Years ago, in a small mid-western town in the United States, there was a rather odd fellow called Ticky. Old Ticky wasn’t the brightest citizen in those parts. The townsfolk often said that he was a few bricks short of a load.
One day, Ticky wandered into the blacksmith’s shop where the blacksmith had just pulled a horseshoe out of the fire a few moments earlier, laid it on the anvil and turned to fetch another tool. The horseshoe wasn’t glowing hot, but it was close.
The first thing unsuspecting Ticky did was to reach down and pick up the horseshoe with his bare hand. Instantly realising the error of his ways, he let out a yell and threw it down.
“Did you burn yourself, Ticky?” the blacksmith asked.
“No,” Ticky shot back, blowing on his hand, “it just don’t take me long to look at a horseshoe!”
The eloquent management genius, Peter F. Drucker, once said that a crisis must never be experienced for the second time. When Ticky and Peter F. Drucker agree on a management axiom, there has to be some natural truth to it. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, Ticky never picked up another horseshoe, hot or cold.
Before laughing too hard at poor Ticky, it wouldn’t hurt to consider how much Ticky there is in each one of us.
First of all, he didn’t realise the horseshoe was hot. All too often, we find ourselves in the hot seat without a clue as to how we got there. There’s no shame in picking up a hot horseshoe, unless we’ve picked it up before.
Business people regularly contribute to their personal stress levels by picking up the same horseshoe over and over again. We all need to become what show business people call a quick study and resolve not to repeat behaviour that result in heated situations.
When executives and managers realise how their habits influence the entire organisation, it is easy to understand how a burning twig can quickly become a forest fire.
The secret to leading under pressure is to be equipped with an early warning system and techniques for swift and skilful resolution of difficulties.
A skilful and effective leader has a long memory and is constantly open to new input. If you’re feeling the temperature rising in your organisation, stop and make a three-point assessment of the situation:
1 Is the friction caused by pressure from outside sources such as customers, stockholders, the bank and/or government agencies?
2 Is the friction coming from inside sources such as employee demands, lagging productivity, poor quality and/or unreasonable imperatives from senior executives?
3 Are personal issues invading the work place, brought in by one or more individuals up and down the organisational ladder, including yourself?
Whatever difficulties are causing the organisation to heat up, you can be the one to cool the situation by, first, identifying how similar challenges were successfully negotiated in the past and second, refusing to pick up the hot horseshoe a second time. A hot hand remembered is a cool hand under pressure.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Continuous Self-Improvement Formula
Put Your Career on the Fast Track
There are many things you can do to put your career onto the fast track. You can set clear, specific goals for each area of your life and then make plans to accomplish them. You can plan your work and work your plan.
Ask For Greater Responsibility
You can accept 100% responsibility for everything you are and everything you become. You can refuse to make excuses or to blame others. You can tell your boss that you want greater responsibilities and then when you get them, put your whole heart into doing an excellent job.
Utilize Your Inborn Talents
In the parable of the talents in the New Testament, Jesus says, "Oh good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over small things. I will make you master over large things."
If you too will carry out every assignment to the very best of your ability, you will be given larger and more important things to do and you'll be paid more as a result.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Improvement
The key to long term success is for you to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is!
Improve a Little at a Time
If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month and 26% more productive each year.
The cumulative effect if becoming a tiny bit better at your field and more productive amounts to a tremendous increase in your value and your output over time.
How to Double Your Productivity
Twenty-six percent more productive each year, with compounding, amounts to doubling your overall productivity and performance every 2.7 years. If you become 26% more productive each year, with compounding, times 10 years, you will be 1004% more productive over the next decade. That is an increase of ten times over ten years.
The Reason For All Great Successes
This is called the Law of Accumulation, or the Principle of Incremental Improvement. It is the primary reason for all great success stories. By the yard, it's hard. But inch by inch, anything's a cinch!
Become A 1000% Person
Make a decision, right now, to be a 1000% person. Commit yourself to continuous personal and professional development. Read, listen to audio programs and take additional courses. This process will completely transform your life.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, make a plan to become a little bit better every single day. Learn and apply one new idea each day to help you to become more productive and effective at your work. The incremental effect will amaze you.
Second, be patient. Don't expect overnight changes or instant results. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Become a little bit better each day and your future will take care of itself.
There are many things you can do to put your career onto the fast track. You can set clear, specific goals for each area of your life and then make plans to accomplish them. You can plan your work and work your plan.
Ask For Greater Responsibility
You can accept 100% responsibility for everything you are and everything you become. You can refuse to make excuses or to blame others. You can tell your boss that you want greater responsibilities and then when you get them, put your whole heart into doing an excellent job.
Utilize Your Inborn Talents
In the parable of the talents in the New Testament, Jesus says, "Oh good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over small things. I will make you master over large things."
If you too will carry out every assignment to the very best of your ability, you will be given larger and more important things to do and you'll be paid more as a result.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Improvement
The key to long term success is for you to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is!
Improve a Little at a Time
If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month and 26% more productive each year.
The cumulative effect if becoming a tiny bit better at your field and more productive amounts to a tremendous increase in your value and your output over time.
How to Double Your Productivity
Twenty-six percent more productive each year, with compounding, amounts to doubling your overall productivity and performance every 2.7 years. If you become 26% more productive each year, with compounding, times 10 years, you will be 1004% more productive over the next decade. That is an increase of ten times over ten years.
The Reason For All Great Successes
This is called the Law of Accumulation, or the Principle of Incremental Improvement. It is the primary reason for all great success stories. By the yard, it's hard. But inch by inch, anything's a cinch!
Become A 1000% Person
Make a decision, right now, to be a 1000% person. Commit yourself to continuous personal and professional development. Read, listen to audio programs and take additional courses. This process will completely transform your life.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to put these ideas into action immediately.
First, make a plan to become a little bit better every single day. Learn and apply one new idea each day to help you to become more productive and effective at your work. The incremental effect will amaze you.
Second, be patient. Don't expect overnight changes or instant results. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Become a little bit better each day and your future will take care of itself.
Becoming a Motivational Leader
Create a Big Vision
To become a motivational leader, you start with motivating yourself. You motivate yourself with a big vision, and as you move progressively toward its realization, you motivate and enthuse others to work with you to fulfill that vision.
Set High Standards
You exhibit absolute honesty and integrity with everyone in everything you do. You are the kind of person others admire and respect and want to be like. You set a standard that others aspire to. You live in truth with yourself and others so that they feel confident giving you their support and their commitment.
