ADvantage Solutions
Newsletter
March 1998

Published Monthly by Joeann Fossland, GRI, LTG Coaching Mastermind Groups and Individuals For Sales Success

(520)744-8731 email: Joeann@joeann.com (800)597-4196 fax

Feel free to share "ADvantage Thinking"! Published monthly & Copyright 1998 by ADvantage Solutions Group. Copy & pass along in its entirety, please, or with permission, if partial. If you do not want to receive this monthly, email or fax your information with "remove" to email or fax number above. To subscribe, use the subscribe link in the menu at left or email or fax your contact information. My goal is provide you with solutions and ideas to give you the advantage!

ADvantage Thinking
Advantage Solutions Newsletter

This Month’s Contents

  1. Upcoming free teleclasses
  2. ADvantage Thinking:  Celebrating Lee Grow's Life
  3. Resources for the ADvantage

ADvantage Thinking

FREE Teleclasses for March

What is a teleclass? A 60 minute, interactive, telephone conference call in a workshop format covering a specific topic. Approximately 10-20 agents join in from around the country to interact with Joeann or other expert presenters on ideas that are important to you. Since each Teleclass is easily accessed by telephone, you can participate and experience this lively and informative exchange of ideas from the convenience of your office with no travel expense. You receive class resource information & a roster of participants. Free (except for the cost of the phone call: about $6 with a low-cost carrier). Classes are first-come, first-served up to 20 folks!

TO PARTICIPATE : COPY Here and return by email:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

____ Maximizing Traffic To Your Wesite Friday, March 13, 11 AM EST   Web marketing expert

Karen Stephani will be a guest on this call. She will share with you secrets to leveraging your

use of email and increasing traffic to your site.

____ Creative Marketing Ideas Thursday, March 26, 5 PM EST   Join this mastermind session

on ideas for marketing your properties!

Your name:

Company:

City:

Phone:

Fax:

Email:

ADvantage Thinking - Celebrating Lee Grow's Life

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and
his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information
and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is
which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does,
leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always
doing both."        -  James A. Michener

I went to Lee Grow's funeral today. At 55, it seemed too soon for him to leave
us. Perhaps you didn't know Lee, but you've probably been touched by someone
like him once or twice in your life: someone who always brought joy, laughter
and love. The standing room only at his service was evidence of how many Lee
had touched. Lee always spoke the truth from his heart, sometimes
irreverently, but never at the cost of hurting another. He was unconditionally
accepting of others and made everyone feel important and loved. Seems like
I've attended too many funerals this year but perhaps, as a baby boomer
turning 50 this month, it's merely a sign of things to come. Losing someone
always makes me take stock of how I am living and reminds me to be grateful,
even for the challenges, because, for now, it sure beats the alternative. Lee
lived a full life of celebration. How are you doing?

1. CREATE MEMORIES! Rob Harrison said of Lee "He lived more in his 55 years
than most people live in 100." Imagine each day you are given a bank account
with $86,400 and you must spend that money within the day-no balance will
carry forward. What would you do? You'd spend each cent, I'd bet! Well, you
are given such a bank account and it is called TIME. And time is MORE precious
than money! Each morning you are credited with 86,400 seconds. Each night,
what you have failed to invest in a good purpose is written off forever. The
loss is yours. There's no going back and you can't borrow from tomorrow. There
is only today, the now right in front of you.

COACHES TIP>Each day, when you look at the to do list, also look to the big
picture and include the important, not just the urgent. Many of us fanatically
set goals that are designed to let us enjoy ourselves in the future. Live more
fully EVERY day! Make a list of simple daily pleasures. Every single day, do
something of pure enjoyment-something as simple as an ice cream cone with a
loved one or a phone call to someone who you haven't had time to see. Look at
your 1998 year calendar, plan a bigger event every month: a hike with a
friend, a special dinner with friends. Once or twice this year, plan something
you can really look forward to that will create memories: a family reunion, a
special vacation. Let go of thinking these have to be expensive. The simplest
moments when we have a chance be with each other are sometimes the most
precious. When loved ones are gone, they do live on in the memories. Are you
spending some of those 86,400 seconds to create a memory today?

