ELEVATE BEYOND
The Blog of Jake Kelfer
 If you are like me, then you are a sucker for a good quote. As a matter of fact, my next book might very well be a collection of incredible and inspiring quotes on specific aspects of life... But until then, here are two quotes that I believe capture the meaning of human connection. I think when quotes like these are understood and then applied, the result can be mightily impactful. I know for me these two quotes have influenced my life in a big way and because of that I use them in a variety of ways in my speaking as well as in my book Elevate Your Network. ENJOY! “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou “You can make more friends in 2 months by becoming interested in other people than you can in 2 years by trying to get people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
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 Every day we communicate with people. Sometimes it's in person while other times it's digital. No matter how you communicate with someone, it's always important to keep in mind that every day communication over time creates relationships and experiences.
There are so many obvious ways to improve communication and become a good connector, but if you want to be great, here are 4 elite tips to for effective communication that will increase your quality of relationships and improve your ability to connect with people on a personal level.  Oooh la la... Today is the day of love. Some of us will be spending today with our significant others, while some of us will be spending today with friends or maybe even alone. Now matter how you spend today, I want to remind you that you are loved! It might not always feel like it, but it's true. You are amazing. You are powerful. You are loved. Sometimes we forget this because we focus on our flaws or we focus on what we don't have in life. We compare ourselves to others with the idea that if we aren't like them, we aren't good enough. Well, today is about love: loving others and loving yourself. So make it your day's work, regardless of if you've been married for 50 years or you're single and ready to mingle, to spread the love today. Give a compliment, share a smile, look someone in the eyes, take a risk, or give someone a hug. As my friend and colleague Houston Kraft says, "LOVE IS A CHOICE." We can choose to love ourselves and we can choose to love others. Take a second today to tell someone you love them. At the same time, take a second to look in the mirror today and say, "I LOVE YOU!"
 Month #2 is here which means it’s time to raise money for another charity! This month, we are going to be raising money for Thirst Project.
Before we dive into Thirst Project, let’s take a look at the numbers from month one of the 2019 Giving Challenge. In January, we started the Giving Challenge with the task of raising $100 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Within one week we hit our goal and by the end of January we raised a total of $620!!! We had 24 donors from all over the United States. One of my goals for 2019 was to start drinking more water, specifically 100 ounces each day. Drinking water is incredibly important for everyone, but lately water has been huge for my health. You can donate to the campaign here.  Holy moly! We are already one month done with 2019. Next week we will be 10% done with the year.
For some of you, you're like "Jake STOP saying that. It was just Christmas yesterday. I'm still writing 2018 on everything." Others of you are like "HELL YEAH, let's keep it rolling!" My question to you is this - Are you on pace to achieve what you set out to achieve this year?  In the spirit of building positive habits and increasing happiness, creating and executing a morning routine can have a profound impact.
What you include in your morning routine can trigger increased happiness as well as the development of habits that can shape your day. Morning routines don't have to be extravagant or take that much time. I know people who spend 3 minutes each morning on their morning routine because that is all they have before work and I know people who spend 3 hours each morning on their routine. To give you an idea of a morning routine, I'll walk you through mine.  MOMENTUM
We are more than 2 weeks into 2019 which means we are 1/26 of the way done with the new year or about 4%. And with the first 17 days being full of excitement and new opportunity, I wanted to share a quick tip to help you maximize your intentionality for the year. That is by picking one word to set the stage for your year. The idea behind One Word is that it helps you find a focus. By selecting just one word for the year, you can prime yourself to take action and make decisions based on this one word. There aren't any strict guidelines to dictate the word you choose. This is just one of those things that will help keep you on track to achieve your goals. It will put meaning and purpose behind your actions. I recommend writing your word down and putting it somewhere that you'll see it every day. This will help you think about the word which will increase the likelihood you make decisions based on the word. The cool thing about this is the word can be anything you want it to be. Last year, my word was CONSISTENCY. I've heard people do kindness, happiness, intention, fun, and so many more. I even heard that Chicago Cubs player Anthony Rizzo picked CONNECTION as his word for the year. In 2019, my word is MOMENTUM.  At the end of 2018, I created a fundraising campaign to donate 100% of proceeds of all book sales from my birthday (Dec. 17) through the end of the year. On December 31st, we reached our goal and with some help, we donated $300.
This campaign got me fired up to do more and give more. It got me thinking… what if there was a way to raise money for more charities? What if there was a way to spread the joy of supporting a great cause? What if there was a way to bring together people from all walks of life to give back? That’s when the idea for 2019 Giving Challenge was created. In 2019, I am going to pick one charity each month and set a goal to raise $100 for that charity. All campaigns will be held on Facebook through my page (@jakekelfer). By the end of the year I hope to have raised a total of $1,200+, helped 12 charities, connected with hundreds of donors, and impacted countless lives. So, to kick off the first month of the challenge, we are going to be raising $100 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. You can donate to the campaign here.  It's 2019! The new year has begun which means the road to achieving New Year's resolutions is in full effect.
A very common New Year's resolution is to read more. Many people who want to read more attempt to read one book a month which is great, but often people don't achieve their goal(s) because they don't have a road map. If you want to read one book a month, one of your first steps should be to write out a list of 12 books you want to read. This will help you become more accountable and have smaller goals to achieve on the journey to reaching your final goal of one book a month. So to help you with your roadmap, here are 10 books I read in 2018 that I think can be game changers in your life for 2019. 1. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor 2. Atomic Habits by James Clear 3. The Third Door by Alex Banayan 4. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight 5. Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss 6. Living with a Seal by Jesse Itzler 7. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh 8. The Dictionary of Body Language by Joe Navarro 9. I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi And of course... 10. Elevate Your Network by Jake Kelfer :) See below for images and links to each book's sales page on Amazon.  At this point in the process, you will be finishing up your experience and getting ready to head home. Before we dive into the follow up for part 3 of this mini series, let’s take a second to recap.
In part 1, we discussed 3 influential ways to prepare for a conference: have a plan, research, and outreach. We talked about how this sets the stage for your arrival, so you can build meaningful relationships and achieve your personal goals at the conference. In part 2, we focused on the in person experience at the conference and how to leverage your preparation to really connect with the right people and maximize your time. Now, we are going to break down the follow up and how you can do this is an effective, respectful way that further develops the relationship. Following up with people is an art and can be very time consuming if you want to do it the right way. |
Hey, I'M JAKE!I am on a mission to help ambitious entrepreneurs and freedom seekers start their dream business, build a world-class network, and scale to 6 figures!
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