Success Through Failure

This will be my last blog post of 2011. By next week, this time, we will be living in a New Year! I am extremely excited to be leaving this year behind and anxious to begin the next chapter of my life. I have worked very productively throughout this year. I have become a new mommy all over again, and despite all of the chaos that had intruded on my plans for the year, I got things done! I accomplished all of the goals I set and helped others do the same.

My first blog of 2011 included this statistic:

52% of those who make New Year’s Resolutions are confident that they will succeed. However, by the end of the year, only 12% actually achieve their goals.

In that blog, I asked you to join me in creating actionable plans to secure your place among the 12%. Did you do that? Did you fulfill your resolutions? Are you among the 52% that failed, or are you with me among the 12% who succeeded?

If you have failed at your goals for the year--- or have ever failed at any other attempt for that matter--- you are in good company.

Henry Ford: Before Ford was tough, he was broke! His early businesses failed, leaving him broke five times before succeeding.

R. H. Macy: Had 7 failed business before the success of the Macy’s department store we know and love today.

Bill Gates: Before Microsoft there was Traf-O-Data, his first failed business.
Albert Einstein: From a slow to speak, read, and finish school kind of guy to a Nobel Prize Winning father of modern physics.

Soichiro Honda: Turned down by Toyota Motor Corp. for a job before building the billion dollar Honda of today.

Remember, you only have to succeed the last time. ~Brian Tracy

There is no shame in failing if failure is followed by success.
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again!
2012 here we come!


What were your successes in 2011? What did you fail to accomplish? What are your plans for 2012?

To Blog...Nakeia

Do Your Thing!

As a song writer “I put myself out there” in a big way. I expose myself to criticism and rejection, but I also expose myself critical acclaim and acceptance. I do the same thing as speaker and mentor. I have content that I know I have been put on earth to deliver, but sometimes I feel unsure that everyone else will get it. But I do it anyway. I write the songs---I write the blogs---I submit the articles---I delver the content---I expose myself---I put myself out there in a big way. I do my thing!

If you want the acclaim, if you want the acceptance, and if you just want to be able to authentically do what you were born to do, you must put yourself out there. You can not be afraid of the criticism and rejection. You must do your thing no matter what!

I got over my fears of criticism and rejection when I realized one important principle in life.

My life is not my own.

I share my life with my family, neighbors, community, city, state, country, earth, and something even greater than all of that---the INTERNET! What I do not only affects me, but it affects all of those people, places, and things as well--- and out of all of those people, places, and things, someone needs to hear of my mistakes so they don’t make the same ones. Someone else needs to hear of my achievements so they gain hope of the possible achievements they can experience.

Your life is not your own.

Someone not only wants what you have, they need it. Your ability to write, speak, sing, teach, lawyer, build, dance, organize, administer, or whatever it is that YOU do, is your gift to the world---it’s your purpose. Whether you reach many or you reach few, it's your obligation to share your gift in a big way. You are obligated to DO YOUR THING!

Once again I am putting myself out there and doing my thing. I have decided to merge this blog with my business of speaking and mentoring! I will continue to blog, however starting in January you will find my blog at www.nakeiachomer.com. The site is under construction at the moment so please be on the lookout for updates.



What is your gift? Do you use it to serve others? What will you do today to put yourself out there in a big way?

To Blog…Nakeia

Dream Protection Program

I have probably shared this with you before--- but there is one phrase I distinctively remember hearing from my grandmom as a child. I had big hopes, big ideas, and BIG DREAMS for my life and whenever I would share them with my grandmom, she would say “I hope you get everything you want in life.” Now when she said that I knew she didn’t really think it would happen. She was doing her best to be supportive, but the tone of her voice said it all. I think she thought my big dreams were too big for my reality. If you ask her about it, she may have a different take on that phrase but this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

As a mother of a six year old daughter, I now have the privilege of hearing her BIG DREAMS. When she shares her hopes, ideas and big dreams with me, I make it a point to sound as excited as I feel about my own dreams when I respond to hers. She wants to become a doctor and discover a cure for cancer and I don’t doubt for a second that she can do it! I want her to feel free to dream as big as she possibly can and as her mother I have the responsibility of protecting her dreams until she can protect them herself. I remind her of them when she doesn’t feel like doing her home work. I buy her toys for budding doctors and play “doctor and patient” with her. Last month, I caught her doodling Dr. Kai in her note and I almost cried!

Protecting your dream is a must! It seems simple enough but sometimes our reality makes it difficult for us to reconcile our dreams with what we actually see in our lives everyday. We have to learn to shield our dreams from delays, denials, and detours. We have to make our dreams “NO” proof. We even have to protect our dreams against self-doubt, self-sabotage, and self-imposed limits.

