10 Minutes of Reflection to Kick Off Your New Year by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

There is a profound difference between viewing the new year as another flip of the calendar vs. an opportunity for celebrating your past successes and setting yourself up for a strong beginning. 

It's all about the questions you ask. 

What about the last year was exciting?

What did you accomplish in the previous year that surprised you? 

What lessons did you learn from your failures in the past year?

What are you grateful for?

Who are the top 5 people who lifted you up the most or inspired you in the past year? (not just your family)

Who are 5 people who drained your energy over the past year?

Assuming that you'll want to create an amazing 2020, you'll need to weed out some negative people in your life. This can seem tough at times, but if their energy and attitude is draining you, it will be impossible to realize the year you desire. 

Have you learned from your failures over the past year? 

If not, I would encourage you to seek out the advice of a mentor or coach and listen to their perspective. 

Finally, make a commitment to surround yourself with positive relationships, growth opportunities, and good choices for your future.

 In your schedule for this New Year add in the positive relationships and experiences that helped you grow and make positive choices on your future.

If you are already in the New Year it is not too late to do a review of 2019. Ask yourself the following 3 questions:

1)   What were your positive growth experiences for last year and who were they with? (Positive relationships that stretch your abilities and help you grow. Surround yourself with these positive relationships in the New Year.)

2)   On the left side of your paper list, “what were the wrong choices you made last year?” (This list you will avoid for the New Year.)

3)   On the right side of your paper list, “what were the right choices you made last year?”

Your 10 minutes of reflection will kick off your New Year and make it stronger.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, concert artist, and parent.  She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com 

5 Simple Strategies for Raising Awesome Kids by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Do you remember the friends you had in high school who were given a car with no expectations of responsibility vs those friends who had to work for their car?

I'm sure you noticed the same difference that I did, regarding the level of care and appreciation they had for their vehicles.

When my kids were that age and a classmate was given a car, they got in trouble. The kids that had to work for the car appreciated it!

When you don't earn the things you want, you don't appreciate them.

Doing chores as a child teaches children to be accountable, responsible, and disciplined. This also builds a "proper work ethic" for their future?

Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker and author, was the tenth of twelve children. He was born in "LA," (that's lower Alabama), and raised in Yazoo City, Mississippi. His Mom had a fifth-grade education, and his father died when he was 5 years old during the Depression.

Zig said, "mom was a wise woman. We were all hard workers, because we had three milk cows and a large garden, and we survived despite of all the difficulties." As a child Zig Ziglar's chore was to weed their big garden. When he told his Mom, he was done weeding the garden she would check to see how it was done. His Mother said, "For someone else's boy the job was done alright but for my boy you can do a better job!" He went and weeded that garden again and she rechecked it!

Ziglar said, "We all experienced a wonderful childhood."

Ziglar said: "Well, first of all, my mother a very wise woman, despite her limited education. She taught us with (one) sentence sermonettes. She taught us, 'Tell the truth/Tell it ever/Cost us what it will/For he who hides the wrong he did/Does the wrong thing still,' and 'When a task is once begun/You leave it not until it's done/And be a matter great or small/You do it well or not at all.' "Ziglar agreed that this was poetry. "She was a very wise, very disciplined, very loving lady, and those Biblical principles, that is what they are, is what we were raised on."

Dr. John Maxwell, #1 leadership guru, coach, and one of my mentors says, as a child he was given a list of chores to do at the beginning of the week.

If he had not finished his chores, he would not be allowed to go to the restaurant or the movies with his family during the weekends. Instead he would stay at home and finish his chores. He learned after that to do his chores on time.

What is the greatest gift you can give your children?

The greatest gift you can give your children is to teach them a good work ethic by giving them chores to do to earn the things they want and need.

Chores taught us how to work hard, to be accountable, responsible, and respectful giving us a good foundation for our future.

So, what are the 5 simple strategies for raising awesome kids?

1) Give them appropriate chores for their ages. Start to help them learn a good work ethic at a young age so they will become accountable, responsible, and caring adults.