Face Your Fears
You demonstrate courage in everything you do by facing doubts and uncertainties and moving forward regardless. You put up a good front even when you feel anxious about the outcome. You don't burden others with your fears and misgivings. You keep them to yourself. You constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone and in the direction of your goals. And no matter how bleak the situation might appear, you keep on keeping on with a smile.
Be Realistic About Your Situation
You are intensely realistic. You refuse to engage in mental games or self-delusion. You encourage others to be realistic and objective about their situations as well. You encourage them to realize and appreciate that there is a price to pay for everything they want. They have weaknesses that they will have to overcome, and they have standards that they will have to meet, if they want to survive and thrive in a competitive market.
Accept Responsibility
You accept complete responsibility for results. You refuse to make excuses or blame others or hold grudges against people who you feel may have wronged you. You say, "If it's to be, it's up to me." You repeat over and over the words, "I am responsible. I am responsible. I am responsible."
Take Vigorous Action
Finally, you take action. You know that all mental preparation and character building is merely a prelude to action. It's not what you say but what you do that counts. The mark of the true leader is that he or she leads the action. He or she is willing to go first. He or she sets the example and acts as the role model. He or she does what he or she expects others to do.
Strive For Excellence
You become a motivational leader by motivating yourself. And you motivate yourself by striving toward excellence, by committing yourself to becoming everything you are capable of becoming. You motivate yourself by throwing your whole heart into doing your job in an excellent fashion. You motivate yourself and others by continually looking for ways to help others to improve their lives and achieve their goals. You become a motivational leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.
Your main job is to take complete control of your personal evolution and become a leader in every area of your life. You could ask for nothing more, and you should settle for nothing less.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, see yourself as an outstanding person, parent, coworker and leader in everything you do. Pattern your behavior after the very best people you know. Set high standards and refuse to compromise them.
Second, be clear about your goals and priorities and then take action continually forward. Develop a sense of urgency. Keep moving forward and you'll automatically keep yourself and others motivated.
To become a motivational leader, you start with motivating yourself. You motivate yourself with a big vision, and as you move progressively toward its realization, you motivate and enthuse others to work with you to fulfill that vision.
Set High Standards
You exhibit absolute honesty and integrity with everyone in everything you do. You are the kind of person others admire and respect and want to be like. You set a standard that others aspire to. You live in truth with yourself and others so that they feel confident giving you their support and their commitment.
Face Your Fears
You demonstrate courage in everything you do by facing doubts and uncertainties and moving forward regardless. You put up a good front even when you feel anxious about the outcome. You don't burden others with your fears and misgivings. You keep them to yourself. You constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone and in the direction of your goals. And no matter how bleak the situation might appear, you keep on keeping on with a smile.
Be Realistic About Your Situation
You are intensely realistic. You refuse to engage in mental games or self-delusion. You encourage others to be realistic and objective about their situations as well. You encourage them to realize and appreciate that there is a price to pay for everything they want. They have weaknesses that they will have to overcome, and they have standards that they will have to meet, if they want to survive and thrive in a competitive market.
Accept Responsibility
You accept complete responsibility for results. You refuse to make excuses or blame others or hold grudges against people who you feel may have wronged you. You say, "If it's to be, it's up to me." You repeat over and over the words, "I am responsible. I am responsible. I am responsible."
Take Vigorous Action
Finally, you take action. You know that all mental preparation and character building is merely a prelude to action. It's not what you say but what you do that counts. The mark of the true leader is that he or she leads the action. He or she is willing to go first. He or she sets the example and acts as the role model. He or she does what he or she expects others to do.
Strive For Excellence
You become a motivational leader by motivating yourself. And you motivate yourself by striving toward excellence, by committing yourself to becoming everything you are capable of becoming. You motivate yourself by throwing your whole heart into doing your job in an excellent fashion. You motivate yourself and others by continually looking for ways to help others to improve their lives and achieve their goals. You become a motivational leader by becoming the kind of person others want to get behind and support in every way.
Your main job is to take complete control of your personal evolution and become a leader in every area of your life. You could ask for nothing more, and you should settle for nothing less.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, see yourself as an outstanding person, parent, coworker and leader in everything you do. Pattern your behavior after the very best people you know. Set high standards and refuse to compromise them.
Second, be clear about your goals and priorities and then take action continually forward. Develop a sense of urgency. Keep moving forward and you'll automatically keep yourself and others motivated.
Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones
Everyone makes mistakes and the busier you are, the more mistakes you will make. The only question is "How well and how effectively do you deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life?"
You learn the difference between a positive and negative worldview. You learn how to benefit from your mistakes and how to remain positive in the face of adversity.
Let the Light Shine In
This is achieved through the simple exercise of self-disclosure. For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you must be able to disclose yourself to at least one person. You have to be able to get those things off your chest. You must rid yourself of those thoughts and feelings by revealing them to someone who won't make you feel guilty or ashamed for what has happened.
Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones
There are two ways to look at the world: the benevolent way or the malevolent way. People with a malevolent or negative worldview take a victim stance, seeing life as a continuous succession of problems and a process of unfairness and oppression. They don't expect a lot and they don't get much. When things go wrong, they shrug their shoulders and passively accept that this is the way life is and there isn't anything they can do to make it better.
On the other hand, people with a benevolent or positive worldview see the world around them as filled with opportunities and possibilities. They believe that everything happens as part of a great process designed to make them successful and happy. They approach their lives, their work, and their relationships with optimism, cheerfulness, and a general attitude of positive expectations. They expect a lot and they are seldom disappointed
Flex Your Mental Muscles
When you develop the skill of learning from your mistakes, you become the kind of person who welcomes obstacles and setbacks as opportunities to flex your mental muscles and move ahead. You look at problems as rungs on the ladder of success that you grab onto as you pull your way higher.
Two of the most common ways to deal with mistakes are invariably fatal to high achievement. The first common but misguided way to handle a mistake is the failure to accept it when it occurs. According to statistics, 70 percent of all decisions we make will be wrong. That's an average. This means that some people will fail more than 70 percent of the time, and some people will fail less. It is hard to believe that most of the decisions we make could turn out to be wrong in some way. In fact, if this is the case, how can our society continue to function at all?
Cut Your Losses
The fact is that our society, our families, our companies, and our relationships continue to survive and thrive because intelligent people tend to cut their losses and minimize their mistakes. It is only when people refuse to accept that they have made a bad choice or decision-and prolong the consequences by sticking to that bad choice or decision-that mistakes become extremely expensive and hurtful.
