Tag Archive for author

Successful Entrepreneurs: The Top 7 Mistakes Successful People Avoid

March 18, 2013 Achieve Success Academy, John R Salkowski, John Salkowski, John Salkowski International No comments

Mistakes1 Successful Entrepreneurs: The Top 7 Mistakes Successful People AvoidMaking mistakes is part of our success journey, however successful people avoid certain ones ~ John R. Salkowski

When you dream, dream big, when you think, think big, when you love, love big. Everything we do starts with a choice and ends with a decision. Success and happiness are choices and decisions we make. There are no excuses for not getting the very best out of your life. There are no excuses for living in a way that consistently makes you unhappy and unsuccessful.

The Top 7 Mistakes Successful People Avoid:

1) Losing track of your goals and ideals – Knowing who you are is one thing, but truly believing and living as yourself is another. With all the social conditioning in our society we sometimes forget to stay true to ourselves and the people that matter most. Don’t lose yourself to everything that is out there. In this crazy world that’s trying to make you like everyone else, stay true to yourself and continue your journey anyway.

2) Using failed excuses – Life doesn’t always introduce you to the people you WANT to meet. Life puts you in touch with the people you NEED to meet; to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to gradually strengthen you into the person you were meant to become.

3) Changing & sacrificing who you are to satisfy others – No matter how loud their opinions are, others cannot choose who you are. The question should not be, “Why don’t they like me when I’m being me?” It should be, “Why am I wasting my time worrying what they think of me?” If you are not hurting anyone with your actions, keep moving forward with your life. Be happy. Be successful. Be YOU. If others don’t like it, who cares and move on. The quickest was to fail in life is trying to please everyone.

4) Putting up with negative people and negative thinking – Get rid of all the drama and the people who create it out of your life. Surround yourself with those who lift you higher, make you better and make you happy. Love those who treat you right and pray for the ones who don’t. Forget the negative and focus on the positive. Life is too short to be anything but successful and happy. Making mistakes and falling down is a part of life, but getting back up, wiping off your knees and elbows and moving on is what life is all about.

5) Focusing your attention on another time and place – This day will never happen again. It will be gone forever. Enjoy it. Cherish it. Spend it with those that matter. It’s often hard to tell the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Someday you may just discover that the small things were really the big things. Learn to appreciate what you have before time forces you to appreciate what you once had.

6) Thinking that you have already missed your chance – Your life, with all its ups and downs, has molded you to where you are today. Your life has been exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think you’ve lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the current moment. Every moment of your life, including this one right now is a fresh start. If you have the courage to admit when you’re scared, the ability to admit when you’re wrong, the boldness to speak up even if your voice is shaking, the confidence to ask for help when you need it and the wisdom to take it when it’s offered, then you have everything you need to get yourself to a better place.

7) Dealing with the stress of deceiving others – If you say you’re going to do something, DO IT! If you say you’re going to be somewhere, BE THERE! If you say you feel something, MEAN IT! If you can’t, won’t, and don’t, then DON’T LIE. It’s always better to tell people the truth up front. Live in such a way that if someone decided to attack your character, no one would believe it. Live so that when the people around you think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.

Successful entrepreneurs are not prisoners in their own minds. They break free from all the negative people, concepts, choices and ideas that hold them back from truly living instead of just existing. They tell the negativity committee that meets inside their heads to sit down, shut up and get out of their way ~ John R. Salkowski

About the Author

John R. Salkowski is a retired Police Officer after an impressive 15 year career who is now a Highly Sought-After Leadership and Motivational Speaker and Trainer. John has wowed audiences ranging from 20-20,000 sharing his unique Leadership strategies in his signature presentation:

Leadership in the Line of Duty™
Split-Second Decision Secrets Revealed that All Top-Performers and Self-Made Millionaires Want to Know ™

John regularly speaks for a variety of leaders (ranging from entry level to experienced executives) for corporations, business groups, associations, colleges, universities, youth groups and sports organizations. Pulling from his 15 years of real world, in-the-trenches (and even life and death) Law Enforcement experiences, John now teaches leaders one of the most important key components of leadership (that is often overlooked):

“How to make Split-Second Leadership Decisions when the Direction and Success of your Organization depends on it!”

John has received numerous distinguished awards for Bravery, Merit and Unit Citations. He has also received media attention for serving as a leader within his community, including being featured in the Philadelphia Magazine as one of the area’s Top Business Leaders.