2) Every morning and evening when your child wakes up and goes to sleep tell them with a smile how much you love and care for them, say something loving to them and give them a kiss on their cheek. Ask them during dinner about their day. Remember you are there to help your children solve their problems and make good choices in a kind caring atmosphere.

If your child has a learning disorder find the best teaching method to help them learn and grow. Do not demean or disparage them. Help your child find a place for them to learn with patience and encouragement.

Remember what Benjamin Franklin asked himself each morning, "what good will I do today?" And every evening Franklin asked himself, "What good have I done today?'

3) Take time from your busy schedule to attend your child's sports games, their dance recitals, orchestra or band concerts. Attend with a smile and be proud of these small moments for them. Show you care and love them. Give them your TIME, your patience, your kindness, and your encouragement!

Turn your cellphone off and leave it in the car!

4) Praise all the good things they do so they will keep doing it. Correct the bad, but don't be afraid to let your kids fail! If they do something wrong tell them in private not in front of their friends or in front of other family members

5) Show your children daily that their parents love each other and respect each other. Never disparage a spouse in front of your children. Only say loving words giving, hugs, kisses, and friendship. If there is a problem meet privately to discuss the problem or issue!

By following these 5 simple strategies you will raise awesome kids too!

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

Unlocking the Potential of Your Brain by Discovering How to Think! by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

I realize you are saying to yourself, "I already know how to think".

In the next 2 minutes, you will discover one of the greatest strategies that has been practiced by the greatest thinkers who have ever lived.

When I was a student at the Juilliard School, one of my professors would assign a book or article for me to read each month. The professor would make a statement about the book and would ask me a question causing me to think about it. I also had to submit a short summary of what I had just read. I realized that his ultimate goal was to develop artists who were often great thinkers!

One of the people whom I was introduced to via these books was Dr. Gerald Edelman. Dr. Edelman studied the violin as a child and contemplated a career as a concert violinist. He decided to pursue a career in medicine and later won a Nobel Prize in 1972 for immunology work and in 1973 he began studying the human brain. He continued to perform in a series of classical music concerts at his Neurosciences Institute.

In Dr. Edelman's book (1992) "Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On Matters of the Mind", he said each of us has a "Darwinian Brain" that evolves with the stimulation you give it! For example: A young child taking violin lessons for 2 or more years will "develop and adapt strong neuronal connections enhancing their brain function."

Professor Lincer also assigned "Awakenings" by Oliver Sacks, M.D., who wrote many books on his neurological case histories of his patients. He was a Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Sacks studied the piano as a boy and continued to play throughout his life.

He said "music has been the profoundest non-chemical medication for our patients. What we see, fundamentally, is the power of music to organize-and do this efficaciously as well as joyfully, when abstract or schematic forms of organization fail."

Classical music has the power to organize the brain because of its complex rhythm.

Dr. Sacks had a patient suffering from severe Alzheimer's. The patient "responded to ballroom music by taking his wife in his arms and looking into her eyes and dancing with her."

One of his patients had a stroke and could no longer walk or talk. Dr. Sacks brought in an accordionist who played a familiar song, and the patient started to sing the song with him. Music has the power to stimulate memory. "Memory says Dr. Sacks, is the key to a sense of self" and music evokes emotion and emotion can bring its memory."

I recognized there is a scientific link between studying musical instruments and academic and societal success. Studying a musical instrument develops millions of new connections, synapses, between nerve cells in the brain. Many of the world's scientists, doctors, teachers, authors and mathematicians are also musicians.

Over the years Professor Lincer and I continued our conversations about the many books and articles he had me read. I have incorporated our discussions into several of my books, articles, radio shows, and blogs over the last twenty plus years and also, at his urging, had a dialogue with both Dr. Oliver Sacks and Dr. Gerald Edelman.

What I realized is that Professor Lincer was teaching his students to develop an Aristotelian fascination with the skill of critical thinking. Aristotle made statements and asked questions leading the student to thinking through to a well-chosen answer.

Aristotle's "Ethics" is about all the aspects of "How to lead a good life." Family values/community, the Virtues: "wisdom, temperance, courage, justice, and friendship. Doing the right thing and making the right choices defines us. The different kinds of friendships to connect with others."