Learn From Your Mistakes
The second common approach that people take with regard to their mistakes, one that hurts innumerable lives and careers, is the failure to use your mistakes to better yourself and to improve the quality of your mind and your thinking.
Learning from your mistakes is an essential skill that enables you to develop the resilience to be a master of change rather than a victim of change. The person who recognizes that he has made a mistake and changes direction the fastest is the one who will win in an age of increasing information, technology and competition.
By remaining fast on your feet, you will be able to out-play and out-position your competition. You will become a creator of circumstances rather than a creature of circumstances.
Action Exercises
Now, here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that your biggest problem or challenge in life has been sent to you at this moment to help you, to teach you something valuable. What could it be?
Second, be willing to cut your losses and walk away if you have made a mistake or a bad choice. Accept that you are not perfect, you can't be right all the time, and then get on with your life.
Third, learn from every mistake you make. Write down every lesson it contains. Use your mistakes in the present as stepping stones to great success in the future.
You learn the difference between a positive and negative worldview. You learn how to benefit from your mistakes and how to remain positive in the face of adversity.
Let the Light Shine In
This is achieved through the simple exercise of self-disclosure. For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you must be able to disclose yourself to at least one person. You have to be able to get those things off your chest. You must rid yourself of those thoughts and feelings by revealing them to someone who won't make you feel guilty or ashamed for what has happened.
Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones
There are two ways to look at the world: the benevolent way or the malevolent way. People with a malevolent or negative worldview take a victim stance, seeing life as a continuous succession of problems and a process of unfairness and oppression. They don't expect a lot and they don't get much. When things go wrong, they shrug their shoulders and passively accept that this is the way life is and there isn't anything they can do to make it better.
On the other hand, people with a benevolent or positive worldview see the world around them as filled with opportunities and possibilities. They believe that everything happens as part of a great process designed to make them successful and happy. They approach their lives, their work, and their relationships with optimism, cheerfulness, and a general attitude of positive expectations. They expect a lot and they are seldom disappointed
Flex Your Mental Muscles
When you develop the skill of learning from your mistakes, you become the kind of person who welcomes obstacles and setbacks as opportunities to flex your mental muscles and move ahead. You look at problems as rungs on the ladder of success that you grab onto as you pull your way higher.
Two of the most common ways to deal with mistakes are invariably fatal to high achievement. The first common but misguided way to handle a mistake is the failure to accept it when it occurs. According to statistics, 70 percent of all decisions we make will be wrong. That's an average. This means that some people will fail more than 70 percent of the time, and some people will fail less. It is hard to believe that most of the decisions we make could turn out to be wrong in some way. In fact, if this is the case, how can our society continue to function at all?
Cut Your Losses
The fact is that our society, our families, our companies, and our relationships continue to survive and thrive because intelligent people tend to cut their losses and minimize their mistakes. It is only when people refuse to accept that they have made a bad choice or decision-and prolong the consequences by sticking to that bad choice or decision-that mistakes become extremely expensive and hurtful.
Learn From Your Mistakes
The second common approach that people take with regard to their mistakes, one that hurts innumerable lives and careers, is the failure to use your mistakes to better yourself and to improve the quality of your mind and your thinking.
Learning from your mistakes is an essential skill that enables you to develop the resilience to be a master of change rather than a victim of change. The person who recognizes that he has made a mistake and changes direction the fastest is the one who will win in an age of increasing information, technology and competition.
By remaining fast on your feet, you will be able to out-play and out-position your competition. You will become a creator of circumstances rather than a creature of circumstances.
Action Exercises
Now, here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, imagine that your biggest problem or challenge in life has been sent to you at this moment to help you, to teach you something valuable. What could it be?
Second, be willing to cut your losses and walk away if you have made a mistake or a bad choice. Accept that you are not perfect, you can't be right all the time, and then get on with your life.
Third, learn from every mistake you make. Write down every lesson it contains. Use your mistakes in the present as stepping stones to great success in the future.
Your Belief Becomes Your Reality
The Determinant of Your Success
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality. Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality.
What Successful People Believe
What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful
The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.
Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.
Resolve to Achieve Greatly
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of. It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:
First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.
Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality. Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality.
What Successful People Believe
What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful
The Foundation of Willpower
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.
Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.
Resolve to Achieve Greatly
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of. It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:
First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.
Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.
The Foundation of Leadership
The most important quality of leadership, the one quality for which you want to be known, is extraordinary performance, with the goal of achieving extraordinary results. These results then serve as an inspiration to others to perform at equally exceptional levels. People ascribe leadership to those men and women who they feel can most enable them to achieve important goals or objectives.
Why People Respect You
We develop great perceptions of those men and women we can count on to help us achieve what is important to us. Men and women who make great sales, or who establish admirable sales records, develop influence in the minds and hearts of their coworkers and superiors. They are spoken about in the most positive way.
The Halo Effect
Men and women who are responsible for companies or departments that achieve high levels of profitability also develop charisma. They develop what is called the "halo effect." They are perceived by others to be extraordinary men and women who are capable of great things. Their shortcomings are often overlooked, while their strong points are overemphasized. They become charismatic.
The Source of Charisma
Charisma actually comes from working on yourself. It comes from liking and accepting yourself unconditionally as you do and say the specific things that develop within you a powerful, charismatic personality.
Be Determined and Purposeful
When you set clear goals and become determined and purposeful, backing those goals with unshakable self-confidence, you develop charisma. When you are enthusiastic and excited about what you are doing, when you are totally committed to achieving something worthwhile, you radiate charisma. When you take the time to study and become an expert at what you do, and then prepare thoroughly for any opportunity to use your knowledge, skill or experience, the perception that others have of you goes straight up.
Accept Complete Responsibility
When you take complete responsibility and accept ownership, without making excuses or blaming others, you experience a sense of control that leads to the personal power that is the foundation of charisma. When you look like a winner in every respect, when you have the kind of external image that others admire, you build your charisma. When you develop your character by setting high standards and then disciplining yourself to live consistent with the highest principles you know, you become the kind of person who is admired and respected everywhere. You become the kind of person who radiates charisma to others.
Focus on Results
Finally, when you concentrate your energies on achieving the results that you have been hired to accomplish, the results that others expect of you, you develop the reputation for performance and achievement that inevitably leads to the perception of charisma.
You can develop the kind of charisma that opens doors for you by going to work on yourself, consistently and persistently, and becoming the kind of person everyone can admire and look up to. That's what charisma is all about
Why People Respect You
We develop great perceptions of those men and women we can count on to help us achieve what is important to us. Men and women who make great sales, or who establish admirable sales records, develop influence in the minds and hearts of their coworkers and superiors. They are spoken about in the most positive way.