Any organization that wants to develop their people into becoming “Extraordinary Leaders” needs to hire John for a keynote and/or workshop training.

To request John speak at your next event, please email his office at John@JohnSalkowski.com

Copyright © 2013 Achieve Success Academy™. All Rights Reserved.

The Secret to Your Success is found in What You Do Everyday

December 17, 2012 Achieve Success Academy One comment

14327791 life style concept pixelated words secret of success on digital screen 3d render The Secret to Your Success is found in What You Do EverydayIt was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through ~ Zig Ziglar

Firstly, I want to dedicate this article to the innocent people that lost their lives on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, CT. This act of terror was senseless and horrible and my thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones during this difficult time. May God Bless you all.

Is there a Secret to Success?

You bet there is a secret to success. Keep reading on and you will find out what makes some successful and others, well not so successful.

The success that you desire is found in your daily routines and your attitude. What you do every day, what you feed your mind with will determine what you achieve in life. People that achieve extraordinary success do so because they invest in themselves every day. They take the necessary time to invest in their lives and are always learning. Because they invest into their lives, they add value to the lives of others as well.

It all starts the minute to you step out of bed until you lay your head down to sleep that night. What you do during this time, what you feed your mind will determine how successful you become.

How You Think is everything. Always be Positive. Think Success, Think Achievement not Failure. Be aware of and stay away from negative people and environments. Turn off the television. Don’t watch the news. Don’t pick up or dare open that newspaper. How you think is one of the most important things you must master. Your belief and mind-set that you can accomplish your goals must be unwavering. I’ve found that from time-to-time my attitude waivers. A mentor of mine once said “it’s ok to get down or feel sorry for yourself; however you must not stay there”. Immediately upon catching yourself in this mind-set, say to yourself, “Cancel these thoughts”. Remember positive things happen to positive people.

Take Action. Goals are nothing without action and a strategic plan. Seek out someone that is doing what you want to do. Be like Nike and “Just do it”. Every day I try to take some action towards my goals. It may be small, but it’s still an action. Have you taken action towards your goals?

Never Stop Learning. Attend a seminar, read a book, seek out a mentor or a mastermind group. Becoming a lifelong learner would benefit us all and is something we should instill in our children. Would you stick a garden hose into your cars gas tank and fill it up with water? Of course not. Then why would you put junk into your body and mind? You become what you feed your mind and body.

Never Give Up. Be Persistent. Working hard is not enough. Working hard at the wrong things will not bring you success. You must work right and hard at the right things. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ve heard about the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady wins the race.

Remain laser focused on your goals and surround yourself with positive people and environments that believe in you. Don’t get distracted by the naysayer’s or tasks that are not helping you achieve your goals. You must concentrate and stay laser focused on the goal at hand. This is what some of the most successful people in the world do. Why not follow their lead? Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Lastly, take responsibility for your daily actions and attitude. Invest your time and mind into worthwhile things. If you make a few adjustments into your daily agenda, you too can achieve whatever you set your mind too.

To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter ~ Aleister Crowley

About the Author

John R. Salkowski is a retired Police Officer after an impressive 15 year career who is now a Highly Sought-After Leadership and Motivational Speaker and Trainer. John can speak for crowds ranging from 20-20,000 sharing his unique leadership strategies in his signature presentation:

“Leadership in the Line of Duty”
Lessons for Making Split-Second Decisions from a Cop Who Has Been in Life and Death Situations

John regularly speaks for a variety of leaders (ranging from entry level to experienced executives) for corporations, business groups, associations, colleges, universities, youth groups and sports organizations. Pulling from his 15 years of real world, in-the-trenches (and even life and death) Law Enforcement situations, John now teaches leaders one of the most important key components of leadership (that is often overlooked):

“How to make split-second leadership decisions when the direction and success of your organization depends on it!”

John has received numerous distinguished awards for Bravery, Merit and Unit Citations. He has also received several employee recognition awards for serving as a leader within his community, including being featured in the Philadelphia Magazine as one of the area’s Top Business Leaders.

Any organization that wants to develop their people into becoming “Extraordinary Leaders” needs to hire John for a keynote and/or workshop training.

To request John to speak at your next event, please email his office at John@JohnSalkowski.com

Copyright © 2012 Achieve Success Academy™. All Rights Reserved.

Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker and Real Estate Expert John R. Salkowski Signs Publishing Deal With CelebrityPress to Release New Business Book, “Nothing But Net”

August 21, 2012 Achieve Success Academy No comments

Entrepreneur Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker and Real Estate Expert John R. Salkowski Signs Publishing Deal With CelebrityPress to Release New Business Book, “Nothing But Net”Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker and Real Estate Expert John R. Salkowski Signs Publishing Deal With CelebrityPress to Release New Business Book, “Nothing But Net”

John R. Salkowski has recently signed a publishing deal with CelebrityPress, a leading business book publishing company, along with several leading speakers and entrepreneurs from around the world to release the book, Nothing But Net.

Orlando, FL. – August 7, 2012 –John R. Salkowski has joined with a select group of the world’s leading Speakers and Trainers to co-write the forthcoming book titled, Nothing But Net: The World’s Leading Speakers, Trainers and Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Top Secrets to Increase Your Bottom Line Health, Wealth and Success. Nick Nanton, along with business partner, JW Dicks, recently signed a publishing deal with each of these authors to contribute their expertise to the book, which will be released under their CelebrityPress® imprint.

John R. Salkowski is a retired Police Officer after an impressive 15yr career. He is also a survivor of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from a shooting incident that eventually ended his career. John has been diagnosed with this illness since 2000. He has received numerous Distinguished Awards for Bravery, Merit and Unit Citations. He has also received several employee recognition awards for his work within the community.

After his Police career, John got into real estate sales and entrepreneurship. John’s approach to business is dedicating himself to helping others succeed. John founded his own company, JRSRealtyGroup.com in 2008. John has built a reputation as a motivated professional with unwavering integrity and honesty. As one of the Top Realtors in the country, John contributes a lot of his success to offering both buyers and sellers watertight guarantees. John has been featured in the Philadelphia Magazine as the area’s real estate expert several years in a row.

John’s true passion is motivational/transformational speaking. John speaks to business organizations, colleges, high schools and youth groups on inspiration, motivation, success, overcoming adversity and finding their why power. In 2010 John founded, AchieveSuccessAcademy.com. He is also an avid blogger.

Nothing But Net: The World’s Leading Speakers, Trainers and Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Top Secrets to Increase Your Bottom Line Health, Wealth and Success features proven secrets and strategies from some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs. These experts share how to realize maximum sales and profits in an uncertain and changing economy.

For more information about John R. Salkowski, visit http://achievesuccessacademy.wordpress.com/tag/john-r-salkowski/

About Celebrity Press®:

Celebrity Press® is a business book publisher that publishes books from thought leaders around the world. Celebrity Press® has published books alongside Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield, Dan Kennedy, Dr. Ivan Misner, Mari Smith, and many of today’s biggest experts across many diverse fields.

My New Book, “Nothing But Net” is about to be Launched!

August 20, 2012 Achieve Success Academy No comments

Bigger bottom line? !!

Yes, we’re all looking for bigger bottom lines. In today’s economic times we’re all struggling to find solutions to become healthier, wealthier and wise. This is your chance to get advice straight from the experts who have built their careers and triumph over insurmountable times.

During the last 9 months I have been working on a book with the nation’s leading experts on Health, Wealth and Success, including James Malinchak of ABC’s “The Secret Millionaire”. The great news is our new book “Nothing But Net” will be release this Wednesday August 22nd. If you help us get the book off to a great start we will give you an awesome bonus package as our thank you!

I appreciate your support and I’ll get back with you in a couple of days to remind you about the launch and to tell you more about the bonuses I’m putting together!

Stay tuned!

John R. Salkowski, Founder of AchieveSuccessAcademy.com, Entrepreneur, Retired Cop, Survivor of PTSD stemming from a shoot and kill robbery incident, Expert on Leadership, Success, Overcoming Adversity & PTSD, Author of 3 books; Leadership in the Line of Duty: 50 Leadership Lessons for making split-second decisions from a Cop who’s been in Life & Death situations, Leadership in the Line of Duty: Success Thoughts and Quotes for Leaders and Nothing But Net: Top Secrets to increase your bottom line, Health, Wealth & Success.

Do You Have What it Takes to Make Important Split-Second Decisions?

July 23, 2012 Achieve Success Academy No comments

imagesCA5CPZRJ Do You Have What it Takes to Make Important Split Second Decisions?The better your skills and critical thinking are, coupled with training and quickness, the more prepared you will be to make sound split-second decisions.~John R. Salkowski

Making Split-Second Decisions, Do You Have What it takes?