The magic of studying Aristotle's method of thinking is that the student is independently discovering facts aided by Aristotle, rather than being instructed by him. It forces us to use inductive and deductive reasoning as critical thinking methods.

The greatest gift a teacher can give their student is to teach them how to think... not what to think.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

PASS ON YOUR GRATITUDE by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Coach Wooden said, “It takes 10 hands to score a basket.”

Who has given you a helping hand on your journey to success? How have you thanked them?

“Coach Wooden insisted that his players always acknowledge the help and support they received from other members of the team. For example, a player who scored a basket after receiving a pass from a teammate was expected to acknowledge the assist as he headed back up the court to play defense – usually by pointing, smiling, winking, or nodding at the man who had helped create the scoring opportunity.” (From Pat Williams book “How to Be Like Coach Wooden”)

Some players asked, “But Coach, what if he [the teammate who gave the assist] isn’t looking?”

“Believe me,” Wooden replied, “he’ll be looking!”

Give thanks to others for helping you. Even a nod or a smile is a good start.

Coach Wooden “understood that EVERYONE needs acceptance and approval.”

Do it now moto:

As a young child I learned the value of hard work from my parents, Robert J Frank, the first college graduate of his family who then went on to graduate medical school to become a doctor and surgeon. Dad first worked as a waiter at a restaurant near the University of Virginia to pay for college. Later he was an assistant to his Professor of Physics teaching classes at the university. My momma, Romayne Leader Frank, worked as a lifeguard and model to put her through college at the University of Michigan. After marrying Dad, she finished her education at the University of Virginia earning a teacher’s degree. Latter Momma worked to pay for Dad’s residency and internship in medicine at Sears and Roebucks as a sales person and on the side wrote political speeches for politicians at $50 a speech. A married woman in those days was not allowed to teach school.

As I was growing up my Dad’s patients were fisherman and farmers who paid for Dad’s services with fish and vegetables. Money was hard to come by. We always had a garden in the back yard growing vegetables and learned to till the soil with rakes, plant seeds, pull weeds, and pick the crops for meals. As a child every week, my parents gave me a “list of chores” to do, including mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes, and taking care of my younger siblings. My parents said as a member of this family you will do these chores “now”! There were no excuses. The work had to be done immediately!

What did I learn from the discipline of doing these chores, “their do it now” principle?

Whether it was washing dishes, mowing the lawn, doing a homework assignment that was due in a week- my parents’ moto was “Do it now!” Do not wait! You will be busy later.

These chores gave me the discipline for my future. When I went to college and was given an assignment due a few days after, I would do the assignment immediately! Later when something needed immediate attention, like a door knob would be falling off, I would immediately repair it! Whatever needed to be done I would do it “immediately”, remembering my parents’ moto, “Do it now!” These chores taught me to be responsible, accountable, respectful to other, and appreciative of any kindness given.

How did I thank my parents for teaching me to be disciplined and responsible?

By sharing their life lessons with others, by writing articles, and radio shows sharing their life lessons with others.

Teaching the Discipline of Hard Work:

Meredith Lynn MacRae, actress, credits her parents’ singer/actor, Gordon MacRae and actress, Sheila MacRae “with instilling a proper work ethic in her and for keeping her feet on the ground.”

She said, “We lived in a modest home in the San Fernando Valley instead of the fashionable Beverly Hills, which the family could have afforded. Mom and Dad didn’t want us to feel superior to the other kids. I had to earn the things I wanted, all the way from dolls to party gowns, by doing chores around the house and taking care of my younger sister and brothers. Lots of kids in my circle automatically got a car when they were 16. Not me. Dad said he would get me a car when I got straight A’s two years in a row in school. I slaved away and finally made it. I got the car with the warning that if I didn’t continue with straight A’s, it would be taken away.”

Doing chores, working for the things you want, brings discipline to your life and teaches you responsibility and accountability:

The chores Meredith Lynn MacRae’s parents gave her to do, instilled “a proper work ethic” for her future. These are the most valuable lessons a parent can give you.