The Halo Effect
Men and women who are responsible for companies or departments that achieve high levels of profitability also develop charisma. They develop what is called the "halo effect." They are perceived by others to be extraordinary men and women who are capable of great things. Their shortcomings are often overlooked, while their strong points are overemphasized. They become charismatic.
The Source of Charisma
Charisma actually comes from working on yourself. It comes from liking and accepting yourself unconditionally as you do and say the specific things that develop within you a powerful, charismatic personality.
Be Determined and Purposeful
When you set clear goals and become determined and purposeful, backing those goals with unshakable self-confidence, you develop charisma. When you are enthusiastic and excited about what you are doing, when you are totally committed to achieving something worthwhile, you radiate charisma. When you take the time to study and become an expert at what you do, and then prepare thoroughly for any opportunity to use your knowledge, skill or experience, the perception that others have of you goes straight up.
Accept Complete Responsibility
When you take complete responsibility and accept ownership, without making excuses or blaming others, you experience a sense of control that leads to the personal power that is the foundation of charisma. When you look like a winner in every respect, when you have the kind of external image that others admire, you build your charisma. When you develop your character by setting high standards and then disciplining yourself to live consistent with the highest principles you know, you become the kind of person who is admired and respected everywhere. You become the kind of person who radiates charisma to others.
Focus on Results
Finally, when you concentrate your energies on achieving the results that you have been hired to accomplish, the results that others expect of you, you develop the reputation for performance and achievement that inevitably leads to the perception of charisma.
You can develop the kind of charisma that opens doors for you by going to work on yourself, consistently and persistently, and becoming the kind of person everyone can admire and look up to. That's what charisma is all about
Friday, April 18, 2008
Fear not, take the plunge
YOUR job may be interesting, but you may occasionally wonder whether you should look at alternatives.
Perhaps you would like to join another company or become an entrepreneur and do something on your own.
You may have thought about it before, but something always held you back. Having spent over a decade working for large companies, you probably hesitated at the thought of getting out of your comfort zone.
Running your own business is like sailing into uncharted waters. In the end, you shelved the idea because the security of a job outweighed the risks of entrepreneurship.
Making the transition from a traditional job to working from home or starting your own business can be scary. Not all of us can become entrepreneurs. Deciding to make the transition from being an employee to becoming your own boss can be one of the toughest things you will face.
A million questions will keep popping into your mind. What should I do? How will I start? Where will I raise the capital? What if things don’t work? What will be the impact on my family? Is this the right time?
When you are self-employed, you have nobody to handle all the office tasks that someone in some department used to handle — bill payments, stock counts, maintenance, software installation, advertising, and so on.
These tasks are now your responsibility. You have to be a multitasker. Suddenly, you are the receptionist, book-keeper, store manager, marketing executive and cleaner. And most importantly, you’re the salesman — you have to get customers!
As an employee, you take instructions on tasks and assignments, but as an entrepreneur you have to be a self-starter. You have to motivate yourself to get things done.
The fear of the unknown and the fear of failure are two phobias that grip many people when they think of a career change from employee to entrepreneur.
Change is often frightening and uncomfortable. Most people prefer to maintain status quo until events and circumstances force them to change tracks.
An entrepreneur’s life is not easy. As in life, nothing you do can completely prepare you for the daunting task of being the owner and president of your own company.
While there may be support, you are ultimately on your own. Your money, time and energy are on the line.
The decision to be or not be an entrepreneur is an intensely personal one. It is one that needs to be discussed and debated with family and friends. It depends on each person’s appetite for risk.
There is never a right or wrong answer, just as there is never a right or wrong time. The fundamental decision has to come from within.
Once you have decided to leave the world of employment and move to the world of entrepreneurship, you must let go of the former completely.
If you know that there is always the option of going back to the safety and security of the other world, it will be much harder making the entrepreneurial option work.
In a sense, as you close one door, other doors will open. But you have to close the door first. You have to fight knowing that there is no going back.
A start-up is exciting because the pace is so quick. For example, in the technology industry, products and players change rapidly, so quick decision-making, quick assessment, prompt resolution and immediate follow- through on ideas are essential.
You must understand the market, the competition, and, above all, define and reinforce your unique selling proposition.
A clear statement of purpose provides you with focus as you develop your business plan. Going back to it frequently will keep you from veering off course.
When you talk with clients, bankers, investors, and vendors, it will enable them to easily grasp what your aims and goals are.
No matter which option you choose, you will most likely be making a sacrifice of some sort — and taking a chance. Plan smart, believe in yourself, and resolve to do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true.
Perhaps you would like to join another company or become an entrepreneur and do something on your own.
You may have thought about it before, but something always held you back. Having spent over a decade working for large companies, you probably hesitated at the thought of getting out of your comfort zone.
Running your own business is like sailing into uncharted waters. In the end, you shelved the idea because the security of a job outweighed the risks of entrepreneurship.
Making the transition from a traditional job to working from home or starting your own business can be scary. Not all of us can become entrepreneurs. Deciding to make the transition from being an employee to becoming your own boss can be one of the toughest things you will face.
A million questions will keep popping into your mind. What should I do? How will I start? Where will I raise the capital? What if things don’t work? What will be the impact on my family? Is this the right time?
When you are self-employed, you have nobody to handle all the office tasks that someone in some department used to handle — bill payments, stock counts, maintenance, software installation, advertising, and so on.
These tasks are now your responsibility. You have to be a multitasker. Suddenly, you are the receptionist, book-keeper, store manager, marketing executive and cleaner. And most importantly, you’re the salesman — you have to get customers!
As an employee, you take instructions on tasks and assignments, but as an entrepreneur you have to be a self-starter. You have to motivate yourself to get things done.
The fear of the unknown and the fear of failure are two phobias that grip many people when they think of a career change from employee to entrepreneur.
Change is often frightening and uncomfortable. Most people prefer to maintain status quo until events and circumstances force them to change tracks.
An entrepreneur’s life is not easy. As in life, nothing you do can completely prepare you for the daunting task of being the owner and president of your own company.
While there may be support, you are ultimately on your own. Your money, time and energy are on the line.
The decision to be or not be an entrepreneur is an intensely personal one. It is one that needs to be discussed and debated with family and friends. It depends on each person’s appetite for risk.
There is never a right or wrong answer, just as there is never a right or wrong time. The fundamental decision has to come from within.