Making split-second decisions in life and in business is a requirement. There are several important factors that must come together in order to accurately and quickly articulate your present situation. Your knowledge, experience, education, training, intuition, confidence and common-sense are all factors that play an important role in making split-second decisions.

When you are called upon to make a split-second decision what happens? Do you freeze? Do you panic? There are situations, such as life or death, which we may be encountered with where you cannot afford to freeze or panic. Split-second decision making requires all of the above factors to come together in order to make the right decision.

There will be times that you will be faced with an important decision where there is no room for error. You must make the right decision at the right time to avoid a catastrophe. Here are some examples: avoiding a car crash, pilots with mechanical failure, military combat, Police Officer faced with an armed and dangerous suspect or anything else requiring immediate decision making. You may think these examples are extreme but let me tell you this, if you are not prepared when that time comes, you are dead on your feet. You will be required at one time or another to make a blink of an eye split-second decision in your life.

Making split-second decisions requires “razor sharp” skill sets. You must continually work on your skills to better prepare for the “blink of the eye” split-second decision. What better way to prepare for situations such as this is to face real problems, facing the risks, making irrevocable decisions head-on. Stop avoiding these situations. Making important, split-second decisions separates the successful from the unsuccessful, leaders from the followers, etc. You get my point. Below, I will put split-second decision making into perspective for most of you.

Most likely everyone reading this has a child or a loved-one that they cherish. What better way to teach that person to make important decisions that could possibly affect the rest of their life is by honing your skill sets on making important, critical, blink of eye split-second decisions. We, as parents cannot be with our children 24/7. There comes a time when we must allow them to spread their wings and fly solo. What better way to prepare yourself for that moment in time is to face your most important decisions head-on so you can teach from example.

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of AchieveSuccessAcademy.com, Entrepreneur, Retired Cop, Survivor of PTSD stemming from a shoot and kill robbery incident, Expert on Leadership, Success, Overcoming Adversity & PTSD, Author of 3 books; Leadership in the Line of Duty: 50 Leadership Lessons for making split-second decisions from a Cop who’s been in Life & Death situations, Leadership in the Line of Duty: Success Thoughts and Quotes for Leaders and Nothing But Net: Top Secrets to increase your bottom line, Health, Wealth & Success.

Copyright © 2012. Achieve Success Academy™. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

 

Leadership In The Line of “Duty”

February 27, 2012 Achieve Success Academy 9 comments

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. Ralph Waldo Emerson

D=Desire, Drive, Determination & Dedication

Desire

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential. These are the keys that will unlock the doors to personal excellence~Confucius

Drive

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way~George S. Patton

Determination

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand~Vince Lombardi

If you possess these 4 words, there are no limits for what you can achieve. You must believe in yourself because if you don’t no one else will.

U=Understanding Others Through Mastery of Personalities

Peace can not be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding~Albert Einstein

Understanding the personalities of those you influence is a huge component of how successful you will become. It will dramatically increase how you present and how they receive. I would suggest you study the DISC Personality chart to get a better understanding of how one’s personality works. If you master this skill, your success is virtually guaranteed.

T=Trust Your Training & Talent

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit~Aristotle

My mother once told me that I have two ears and one mouth for a reason. She told me to listen more and talk less.

If you want to be a successful leader and/or entrepreneur it all starts by trusting your training and talent. Morale starts at the top. Allow your people to work independant without looking over their shoulders. Leaders should manage the systems they have in place, not their people.

Y=You Matter

I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being~Confucius

The only one that will look out for you is You! No one else can be depended on for your success. My saying is this, “I’ll see you at the top or from the top”. The only one that will get you there is You. You have to commit yourself to wanting success more than you want the air you breathe. If you are not willing to sacrifice this, you will stay in the same position in the same location. Resolve today to want success more than you want the air you breathe. Your success will be virtually guaranteed if you live your life with this in mind.

I hope you enjoyed this blog on Leadership In The Line of Duty. Duty=Desire, Drive, Determination & Dedication, Understanding Others Through Mastery of Personalities, Trust Your Training & Talent and You Matter. My goal is to inspire the talent with-in you, to assist you in bringing out your WHY power, bringing you to the next level so you too can experience the success you so truly deserve.

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of AchieveSuccessAcademy.com, Leadership Expert, Author, Speaker, Retired Police Officer, Survivior of PTSD and Self-Made Man.