Experts have said, “If she or he had not been spoiled to death, he or she might have turned out differently!”

Chores taught Meredith Lynn MacRae and me to be willing to work hard to make our futures a certain tee.

Be grateful for your blessings and share them with others:

Remember to be a success and reach your goal it takes many teachers, coaches, friends, parents, and mentors to help you on your journey through life. No one does it alone.

What are 3 things you can do to thank your teachers, parents, coaches, mentors, and friends for helping you to succeed on your journey?

1) Send them a note, call them, or email them a note thanking them for helping you. (Start a note book, begin today, and write in it the names of your teachers, mentors, coaches, parents, and friends who have made a difference in your life and do something nice for them.)

How have I shown my appreciation? I have written many articles and Radio Shows paying tribute to my mentors for the gifts they have taught me. This way their good deeds live on and are shared with others!

2) Every week help someone else by acts of kindness.

3) How do you feel when you help others achieve their goal? Do you smile and feel happier in side?

Remember that if we help others we will be helping ourselves at the same time to grow and improve.

Be grateful for your blessings and thank your teachers, mentors, friends, and coaches who have helped you on your journey.

How will you show gratitude for the gifts’ others have given you? 

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. 

If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

“BUDGETING YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS” BY MADELINE FRANK, PH.D.

Forbes magazine said, “78% of workers live paycheck to paycheck”.

Several of my university students have told me “their finances are a mess and their mortgage loans on their cars and houses are too high. They felt overwhelmed by their finances.”   I shared with them my Momma’s wisdom of budgeting and banking for their success.

You have overdrawn your bank account for the third time. Your rent check has bounced, your power bill check has bounced, your monthly insurance payment has bounced and your car has just broken down. Your bank has charged a transaction fee of $35 per bounced check. This is the fastest way to double what you actually owe by adding all of these extra charges. 

My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, a lawyer and counselor, taught her clients and me how to budget our money. During my high school years Momma taught me to make a budget of my expenses, to keep a ledger of the money going into the bank and the money to be paid out for expenses. She also taught me to put my entire paycheck, after taxes were deducted from the pay check, in the bank. Then I would pay all my bills and take out only the necessary amount for food and necessities. The remaining money went into my savings account. As a college student in New York City, I always had a job to help me pay for tuition, apartment rent, utilities, and food. 

So, let’s get started and think this out together. You want everything in your budget. Whether it’s your personal or business finances, you have to have a plan in place for your success and you need to learn to budget your money.

What are the eight questions you need to answer to build your budget?

1.  Are you withholding enough money from your wages to pay for taxes?  

2.   How much money do you earn each month after taxes?   

3.   How much is your rent or mortgage payment each month?   

4.  How much is your power bill, gas bill, water bill, sewer bill, telephone, cell phone and  insurance for your apt/house, self and for the car each month? 

5.  How much does it cost to put gas in the car each week to go from home to work and then return home? Multiply the total amount by 4. 

6.  How much does it cost in groceries each week? Multiply the total amount by 4.   

7. How much will it cost for entertainment and new clothes per week? Multiply the total amount by 4.                                                                        

8.  Are you budgeting for unforeseen consequences such as family emergencies, loses not covered by insurance, emergency travel and other events? Include an amount per week and multiply by 4.

All your expenses need to be included in your budget. Once you have written down your total amounts for your bills/expenses per month you subtract them from your monthly pay check that you will be receiving after taxes. The amount that is left is the beginning of your rainy-day fund to invest for your future to eventually buy a car or a house.

The concept is to spend only what you have and to stay on budget. You cannot buy frivolous things that you do not need and cannot afford. You have to stay within your budget.

By having your budget in place, you will know exactly how much money you have left over every month to begin saving for your future.

Remember you cannot spend what you do not have.

By following these steps and learning how to budget your money, you will be budgeting your way to success.

This is the fourth article of my series on teaching you, to take hold of your finances. 

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, concert artist, and parent. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold. 

If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

GUARANTEEING YOUR FINANCIAL SUCCESS BY MADELINE FRANK, PH.D.