Once you have decided to leave the world of employment and move to the world of entrepreneurship, you must let go of the former completely.
If you know that there is always the option of going back to the safety and security of the other world, it will be much harder making the entrepreneurial option work.
In a sense, as you close one door, other doors will open. But you have to close the door first. You have to fight knowing that there is no going back.
A start-up is exciting because the pace is so quick. For example, in the technology industry, products and players change rapidly, so quick decision-making, quick assessment, prompt resolution and immediate follow- through on ideas are essential.
You must understand the market, the competition, and, above all, define and reinforce your unique selling proposition.
A clear statement of purpose provides you with focus as you develop your business plan. Going back to it frequently will keep you from veering off course.
When you talk with clients, bankers, investors, and vendors, it will enable them to easily grasp what your aims and goals are.
No matter which option you choose, you will most likely be making a sacrifice of some sort — and taking a chance. Plan smart, believe in yourself, and resolve to do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true.
How peak performers take control of their lives
IS YOUR work and life organisation out of control? Do you read all the time management books but still never seem to have enough time?
Take a page out of the peak performer’s book of life and hear what they do to organise, choose tasks wisely, execute well, achieve highly and enjoy their success at the same time.
Here are 10 mental game success strategies that peak performers use in self-management.
1 Know what motivates you.
Top producers know what makes them tick. They know what it takes to get the creative, competitive juices flowing. They know how to tap their passion and create the energy needed for a project. They assess what motivates them and then seek opportunities to match those energies.
2 Be aware of your options.
People who race through their day are like a race-car driver. The view around them is a blur. Slow down to notice your options and sense new opportunities. You create this clear focus by starting each day and each task with a quiet time that realigns you with your purpose, mission and values.
3 Train yourself to act promptly.
Reflection, planning and strategising are essential. When the time comes to act, the peak performer goes for it enthusiastically – he pulls out all the stops.
4 Realise that you never arrive.
Listen to high achievers and they all say that they wish they knew early on that success and happiness are not something “out there” in the future. Success is striving towards a goal while being content and grateful for what you have today.
Seek your dreams with reverence for the gifts you have been given now and do not put happiness off until something “better” arrives.
5 Use success to energise yourself.
Do you celebrate only your large successes? Do you downplay the smaller, day-to-day victories? Peak performers celebrate both and more. They seek opportunities to reinforce their efforts so that they are continually energised and motivated to stay on track and to perform at higher levels.
6 Realise that life is a do-it-yourself project.
Peak performers do not wait for anyone to save them, coach them or help them overcome obstacles. They of course seek help as needed, but first and foremost they take an “I must help myself first” approach to life. They realise that success begins and ends with them, and that they must take the initiative in helping themselves first.
7 Understand that life is not a dress rehearsal.
Life is short. Life is unpredictable. Life needs to be lived today, in the present. Peak performers carry a continual sense of mortality around to remind themselves that every second is precious. Therefore, everything they do deserves their best, highest-quality effort.
8 Get ready to act.
Peak performers use rituals or psych-up systems to prepare themselves for springing into action with laser focus. They purposely take time before any “performance” to mentally, physically and emotionally get ready so that they can operate optimally for that special moment.
9 Write to stay on track.
Top performers use a written journal to sharpen self-awareness, dream, savour victories, make corrections, set goals and objectives and have a private confidant.
10 Stop procrastinating.
To ignore something you must do is like making a decision not to do it. Productive people strive for the mental discipline it takes to make reasoned decisions, to hold themselves accountable and to minimise the number of tasks that they “forgot about”.
Your mental game action plan
What action will you take this week to become better at self-management? Here are three tips to get you started:
1. Think of a system you can use to become more organised. Can you hire a coach? Work with a friend? Write in a journal?
2. Celebrate your successes more often to create energy and momentum for achieving your goals. Instead of waiting for the “big” success at the end of a month, quarter or year, think about what you can view as a success worthy of enjoying every day.
3. Translate what you learn about yourself into immediately useful action. Learn to motivate yourself, create more urgency to achieve, enjoy the process more, and get more done.
Peak performers create a healthy sense of urgency to propel themselves along their exciting path. Take a page out of their book and write your own success chapters in that very important book – your life.
Take a page out of the peak performer’s book of life and hear what they do to organise, choose tasks wisely, execute well, achieve highly and enjoy their success at the same time.
Here are 10 mental game success strategies that peak performers use in self-management.
1 Know what motivates you.
Top producers know what makes them tick. They know what it takes to get the creative, competitive juices flowing. They know how to tap their passion and create the energy needed for a project. They assess what motivates them and then seek opportunities to match those energies.
2 Be aware of your options.
People who race through their day are like a race-car driver. The view around them is a blur. Slow down to notice your options and sense new opportunities. You create this clear focus by starting each day and each task with a quiet time that realigns you with your purpose, mission and values.
3 Train yourself to act promptly.
Reflection, planning and strategising are essential. When the time comes to act, the peak performer goes for it enthusiastically – he pulls out all the stops.
4 Realise that you never arrive.
Listen to high achievers and they all say that they wish they knew early on that success and happiness are not something “out there” in the future. Success is striving towards a goal while being content and grateful for what you have today.
Seek your dreams with reverence for the gifts you have been given now and do not put happiness off until something “better” arrives.
5 Use success to energise yourself.
Do you celebrate only your large successes? Do you downplay the smaller, day-to-day victories? Peak performers celebrate both and more. They seek opportunities to reinforce their efforts so that they are continually energised and motivated to stay on track and to perform at higher levels.
6 Realise that life is a do-it-yourself project.
Peak performers do not wait for anyone to save them, coach them or help them overcome obstacles. They of course seek help as needed, but first and foremost they take an “I must help myself first” approach to life. They realise that success begins and ends with them, and that they must take the initiative in helping themselves first.
7 Understand that life is not a dress rehearsal.
Life is short. Life is unpredictable. Life needs to be lived today, in the present. Peak performers carry a continual sense of mortality around to remind themselves that every second is precious. Therefore, everything they do deserves their best, highest-quality effort.
8 Get ready to act.
Peak performers use rituals or psych-up systems to prepare themselves for springing into action with laser focus. They purposely take time before any “performance” to mentally, physically and emotionally get ready so that they can operate optimally for that special moment.
9 Write to stay on track.
Top performers use a written journal to sharpen self-awareness, dream, savour victories, make corrections, set goals and objectives and have a private confidant.
