JNF Names Local
Co-Presidents

Being Consistently Consistent:
Your Secret Sauce

W

e’ve all
asked our-
selves the
same questions over
and over: What is my
path forward? What
am I passionate about?
Jon Dwoskin
How can I take that
to the next level and
make it my life? How
can I start my own company or grow
my current business? These can seem
downright overwhelming, but I’m
happy to report that they really are not
if you put a few things in motion.
Having a plan doubles your chances
of success. It may not necessarily be the
ideal time to do something new. It’s not
always easy or feasible to leave a job,
restructure a division of your business,
grow a new division, etc.; but you can
keep that idea and that dream alive. In
fact, you must! Here are four steps to
help you ignite your growth.

Step 1: Stay Consistent
This sounds simple, but it’s not. It’s
not simple because it requires con-
sistency to be effective. I’ve said this
before but it’s worth repeating because
it’s so important: Go buy a notebook
and keep your ideas active. Spend five
minutes, three to six days a week, to jot
down your thoughts and keep track of
your ideas.
It’s best to set a specific time each
day for this exercise. I find that when
consistency kicks in, the best ideas
come from the previous ideas, and
when you keep them alive by writing
them down, they become something
physical. When they become physical,
they become a little bit more real. And
as they become more real, they become

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part of your everyday thought process.
Things start to take shape, opportu-
nities start to open themselves up and
you are continually forging a path that
is one step closer to your dreams.
By sticking with this, you’ll start
building your confidence and your
courage as you get clarity on the dis-
cipline needed for what you will ulti-
mately do. Just take that first step and
then do one step at a time.

Step 2: Practice Patience
Once you have the confidence and
courage, it’s time to begin creating
your plan. Have you read or seen The
Secret? The message is that we can use
the law of attraction to directly change
our world. Basically, the secret is: ask,
believe and receive. Some people try it
and think, “Well, I’ve been manifesting
for a week and nothing’s happened.”
But things can take time to transpire.
That’s what I mean by keeping it alive,
so you can constantly be focused on
you and your company’s continual
growth. You will find you are closer
than you think.
My dad was a master gardener. We
had these outrageous, amazing gardens
when I was growing up and you know
how it started? He just planted seeds.
You can’t force a seed to flourish; you
have to water it, fertilize it, nurture it
and let it grow, and then maintain it.
Remember, you’re going through a
transition and it takes time. Don’t be
the one who gives up; be the one who
keeps moving forward.

Step 3: Delve into the Details
Now that you have evolved your
idea(s), increased your courage and
confidence and started your plan, you

can’t just zoom out and do a 30,000-
foot view of your next steps. It’s time
to fill your plan in with specific and
measurable detail.
Continue with your five-minute-a
day exercise and commit to taking
your plan and reverse-engineering it
down to the year, then the quarter,
then the month, then the week, then
the day and even sometimes down to
the hour. Without specifics and mea-
surements, you can’t execute because
you don’t necessarily know where
you’re going. As you’ve probably heard
many times, “If you don’t know where
you’re going, any road will take you
there.”

Step 4: Be Accountable
Now comes the hard part. Share your
plan with an accountability partner,
someone who will push you to be your
best and hold you responsible. These
partners are great to have when times
get tough and your confidence gets
low. Let them be your courage and
voice of reason when you can’t do it for
yourself. Don’t just be a talker — be a
doer.

One of my new favorite slogans
is from Verizon: “We don’t wait for
the future; we build it.” Tap into your
tenacity, stop waiting and make your
next big thing happen. Want it to
sprout and grow? Embrace the con-
sistency and the moxie you need to
get you one step closer to that corner
office. ■

Jon Dwoskin is a business coach and exec-
utive adviser who grows businesses. He is
the author of “The Think Big Movement.” Visit
jondwoskin.com for more or email him at jon@
jondwoskin.com.

Andy Goldberg of Bloomfield
Hills and Karen Freedland-
Berger of West Bloomfield are
the new co-presidents of the
Detroit Jewish National Fund
Board. Their appointments
come when JNF is working
on the second half of its One
Billion Dollar Road Map for the
Next Decade campaign.
“This role matters so much
because it gives me an oppor-
tunity to have a concrete,
hands-on impact in the con-
tinued achievements, growth
and development of Israel,”
Goldberg said. “I hope I can
inspire Jews in Detroit of all
ages to understand JNF is about
so much more than the Blue
Box and planting trees. JNF is
there for all Israelis from cradle
to grave, caring for the least
fortunate, ensuring a prosper-
ous and sustainable environ-
ment, along with water security,
growing communities and pre-
serving our heritage sites.”
Goldberg is inspired by the
creativity and entrepreneur-
ship in Detroit and is an active
supporter and adviser to the
Detroit Social Entrepreneurship
community.
“I feel my role as co-president
is that of a shaliach (emissary),
focused on bringing aware-
ness and education of JNF to
Detroit,” Freedland-Berger said.
“It is one of the very few char-
itable organizations in which
donations are allocated to pro-
grams and projects determined
by the benefactor.”
In her professional career,
she has served as a nephrolo-
gy social worker, a pregnancy
counselor and a psychiatric
social worker. She is philan-
thropically motivated and has
held many positions. including
board member of the Jewish
Women’s Foundation and Yoga
Moves MS, and volunteering at
the Beaumont Parenting Center,
Yad Ezra, Hillel Day School and
JNF. ■

