replied, “I was just learning it!” Arthur Rubinstein, the famous pianist called it “kitchen work.”  By working on the piece each day, I learned how to understand how to play it!”

When the famous Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals was in his eighties and nineties he was asked by reporters “why do you continue to practice your cello four and five hours a day?”

  

Pablo Casals said, “I think I’m making progress. I think I see some improvement.” He continued practicing every day to improve his cello playing. Mr. Casals lived to be 97 years old.

That first step begins the learning process. The next steps will lead you to progress, then mastery. 

What is something that you would like to try, but you are afraid of?

1) Boldly begin

   Don't over analyze the process. Just get started, and be willing to do it poorly.

2) Take your second step and learn faster by having an expert guide you through this new skill. A coach or mentor can be a valuable model for you on your path to mastering your goal. 

3) Keep working to get better and better at your new skill just like the young women who at first was terrible seamstress. She took her second and third step by practicing and improving to sew beautiful dresses for her daughters. 

       Remember “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”

           “Practice, practice, practice.”

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member, Certified World Class Speaking Coach, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show". Her book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available on Amazon or Kindle. Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com

Will You Leave A Legacy? by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

What problems do you solve for others? Who do you help?

Benjamin Franklin was our oldest and perhaps wisest of the Founding Fathers, at 70 years of age, when he signed the “Declaration of Independence”.   

 Ben Franklin was one of 17 siblings. He was the fifteenth and “youngest son” of Josiah Franklin, soap and candle maker, and his second wife Abiah Folger Franklin. Ben had 9 full siblings and 7 half siblings. At an early age Ben became an excellent reader and did well at the “Boston Latin School”. When Ben was 10, his father ran out of money to send him to school.  So Ben came to work full time with his father at the soap and candle store. When he was 12, Ben was apprenticed to his older brother, James who taught him newspaper publishing.

When Franklin was 20 years old, he developed his character by creating a system of “Thirteen Virtues” to live by. “1. Temperance 2. Silence. 3. Order 4. Resolution 5. Frugality 6. Industry 7. Sincerity 8. Justice 9. Moderation 
10. Cleanliness 11. Tranquility 12. Chastity 13. Humility”  

Franklin’s “13 Virtues” are timeless. These are the virtues that molded Franklin into a strong thinker and role model for the future. He worked on one virtue each week. Benjamin Franklin said, “Tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”

We all need “virtues” to live and strive for!

At twenty-two years of age, Franklin opened his printing shop and his newspaper, the “Pennsylvania Gazette”. His newspaper was both well read and profitable and later his book “Poor Richard’s Almanack” became a best seller in the colonies. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey he became the official printer, printing documents, laws, and money. He also helped begin newspapers in Connecticut, New York, and in the West Indies.

Ben Franklin everyday of his life wanted to make the lives around him better. He asked himself two questions daily.

Every morning he asked himself, “What good shall I do this day?” Every evening he asked himself, “What good have I done today?”

 Every day Franklin took that first step to make someone else’s life better. When Franklin saw a need he filled it. He built the “First Lending Library in America”, the “First Fire Department in Pennsylvania,” establishing the first hospital, “Pennsylvania Hospital”, and when he saw families suffering from losing their homes to fire he helped establish the “Philadelphia Contribution for Insurance Against Loss by Fire.”  When New Jersey had a problem with counterfeit money, he developed “a currency with anti-counterfeiting techniques”. Ben Franklin enjoyed helping others solve their problems. The legacies he created have lasted over 240 years.What legacy will you leave for the next generation?

So what are the three questions you should ask your self each day?

1  1)   What virtue will I work on this week? Remember, it is never too late to grow and change. http://www.thirteenvirtues.com

    2)   Just as Benjamin Franklin asked himself each morning, ask yourself, “What good shall I do this day?” 

3  3) Every evening ask yourself Benjamin Franklin’s question, “What good have I done today?”

By helping others you will have great satisfaction and leave a lasting legacy just as Benjamin Franklin did.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member, Certified World Class Speaking Coach, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Businesses". Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. She writes a monthly newsletter "Madeline's Monthly article & Musical Tips Blog" and a monthly radio show "Madeline's One Minute Musical Radio Show". Her book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available on Amazon or Kindle. Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com

"Your Three Step Process for Solving Your Problems" by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

How do you solve your problems?  Do you know the three-step process for solving your problems?