10 Stop procrastinating.
To ignore something you must do is like making a decision not to do it. Productive people strive for the mental discipline it takes to make reasoned decisions, to hold themselves accountable and to minimise the number of tasks that they “forgot about”.
Your mental game action plan
What action will you take this week to become better at self-management? Here are three tips to get you started:
1. Think of a system you can use to become more organised. Can you hire a coach? Work with a friend? Write in a journal?
2. Celebrate your successes more often to create energy and momentum for achieving your goals. Instead of waiting for the “big” success at the end of a month, quarter or year, think about what you can view as a success worthy of enjoying every day.
3. Translate what you learn about yourself into immediately useful action. Learn to motivate yourself, create more urgency to achieve, enjoy the process more, and get more done.
Peak performers create a healthy sense of urgency to propel themselves along their exciting path. Take a page out of their book and write your own success chapters in that very important book – your life.
Groom your successor
GROOMING your team to become effective managers is a comprehensive process, requiring highly effective succession planning.
Think about it: If you can progress up the ranks of a business while ensuring those behind you progress as well, there is no limit to your advancement.
Consider a few ideas being promoted by best practice organisations to move your business beyond talent search and into the economic and strategic advantages of succession planning.
Promote your plan
Leading investment banks have highly visible succession planning policies and employees are excited about the potential they possess. Leaders and managers are inspired to continually train their team to their level and beyond so that they can advance further.
Taking the time to train and develop the skills of your team will make you a highly effective manager. So if your succession plan is not visible, challenge your manager to create one for you.
Identify the talent pool
Company loyalty is not a high priority for employees today. With the economic successes of recent times comes an increase in the choices available. Research indicates that an average graduate will change jobs up to five times in his career.
Organisations need to be conscious of a loss of talent and economic power as key individuals start to look elsewhere. So get the right talent in place or you will be limiting your growth before you begin.
Attract the best and seek out the high performers. Once you have them, put them on the road to success the moment they begin.
Create new roles
As you develop your team to replace you, you may find a few individuals who are struggling to master the competencies needed to take over your job.
An accurate assessment to identify the gaps and a training programme to rectify them may sort this problem out. However, if it is becoming clear they might not make it, then other opportunities must exist.
As the organisation grows with more positions becoming available, you can find an opening for these team members or create new ones for them.
Job rotation
The more opportunities employees have to experience the various aspects of the business, the more exposure they gain in the operational processes. This will increase their job satisfaction.
Management rotation will further develop your talent pool and ensure a multi-skilled workforce, with the ability to fill a broad range of positions as opportunities arise.
Engage future leaders
Developing your team to be the future leaders of an organisation is a big business opportunity in terms of human capital investment.
Assign orientation programmes and deliver training on best practice leadership regularly.
Introduce assessment tools that will develop self-awareness in communication styles, organisational skills and strategic acumen. These will enable future leaders to interact more fully with their team, establish rapport and ensure a smooth transfer of important skills.
Support development
Core skills such as conflict management and mentoring skills will engage leaders and boost their capabilities. Discover what the organisation is calling for and link these to the developmental needs of staff to create a culture of responsibility. Regular coaching to meet these needs will further match the individual’s aspirations and provide seamless consistency with the organisational and human capital goals.
Measure effectiveness
There are some simple tools available to effectively measure the outcome of a succession plan. A popular tool is to evaluate the percentage of openings filled from within the organisation. Some organisations are big advocates on recruitment from within. They score high on the percentage of talent nurtured from within their own human capital base, cutting out the need to recruit from elsewhere.
Pointers for success
● Engage management: Make sure that senior-level management endorses and supports the process, as research has shown that the top firms would not have firmly established succession planning without support from top management.
● Keep it simple: A simple process will keep bureaucracy at bay and achieve a greater buy-in for those responsible for succession planning. Regularly refine the process so that it becomes natural and intuitive, reinforcing the presence of succession planning in the workplace.
● Encourage growth: Once you effectively track and enhance your succession plan, you will find your team members developing and seizing opportunities for their own growth and contributing to the success of the company.
Think about it: If you can progress up the ranks of a business while ensuring those behind you progress as well, there is no limit to your advancement.
Consider a few ideas being promoted by best practice organisations to move your business beyond talent search and into the economic and strategic advantages of succession planning.
Promote your plan
Leading investment banks have highly visible succession planning policies and employees are excited about the potential they possess. Leaders and managers are inspired to continually train their team to their level and beyond so that they can advance further.
Taking the time to train and develop the skills of your team will make you a highly effective manager. So if your succession plan is not visible, challenge your manager to create one for you.
Identify the talent pool
Company loyalty is not a high priority for employees today. With the economic successes of recent times comes an increase in the choices available. Research indicates that an average graduate will change jobs up to five times in his career.
Organisations need to be conscious of a loss of talent and economic power as key individuals start to look elsewhere. So get the right talent in place or you will be limiting your growth before you begin.
Attract the best and seek out the high performers. Once you have them, put them on the road to success the moment they begin.
Create new roles
As you develop your team to replace you, you may find a few individuals who are struggling to master the competencies needed to take over your job.
An accurate assessment to identify the gaps and a training programme to rectify them may sort this problem out. However, if it is becoming clear they might not make it, then other opportunities must exist.
As the organisation grows with more positions becoming available, you can find an opening for these team members or create new ones for them.
Job rotation
The more opportunities employees have to experience the various aspects of the business, the more exposure they gain in the operational processes. This will increase their job satisfaction.
Management rotation will further develop your talent pool and ensure a multi-skilled workforce, with the ability to fill a broad range of positions as opportunities arise.
Engage future leaders
Developing your team to be the future leaders of an organisation is a big business opportunity in terms of human capital investment.
Assign orientation programmes and deliver training on best practice leadership regularly.
Introduce assessment tools that will develop self-awareness in communication styles, organisational skills and strategic acumen. These will enable future leaders to interact more fully with their team, establish rapport and ensure a smooth transfer of important skills.
Support development
Core skills such as conflict management and mentoring skills will engage leaders and boost their capabilities. Discover what the organisation is calling for and link these to the developmental needs of staff to create a culture of responsibility. Regular coaching to meet these needs will further match the individual’s aspirations and provide seamless consistency with the organisational and human capital goals.
Measure effectiveness
There are some simple tools available to effectively measure the outcome of a succession plan. A popular tool is to evaluate the percentage of openings filled from within the organisation. Some organisations are big advocates on recruitment from within. They score high on the percentage of talent nurtured from within their own human capital base, cutting out the need to recruit from elsewhere.