When I was engaged to be married, my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, a lawyer specializing in Family Law and Real Estate, was getting ready to give a speech to the Women’s Club on “Women’s Financial Success”.

My Momma asked me to listen to her speech to see what I thought of it! Momma spoke of the need for women to have credit in their own name, not in their husband’s name, their former husband’s name or their father’s name but in their own name.

Momma had clients who were widowed, divorced, and single who suddenly had no money or credit in their own name. The credit card and bank accounts were in their deceased spouse’s name, their divorced husband’s name or in their father’s name which meant they did not have any money or credit in their own name and were unable to pay their bills and take care of themselves and their families.

Momma said women should always have their own separate checking, savings, and credit card accounts in their own name so they would never find themselves without a way to support themselves and their loved ones.

I have over the years called our families accounts yours, mine and ours. The same name as the Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda Movie “Yours, Mine and Ours.” In the movie the title referred to children though not to money. Over the years, I have shared my Momma’s wisdom with many other women and men. Her speech was well received by me and all the young women and young men I have shared her principles with. Her speech has stood the test of time.

What are the 6 secrets my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank taught for women and men to be financially independent? 

1)   Open a savings account in your name at a secure bank, that is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and start immediately to put your money in it to begin your nest egg. When I was 8 years old, Momma smiled at me and said we were going for a new adventure to the bank. She took me by the hand and we proudly walked into the bank. Momma introduced me to the teller at the bank, Mrs. Jay and asked me to hand in the $2, I had been saving. That day the teller entered my $2 into my new passbook, typed in my name on the outside of the book and explained, I would receive interest every day for the money I put in the bank. Every couple of weeks Momma would take me into the bank so I could add in the money I had saved from doing my chores. I enjoyed watching the money grow in that savings account. Momma taught me not only to put my chore money but later my future paychecks into my account to start saving for the future. By the time I went to college, I had saved a nice nest egg for the future.

2)   Open a checking account in your own name and put your money in it. 

3)   Get an American Express and or Visa Card at a low interest rate in your own name. Begin to use it immediately and pay your bill as soon as the statement arrives in order to establish your credit.

4)   Before purchasing your home, have a professional title search done to make sure there are no liens or prior owners. When you buy your home, make sure your name is on the title and spelled correctly.

5)   If you have a mortgage on your home, pay the bill on time. If the interest is too high, ask the holder of your mortgage to lower the interest rate. Always ask for a fixed rate mortgage. This will prevent your mortgage from being raised to a higher interest rate in future.

6)   If you buy a car make sure the title is in your name. If you are paying the car off each month pay the monthly charge on time. If the mortgage on your car is too high, talk to your mortgage company and have your mortgage rate lowered. Make sure you have a locked in fixed rate mortgage. 

This article is the third of four articles on teaching you, to take hold of your finances.

If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

  

Curb Your Spending Habits & Save for Your Emergencies by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Your car just broke down and you don’t have the money to repair it! Don’t you wish you had an emergency fund to pay for it?

What's your first step?

Gabby and Jay are going to tell us how they did it! 

For one-week Gabby and Jay tracked every receipt and purchase they made including the ones for their computers. They kept all their receipts and expenses and wrote them down in a note book. They included every purchase they made even small purchases for sodas, snacks, lunches, dinners, breakfasts, groceries, going to the movies, purchasing snacks, gas for their cars, cigarettes, and any other items they purchased that week. Jay and Gabby also wrote down their weekly spending for pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts and iTunes accounts on their computers.

Gabby saved all her receipts for one week and totaled all her receipts. She looked at her first couple of receipts and realized she had gone to Starbucks with her friends 5 times that week spending $4 a day for Coffee, a total of $20 for the week. She decided to go to Starbucks with her friends three times the next week, and invites her friends to share coffee at her house two days a week, and puts the $8 she saved into her Piggy Bank to start her $1000 Emergency Fund. In a months' time Gabby realizes she will save $32 and in 6 months she will save $192 towards her $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund.