I can be reached via email at John@JohnSalkowski.com

Copyright 2012 Achieve Success Academy All Rights Reserved

 

 

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Top 10 Must Have Characteristics of a Great Leader

February 21, 2012 Achieve Success Academy One comment
A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better~Jim Rohn
Do you have what it takes to be a great leader? I bet you do. I believe everyone can attain the great qualities and characteristics needed to be an effective leader. The objective behind being a great leader is this: Helping people and/or organizations who are doing poorly to do well. Helping people and/or organization who are doing well but want to get better. The whole idea of great leadership is to get results. To bring them to a whole different level of success.
The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already~ John Buchan
Being a great leader means bringing out the best in people. Everyone wants to be the best they can be. It’s our job as leaders to do that. We need to find and focus on the strengths of people not their weaknesses.
In my previous career of Law Enforcement, I was surrounded by good and bad leaders. The good leaders focused on making people better while the bad leaders would focus on making people worse. It was astounding to me that the bad leaders would come to work everyday and do nothing but negative leadership. What do I mean by negative leadership? They would focus on the mistakes of people. Instead of making them learn from their mistakes they would punish them and never give good advice and/or training to make that person better. They would lie in wait like a lion hiding from a zebra getting ready to attack. This would happen day in and day out. Just waiting for their people to make mistakes. Being totalling reactive instead of proactive. They would focus on the negatives and not the positives in people. This type of leadership is a sinking ship. This will make any organizations morale go into a tail spin. And if you were ever part of an organization withe horrible morale, you know exactly what I mean. If you want a successful organization, no matter what industry, you need to have great leaders that focus on the strengths and not the weaknesses. To learn, grow and achieve results a great leader must focus on making their people successful by focusing on their strenghths.
Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Here are the TOP 10 Must Have Characteristics of a Great Leader:
1) Be a Role Model- You must lead by example. You should never ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself. You must be seen by your people, and the public as being an expert in your field and an expert in leadership.
2) Have a Mission-Leaders know what their mission is. They know why the organization exists. A great leader has a well thought out (often written) mission describing the purpose of the organization. That purpose need to be descriptive, clear and understandable. Every employee should be able to identify with the mission and strive to achieve it.
3) Have Vision-Where do you want your organization to go? A vision needs to be descriptive enough to encourage people to imagine it but concrete enough for followers to see it, understand it and be willing to climb onboard to fulfill it.
4) Be Goal Oriented-How is the organization going to achieve its mission and vision and how will you measure your progress? Like a vision, goals need to be operational that are specific and measurable. If your output and results can’t be readily measured, then it will be difficult to know if you have achieved your purpose.
5) Have Integrity- Do the right thing all the time. Not sometimes but all the time.
6) Be Passionate in all you do-You must love what you do. You must want success for the organization and the people more than you want the air you breathe.
7) Be Compassionate-Successful leaders are comfortable relating to other people; they easily create rapport and are more extroverted than they are introverted. These factors help leaders seem approachable, likeable, and comfortable in their position. Those qualities contribute to staff wanting to interact with their leader. They also help motivate employees to do a better job. When workers can relate to their boss, they believe that their boss is more concerned about them, with their performance, and with their output. Furthermore, they believe that they can go to their boss with problems they encounter on the job without fearing consequences for not knowing how to resolve issues.
8) Great Communicator-It does little good to have a strong mission, vision, and goals if the leader cannot easily and effectively convey his ideas inside and outside of the organization. He must regularly be in touch with key individuals, by all forms of communication. Of course, the best way to ensure other people receive and understand the message is with face-to-face interactions.
9) Be Inspiring-Employees need someone to look up to for direction, guidance, and motivation. A great leader needs to be that person. Nevertheless, there are times, when many employees need the boss to inspire them by word or action.
10) Be Ambitious-Nothing builds a picture of success more than achievement, and achievement is the number one factor that motivates just about everyone across all cultures. When employees see that their leader can lead and direct, has a clear vision and attainable goals, and actually gains results in a timely manner, then that person’s credibility increases throughout the organization. Great leaders must modestly demonstrate their skills to give their constituents valid reasons to appreciate and value their efforts.
I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy, Leadership Expert, Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Retired Police Officer and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Survivor.
I can be reached via email at John@JohnSalkowski.com
Copyright 2012 Achieve Success Academy All Rights Reserved