Pointers for success
● Engage management: Make sure that senior-level management endorses and supports the process, as research has shown that the top firms would not have firmly established succession planning without support from top management.
● Keep it simple: A simple process will keep bureaucracy at bay and achieve a greater buy-in for those responsible for succession planning. Regularly refine the process so that it becomes natural and intuitive, reinforcing the presence of succession planning in the workplace.
● Encourage growth: Once you effectively track and enhance your succession plan, you will find your team members developing and seizing opportunities for their own growth and contributing to the success of the company.
Making money, not inheriting it
Making money, not inheriting it, creates more financial security
Most wealthy people earn their money, and because they earned it they feel more secure about keeping it. That's what a new survey reveals about wealth and values.
PNC Wealth Management conducted the survey of people with more than $500,000 of investable assets. The Wealth and Values Survey showed that 69% of "wealthy" Americans accumulated most of their money through work, business ownership or investments; 6% percent received money through inheritance; and 25% gained wealth through a combination of inheritance and earnings.
"An overwhelming number of affluent Americans earned their wealth and are more likely to feel secure during challenging economic times compared to peers who inherited their money," according to PNC.
These findings mirror most other studies of the wealthy and how they got rich. Indeed, take a look at the Forbes list of the world's richest people and you won't find many at the top spots who inherited their riches. This value set speaks volumes about making money, as well as about the prospects of losing it.
A couple of things separate the earners from the inheritors: First, earners were in control of making their money, and therefore feel more confident about preserving it or making even more. Second, earners likely took large risks to achieve wealth. As we all know, as risk increases, so does return. Accordingly, earners are likely more comfortable with the concept of risk.
Keep What You Make
Earners are more likely to be concerned about an economic recession, and more confident they can manage through a downturn. When asked about a recession, 36% of earners said it was a concern, yet 77% agreed with the statement "I feel I have a lot of control over my financial future."
Meanwhile, 27% of heirs expressed concern about recession, but 67% expressed confidence about control of their financial futures, PNC found.
Driving the point of risk tolerance home, the report says earners also have a higher risk tolerance than heirs: 39% of earners rate themselves as moderate to risky investors compared with 21% of heirs.
"There is a strong correlation between those who earned their wealth, their willingness to take risks and confidence that they can recover from a major negative financial event," says Thomas Melcher, executive vice president and managing director of Hawthorn, PNC Wealth Management's division that services ultra-wealthy clients.
"Those who inherited their wealth often view themselves as stewards for future generations," he adds. "As a result, they tend to be more conservative in their approach to investing."
Other Survey Findings Include:
Happiness is relative: Three-quarters of earners agree with the statement: "My financial success lets me feel less stress and worry," versus 50% of heirs. Meanwhile, 51% of earners agree with the statement: "As I have accumulated more money in my life I have become happier," compared to 33% of heirs.
More is not necessarily merrier: Heirs are more than twice as likely to say "Having a lot of money brings about more problems than it solves."
As luck would have it: More people who have earned their wealth (37%) agree with the statement: "The money I have made so far has come from being in the right place at the right time" compared with 25% of heirs.
Passing it on: Far more of earners agree with the statement: "Every generation should be responsible for creating its own wealth." And more earners believe that "It is more important for children to learn the value of money through hard work."
Which also seems to be a good lesson for adults.
Most wealthy people earn their money, and because they earned it they feel more secure about keeping it. That's what a new survey reveals about wealth and values.
PNC Wealth Management conducted the survey of people with more than $500,000 of investable assets. The Wealth and Values Survey showed that 69% of "wealthy" Americans accumulated most of their money through work, business ownership or investments; 6% percent received money through inheritance; and 25% gained wealth through a combination of inheritance and earnings.
"An overwhelming number of affluent Americans earned their wealth and are more likely to feel secure during challenging economic times compared to peers who inherited their money," according to PNC.
These findings mirror most other studies of the wealthy and how they got rich. Indeed, take a look at the Forbes list of the world's richest people and you won't find many at the top spots who inherited their riches. This value set speaks volumes about making money, as well as about the prospects of losing it.
A couple of things separate the earners from the inheritors: First, earners were in control of making their money, and therefore feel more confident about preserving it or making even more. Second, earners likely took large risks to achieve wealth. As we all know, as risk increases, so does return. Accordingly, earners are likely more comfortable with the concept of risk.
Keep What You Make
Earners are more likely to be concerned about an economic recession, and more confident they can manage through a downturn. When asked about a recession, 36% of earners said it was a concern, yet 77% agreed with the statement "I feel I have a lot of control over my financial future."
Meanwhile, 27% of heirs expressed concern about recession, but 67% expressed confidence about control of their financial futures, PNC found.
Driving the point of risk tolerance home, the report says earners also have a higher risk tolerance than heirs: 39% of earners rate themselves as moderate to risky investors compared with 21% of heirs.
"There is a strong correlation between those who earned their wealth, their willingness to take risks and confidence that they can recover from a major negative financial event," says Thomas Melcher, executive vice president and managing director of Hawthorn, PNC Wealth Management's division that services ultra-wealthy clients.
"Those who inherited their wealth often view themselves as stewards for future generations," he adds. "As a result, they tend to be more conservative in their approach to investing."
Other Survey Findings Include:
Happiness is relative: Three-quarters of earners agree with the statement: "My financial success lets me feel less stress and worry," versus 50% of heirs. Meanwhile, 51% of earners agree with the statement: "As I have accumulated more money in my life I have become happier," compared to 33% of heirs.
More is not necessarily merrier: Heirs are more than twice as likely to say "Having a lot of money brings about more problems than it solves."
As luck would have it: More people who have earned their wealth (37%) agree with the statement: "The money I have made so far has come from being in the right place at the right time" compared with 25% of heirs.
Passing it on: Far more of earners agree with the statement: "Every generation should be responsible for creating its own wealth." And more earners believe that "It is more important for children to learn the value of money through hard work."
Which also seems to be a good lesson for adults.
Clarify Your Values
Decide What You Stand For
What are your values? What do you stand for? What are the organizing principles of your life? What are your core beliefs? What virtues do you aspire to, and hold in high regard when you see them demonstrated by others? What will you not stand for? What would you sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? These are extremely important questions that are only asked by about three percent of the population, and that small minority tends to be the movers and shakers in every society.What are your values? What do you stand for? What are the organizing principles of your life? What are your core beliefs? What virtues do you aspire to, and hold in high regard when you see them demonstrated by others? What will you not stand for? What would you sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? These are extremely important questions that are only asked by about three percent of the population, and that small minority tends to be the movers and shakers in every society.