Gabby continues looking at her receipts and realizes she bought 3 packs of cigarettes a week at $5.50 a package, $16.50 a week. Gabby says, "I spent $66 a month on cigarettes. If I cut down my smoking to a pack a week I can put $11 into my "Piggy Bank" for my Emergency Fund each week and in a month's time I will have saved a total of $44 in my "Piggy Bank" toward my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. In 6 months I will have saved $264 toward my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund."

Gabby says, "If I continue to go through my receipts and eliminate the items I don't need or cut down other expenses I will have my Emergency Fund in place in less than 6 months. By cutting back on Cigarettes and coffee I've already saved $76 this month. I will go through my receipts and look at what else I can eliminate or cut down on. My goal is to have my Emergency Fund in place in 6 months. I am determined to do it!"

Jay has saved all his receipts for one week and totaled all his receipts. He looks at his first set of receipts and realizes he has 5 days of lunches at $8 a lunch for five days and he's spent $40 on lunches this week. He says, "If I bring a bag lunch to work three days a week, I can save $24 to put in my "Tin Can" to start my $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. In a month's time I will have saved $96." Jay then goes to his computer receipts and realizes he's spend $45 a week on his computer for his PayPal accounts, Groupon offers, credit cards, game accounts and his iTunes account. He says, "Do I really need these accounts, are they going to help me get my Emergency Fund up and running? These purchases are bleeding away my hard earned money. I'm going to close these accounts. That way I can put $180 a month into my "Tin Can" to save for my $1000 Emergency Fund. I will go through my receipts and look at what else I can eliminate or cut down on. My goal is to have my Emergency Fund in place in 6 months. I know I can do it!"

So, what are the three steps for you to save for your $1000 Emergency just like Jay and Gabby?

Track your spending for one week. Keep all your receipts and expenses for the week, writing them down in a note book, and at the end of the week add them together to get your total expenses for the week. Include every purchase you make even small purchases for sodas, snacks, lunches, dinners, breakfasts, groceries, going to the movies, purchasing snacks, gas for your car, cigarettes, and any other items you purchased that week. Also list your weekly spending for pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts and iTunes accounts on your computer.

2. Evaluate each of your receipts, just like Gabby and Jay did, and decide if it is a needed expense or not and start putting your saved money into your Emergency Fund "Piggy Bank or Tin Bank".

3) Look at your computer receipts like Jay did and decide if your weekly pay pal accounts, group on offers, credit cards, game accounts, and iTunes accounts on your computer can be eliminated or cut back. 

Jay turned off his pay pal account, his Groupon offers, his game accounts, his iTunes account and stopped spending his credit card money on things he didn't need. 

Jay said, "These purchases are bleeding away my hard-earned money."

By following these three steps and being determined and disciplined to do it, you will be like Gabby and Jay, able to set up your $1000 Emergency Fund.

You can also save on gas for your car each week by being aware of which gas station has a special day for saving 5cents for each gallon you purchase. In our City it's every Thursday. What day is it in your City or town? Every penny you save can go into your $1000 Emergency Nest Egg Fund. The sooner you start the sooner you will have your $1000 Emergency Fund in place.

This article is the second of four articles on teaching you, to take hold of your finances.

If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

PENNIES TODAY EQUALS PROSPERITY TOMORROW by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.

Developing the discipline of saving and investing is paying yourself first.

My friend Stewart taught his teenage daughter to save 40 cents out of each $1 she earned, beginning with her first job. She continued to do this through high school, college, and with her jobs as an adult. She now is the proud owner of two condos. Learn to save your money for your future car, house, condo, or other necessity and teach your family and friends to do this too.

My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, taught me in high school to make a budget of my expenses, to keep a ledger of the money going into the bank and the money to be paid out for expenses. She also taught me to put my entire pay check in the bank, to pay all my bills, and to take out only the necessary amount for food and spending money. The remaining money went into my savings account. As a college student, I always had a job to help me pay my tuition, my apartment rent, utilities, and food.

 So, start today to save your pennies and begin your prosperity for tomorrow.