When I served as Area Governor for Toastmasters, I taught a class on “Finding New Members!” I asked my Toastmaster’s class to raise their hands and share their stories of “why they joined Toastmasters?”

One Toastmaster told that after he completed Medical School and residency, he applied for a hospital job. He went for the interview but “His tongue was tied up! He suddenly could not answer the questions the interviewer asked him.”

“That was the day he went looking for a solution.” He found a Toastmasters Club near his home and began attending meetings. He said, “He became a master at answering Table Topics questions”; impromptu speaking timed for 1 to 2 minutes. “After several months he went for another interview and got the hospital job!”

His first step was calmly and quietly identifying his problem; overcoming his fear of speaking in front of an interviewer.

His second step was writing down clearly “all the facts” so he could think objectively how to solve his problem. He needed to learn to speak quickly, clearly, and confidently when he was asked a question by an interviewer.

His third step was focusing on finding the right organization to teach him the skills he needed to have a successful interview and win the job working at the hospital. He went on the net and read about developing one’s speaking skills at Toastmasters where you learn how to 1) prepare speeches with a mentors help and guidance and 2) train in giving impromptu speeches. This is when a Table Topics Master asks an unknown question to a Toastmaster member and gives them 1-2 minutes to answer. This gives them the opportunity to quickly think of an answer. Toastmasters have been helping their members “improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills” since 1924. Millions of people have gained confidence and overcome their fear of speaking in front of others.

He located a Toastmasters club in his neighborhood and signed up and began learning the skills to win his job.

By following this three-step process you too will be able to solve your problem just like Doctor Toastmaster.

Zig Ziglar, motivational expert, told the story of Vince Robert, a 37-year-old, Canadian taxi driver that left school in the 5^th grade. He found himself waiting for hours for fares at airports, and hotels. He decided to change his life and continue his education. He purchased a “20-pound dictionary”. He was going to improve his vocabulary one word at a time. In his taxi, while waiting for his fare; he read from cover to cover, twice, learning new words improving his vocabulary every day and gaining confidence. His taxi became what Zig Ziglar calls, “Automobile University”, his learning university. Robert’s invested in the stock market did well and bought the taxi company he worked for. Because of his success, he was asked to speak to others on how he did it!

As Zig Ziglar says, “You never finish your education.” Keep learning and improving!

Mr. Robert took that “First step” calmly and quietly identifying his problem. He wanted to continue his education while waiting in his taxi for fares.

His second step was writing down clearly “all the facts”. He decided to increase his vocabulary one word at a time.

His third step was going to a bookstore and purchasing a “20 pound dictionary”. He immediately began in his taxi, learning new words, and increasing his vocabulary.

He did well investing in the stock market and bought the taxi company he worked for. Because of his success he was asked to speak to others on how he did it!

What can you do every day? Learn a new word every day, read 20 minutes a day to become an expert in your field. Read self -help, motivational books, bios. Go on the net and take a course for free from an expert. Make your car into Automobile University. While you’re waiting in traffic listen to an educational cd, pod casts, and increase your knowledge.

What are the 3 steps to solving your problems?

• Calm down. Clear your mind. Then write down the problem. Think of yourself as a detective like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
• Clearly write down in order “all the facts” so you can think objectively.
• Focus on the problem. Give yourself time to ponder, to think, about your problem to find an answer. Be observant, open minded, and a good listener.

If you’re looking for a magnificent book that will change you’re life, I suggest reading, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s, “The Power of Positive Thinking”. His Chapter 10, the “Power to Solve Personal Problems” is one of my favorite in his book. Dr. Peale says, “Pray about your problem, affirming that God will flash illumination into your mind. Believe in and seek God’s guidance.”

By following the three steps listed above you too will be able to solve your problems.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, John Maxwell Team Member, Certified World Class Speaking Coach, sought after speaker, business owner, teacher, researcher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Businesses”. Her innovative observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. She writes a monthly newsletter “Madeline’s Monthly article & Musical Tips Blog” and a monthly radio show “Madeline’s One Minute Musical Radio Show”. Her book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available on Amazon or Kindle. Contact Madeline Frank for your next speaking engagement at mfrankviola@gmail.com