2. KNOW WHAT'S IMPORTANT In Steven Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, he gives an visualization exercise designed to help write
your personal mission statement. He asks that you picture your own funeral,
with four speakers: a family member, a friend, someone from work and a
community member. What would you want them to remember about you? What
achievements or contributions do you want to be remembered for? What
difference did you make in their lives?

COACHES TIP>Your values are unique to you and the gift you have inside touches
others in a way that is special to you. Oliver Wendall Holmes said "Most of us
go to our graves with our music still inside". Are you waiting until it is
perfected or are you taking some risks? . What can you do this week, this
month, this year to share your music with your family, friends, co-workers or
your community? Take a piece of paper. List 4 columns headed FAMILY,FRIENDS,
WORK COMMUNITY. Write a few words about how you want to be remembered. Who
do you want to BE for each of these groups? For each category, list an action
you will take this month. Do this at the beginning of every month. If there is
a bigger goal, break it down into smaller pieces or list it for this year, but
begin.


3. FORGIVE NOW! Who has not experienced the hurt of a disagreement or
misunderstanding? Usually it stems from our perception that the other person
didn't treat us fairly or didn't care. At any given moment, each and every
person takes actions based what they see, their perceptions. Sometimes those
episodes lead to weeks, months or years of broken relationships. But is it
worth it to lose that connection over being right? Is it possible, given what
you each saw at the time, you were both right? Holding onto injustices of the
past, takes precious energy from the present. The past is gone. You have an
opportunity while that person is still alive to reconnect. In his book Don't
Sweat The Small Stuff and it's all small stuff Richard Carlson says "Choose
being kind over being right"

COACHES TIP> Make a list of everyone who you are "out of communication" with,
who you need to "clean something up" with or with whom you simply need to
acknowledge, thank or share with. Say or do whatever you need to so that if
you never had the opportunity to see that person again, you will have been
complete within yourself.

Lee Grow made a difference in the lives of those around him and lived the
words of the Sanskrit Proverb below. I am grateful at having known him and for
the opportunity he provided to reflect on what's really important. We'll miss
you, Lee!

SANSKRIT PROVERB

Look to this day, for it is life: The very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the realities and verities of existence;
the bliss of growth the splendor of action,
the glory of power....

For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision,
but today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Joeann Fossland is a personal & business coach. She provides tools and structures to make it easy for highly motivated individuals and groups to bridge the gap to their next level of success! Call Joeann at 888-484-9608 to schedule a free 20 minute introductory coaching call or for more info!

Resources for the ADvantage

1. If you haven't checked out the services offered by Karen Stefani, her website at http://www.leading.com/sbd. Karen specializes in helping you to position your web advertising to target your market and create real results. Her email newsletter, called
S O L D B Y D E S I G N, is a weekly wealth of information . Contact her at soldbydesign@worldnet.att.net.

2. Need Notepads? Note Pads Nationwide can fill the bill with great 2 color notepads. $174 for 1000. Call 1-800-350-3000 and tell them I sent you!

3. Do you struggle to stay on track and do the actions you think you "should" do to create more business? Knowledge of one's self is the foundation to implementing actions and follow through. SUCCESS BRIEFINGS combine a personal, hour-long coaching session with two, proven assesment tools (29 pages of personal, pertinent evaluations). Investing in this hour will show you how to stay motivated and leverage the natural strengths you possess.Cost:$150
(credit cards accepted) Call Joeann at 888-484-9608 to schedule a briefing or for more information. (These are also invaluable if you are hiring an assistant or team member!)

4. Worried about the Year 2000 Problem? There's an easy way to see if your PC
is ready for the millennium. Instructions can be found at http://www.tyler.net/tyr7020/y2kinput.htm. If that's not enough, everything you ever wanted to know about the Y2K problem (and more) can be found at http://www.year2000.com/ .

6.  Looking for a network?  Synchronizing your contacts across your office and sharing an internet connection are only a couple of the benefits.  Advantage Technologies can give your office the connectivity that it needs, at a fraction of the price that you would expect.  Serving all 50 states, give them a call at 810-765-3991, e-mail advantage@eesc.com, or visit http://www.advantage.eesc.com.