This article is the first of four articles on teaching you, to take hold of your finances.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, John Maxwell Team Member, conductor, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations “Tune Up their Business”. Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful. Her latest book “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget” is available everywhere books are sold. If you need a speaker contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com

Communication Road Blocks You Can’t See On Your Own by Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM

Are there some elements preventing you from connecting and communicating with others? You have a great potential inside of you! How can you unlock it?

Are there are some elements preventing you from connecting and communicating with others? For example, having a thick southern accent does not help you in New York City to get your dream job in public relations. Or maybe having a Brooklyn accent in Alabama. Your accent is costing you!

What other things can distract people that you are trying to connect with? Moving like a panther can be distracting when you are trying to get your message across to close a sale! Use of verbal filler words um, ah, like, you know are also a deal killer and detract from connecting with people. Sometimes you don’t even realize what you are doing and people won’t tell you.

People don’t know what they do, until it is pointed out to them. My husband and I saw one of these communication distractions in a recent revival of Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” in New York City. Eliza Doolittle speaks with a thick cockney accent selling flowers outside of Covent Garden. Professor Henry Higgins, an expert on improving accents, hears Eliza speak and compares her voice to a “bilious pigeon”. Eliza immediately imitates expertly, the sound of the pigeon. As he speaks in his clear speaking voice, Eliza realizes her thick cockney accent is not helping her sales. 

She listens when he says his address. She has saved her money and visits Higgins hoping to engage his services for speaking lessons. She’s decided she wants to invest in hiring Professor Higgins to make a better life for herself. Higgins sees a challenge and has a wager with Colonel Pickering, a linguist and agrees to assist Eliza to improve her speaking to help her get a better job.

The audience watches fascinated as Eliza Doolittle changes, step by step, as Professor Higgins mentors her. 

On reflection, Professor Higgins, pin pointed a few things that Eliza needed to modify to improve her speaking skills. He did not overwhelm her. Higgins observed her, offered critique, encouraged her to change specific things, had her practice them, and then he listened again.

Just as there may be little things you are doing wrong, a coach, can help you pin point a few things to modify to improve your performance.

Graduate concert at University: 

One of my students, Mandie, at the university was preparing for her graduation recital. She was practicing in the hall with her pianist, Jay. The pianist was covering up her beautiful playing on the violin. The balance between the instruments was not right! 

I immediately stopped the rehearsal! 

I went over to the piano, put the lid down, to soften the piano, and asked the pianist “very softly”, to play softer when the violinist was playing so as not to cover up the violinist’s beautiful phrasing. 

Then I worked with them showing them, how to reshape the musical phrases with a full controlled range of dynamics and accents.

As we worked together to paint a picture of the music with beautiful phrasing, the two musicians began listening and supporting each other and playing together as a team.

 After working with them for 30 minutes, I walked to the back of hall to listen and experience what the audience would hear from the two performing. It was an amazing transformation. The violinist and pianist were making beautiful music together, that their audience would enjoy! 

The key is to find a coach, or mentor who is an expert at the skill you want to excel at.

 Coaching others to improve their speeches: 

When I’m coaching a beginning speaker student to write out their first speech, they ask me, what do I do first?

I ask them: 

1) What is the purpose of your speech? What do you want your audience to do when they leave your speech? What is your “Call to Action?” 

2) What stories do you have to support this speech? 

Then I ask them to write out their stories and then write out a one-line point of the story. (Tell a story, make a point. Then tell another story and make another point.)

Every top performer, communicator, or professional understands finding a qualified coach or mentor helps them reach their goal faster.

Building the habits of improving your speaking and communication skills will improve your life professionally.

Madeline Frank, Ph.D., is a 2014 Certified World Class Speaking Coach. She has been coaching and mentoring business professionals to be champion speakers for over 7 years. She is an Amazon.com Best Selling Author, speaker, business owner, teacher, and concert artist. She helps businesses and organizations "Tune Up their Business". Her observations show you the blue prints necessary to improve and keep your business successful.  Her latest book "Leadership On A Shoestring Budget" is available everywhere books are sold.  

If you need a speaker or coach contact Madeline at: mfrankviola@gmail.com