I have spoken with many people who suffered through 2011. Houses were repossessed. Businesses were closed. Marriages were ended. Careers were ruined. Your dream can be the remnant of all of that chaos. When the dust settles your dream can still be standing. All you need is a cause and a plan!

Here are three quick things you can implement today to protect your dream:

Meditate on it. Make it the first thing you think of in the morning and the last thing you think of at night. What you make a priority in your mind because a reality in your life.

Speak highly of it. The worst thing you can do is belittle your dream. Write it out on a piece of paper and frame it. Make it the visual focal point f your office, bedroom, or car dashboard.

Act on it. Take daily action toward making your dream a reality. Spend 30 minutes each day doing something concerning it. You can enroll in a course that will help you become an expert at it.

Whatever you do, keep the dream alive! Big Dreamers experience BIG Lives!

I also wrote about dreams here and here.

What dream have you failed to protect? What will you start doing, today, to protect it? How can I help?


To Blog…Nakeia

Something Different for the New Year

Last year this time I was working with Stacy. She was chosen to be apart of my Leave 2010 with No Regrets program. Her goal was to end 2010 living with her purpose in mind and intention as her driving force. I must say, Stacy came a long way. She had to work through some serious issues to get to the core of what she really wanted for her life, but she did that--- and some. She even enlisted a few of her friends and started a group that I have had the pleasure of facilitating throughout this year. We titled the group Purpose Seekers (very original, right.?).

Anyway, it was my pleasure to work with Stacy and her group this year and I look forward to working with them in 2012. Go Stacy!

I’ve decided to do something different this year. Instead of mentoring someone through ending the year strong, I have decided to share with you how I spent 2011 achieving a huge goal of my own. This idea came about after meeting many men and women this year with huge ideas and huge goals but absolutely nothing to show for it. I met a man who ran a multi-million dollar real estate company that went under with the economy. He had an idea for a book on how to survive the housing crisis. I met a women who has successfully self-published five books. She had an idea to host a few workshops on how to successfully self-publish a book. I could tell you more stories about more people with more ideas, but I think you get the point.

Here’s the thing, having huge ideas that you are able to brag about at networking events isn’t enough. I don’t want to hear about what you want to do. I want to see what you are doing. There are some people with well intended ideas and goals, including myself, but if you don’t do something about it, all you will ever have is your idea or goal and not a success story. I use to say intention is everything. However, this year I realized that intentional action is everything.

So, with all of that in mind I have decided to share with you the action I took, in 2011, to take my idea for this blog and expand my business by turning it into programs designed to help motivated men, women, teens, find significant success through simple common sense strategies and systems. Now my goal was a professional one, but I was only able to achieve it by working through some personal issues of my own and following a strategic personal development approach.

I am excited to share so stay tuned…

What goal did you achieve in 2011? What are your intentions for 2012?

To Blog… Nakeia

Praise for the BFF

I had the chance to spend a few hours away from my new Lil’ Mister last weekend. My BFF (yes, some people over the age of 30 still refer to their life-long friends as BFF’s) picked me up and we shopped, talked, and laughed a little. It was great! We have known each other since we were 10 years old and even though we don’t speak everyday---or every week, I can always count on her for honesty, support, and some good old girl talk. And if you know anything about me or my blog, it should not surprise you to hear that I even managed to squeeze in a bit of personal development.

You see, she had recently achieved a major personal accomplishment without even realizing it. After hearing about it I immediately began to celebrate with her and by me celebrating her, it seemed as if she felt a sense of permission to celebrate herself.

It was great! It was also enlightening. I realized two things:

1. Adults need praise too. As a mother of two, praise has been on autopilot in our home for years. Whenever my daughter---and now my son does something new, wonderful, unique, or just plain cute. We praise them with rewards, compliments, kisses, and hugs. They feel validated and worthy. It also cultivates positive behavior and increases the chances of them doing something praise worthy in the future. The same actually applies to adults. As an administrator, I often used praise to encourage a positive and productive work- flow among my employees. I use it now with my clients and as a speaker and mentor. However, I didn’t always pay as much attention to the celebration I gave my friends and family. Of course I am very liberal with my “good job(s)” and “you look nice(s)”, but to actually take a genuine moment to truly acknowledge the accomplishments of a friend---right on the spot---with a good old celebration is something all together special. When we celebrate others, we also give them the encouragement they need to celebrate themselves.
   


2. I need more girls’-day- outings! Shopping, laughing, and some girl (or guy) talk is a must do.

I encourage you to encourage a friend. Find a reason to celebrate your loved ones, employees, and clients. Your praise could be the thing that pushes them to find significant success.


How do you respond to praise? When was the last time you celebrated with a friend? Who, in your life, deserves a celebration?

To Blog…Nakeia