Write Out Your Key Values
When I first began this values clarification exercise some years ago, I wrote out a list of 163 qualities that I aspired to. I think I eventually came up with every virtue, value or positive descriptive adjective that referred to personality and character in the dictionary. And I agreed with all of them. I felt that they were all important and I wanted to incorporate every single one of them into my character.
Focus on Very Few Core Beliefs
But then reality sets in. I realized that it is very hard to learn even one new quality, or to change even one thing about myself, let alone dozens of things. So I scaled down my ambitions and began narrowing the values down to a small number that I could manage and work with. Once I had settled on about five core beliefs, I was then able to get to work on myself and start making some progress in character development.
Select Your Five Key Values
You should do the same. You should write down the five values that you feel are the most important for you to live by. Once you have those five values, you then organize them in order of priority. Which is the most important value in your hierarchy of values? Which would be second? Which would be third, and so on?
Learn to Make Better Decisions
Every choice or decision you make is based on your values. Whenever you decide between alternatives, you invariably choose the alternative that you value the most. Because you can only do one thing at a time, everything you do is a demonstration of what you consider to be the most important at that moment. Therefore, organizing your values in an order of priority is the starting point of personal strategic planning. It is only when you are clear about what you value, and in what order, that you are capable of planning and organizing the other activities of your life.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, clarify your core beliefs and your unifying principles. Write them down and compare your life today with the values that are really important to you. How are you doing?
Second, organize your values in order of their importance to you. Which of your values is most important? Which is second? And so on. Do your current choices reflect this order of values?
What are your values? What do you stand for? What are the organizing principles of your life? What are your core beliefs? What virtues do you aspire to, and hold in high regard when you see them demonstrated by others? What will you not stand for? What would you sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? These are extremely important questions that are only asked by about three percent of the population, and that small minority tends to be the movers and shakers in every society.What are your values? What do you stand for? What are the organizing principles of your life? What are your core beliefs? What virtues do you aspire to, and hold in high regard when you see them demonstrated by others? What will you not stand for? What would you sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? These are extremely important questions that are only asked by about three percent of the population, and that small minority tends to be the movers and shakers in every society.
Write Out Your Key Values
When I first began this values clarification exercise some years ago, I wrote out a list of 163 qualities that I aspired to. I think I eventually came up with every virtue, value or positive descriptive adjective that referred to personality and character in the dictionary. And I agreed with all of them. I felt that they were all important and I wanted to incorporate every single one of them into my character.
Focus on Very Few Core Beliefs
But then reality sets in. I realized that it is very hard to learn even one new quality, or to change even one thing about myself, let alone dozens of things. So I scaled down my ambitions and began narrowing the values down to a small number that I could manage and work with. Once I had settled on about five core beliefs, I was then able to get to work on myself and start making some progress in character development.
Select Your Five Key Values
You should do the same. You should write down the five values that you feel are the most important for you to live by. Once you have those five values, you then organize them in order of priority. Which is the most important value in your hierarchy of values? Which would be second? Which would be third, and so on?
Learn to Make Better Decisions
Every choice or decision you make is based on your values. Whenever you decide between alternatives, you invariably choose the alternative that you value the most. Because you can only do one thing at a time, everything you do is a demonstration of what you consider to be the most important at that moment. Therefore, organizing your values in an order of priority is the starting point of personal strategic planning. It is only when you are clear about what you value, and in what order, that you are capable of planning and organizing the other activities of your life.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, clarify your core beliefs and your unifying principles. Write them down and compare your life today with the values that are really important to you. How are you doing?
Second, organize your values in order of their importance to you. Which of your values is most important? Which is second? And so on. Do your current choices reflect this order of values?
Opportunities Are Unlimited
There have never been so many opportunities to start and build a successful business than there are today.
One Million Every Year
Ambitious individuals like you, with dreams and hopes, are starting new businesses today at a faster rate than ever before. Over one million new enterprises are being launched each year, and the rate is accelerating. The opportunities for finding or developing a new business idea are all around you, and with proper preparation, the possibilities for your success are enormous.
No Better Time Than Today
As many as 80 percent of all the products and services in common use today at home, in business and in organizations large and small, will be obsolete in five years. They'll be replaced by new and better products and services. The rapid development of new technology and the desire of people for new or better or cheaper products or services means that you can start your fortune easier today than at any other time in history.
Avoiding Failure, Assuring Success
However, we know that 80 to 90 percent of new businesses fail in the first three years due to a variety of factors. One of those factors is managerial incompetence. It is an inability to sell the product or an inability to control costs or both. Another major reason for failure is offering the wrong product at the wrong price to the wrong market at the wrong time, or a combination of these. In which case, even the best marketing efforts and cost controls won't help you.
Determine the Need
The first principle with regard to selecting any new product or service is to determine that it fills a genuine, existing need, that it solves a problem of some kind for the customer, or that it makes the life or work of the customer better in some way. You must be very clear about this.
Sell a Quality Product or Service
The second principle for success with a new product or service is that it must be of good quality at a fair price. And if it is in competition with other similar products or services, it must have what is called a unique selling proposition. It must have some beneficial feature or attraction that makes it different from and superior to its competitors.
Your Area of Uniqueness
We call this its area of uniqueness. And it is central to success in business. No product or service can succeed unless it is somehow unique and superior to any other product or service like it. There is seldom any real opportunity in what is called a "me too" product - one that is just the same as all the others. At the same time, the safest business strategy is to start off with an accepted product that you can improve. In other words, instead of trying to invent a whole new business or industry, start off with something that people are already doing, people are already buying and using, and find some way to improve it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, determine exactly what is different and special about your product or service that will cause people to buy it in competition with similar products or services. Build your entire sales and marketing around this unique selling proposition.
Second, investigate before you invest. Be prepared to look at a variety of different business opportunities until you find one that really excites you before you make a decision to get started
One Million Every Year
Ambitious individuals like you, with dreams and hopes, are starting new businesses today at a faster rate than ever before. Over one million new enterprises are being launched each year, and the rate is accelerating. The opportunities for finding or developing a new business idea are all around you, and with proper preparation, the possibilities for your success are enormous.
No Better Time Than Today
As many as 80 percent of all the products and services in common use today at home, in business and in organizations large and small, will be obsolete in five years. They'll be replaced by new and better products and services. The rapid development of new technology and the desire of people for new or better or cheaper products or services means that you can start your fortune easier today than at any other time in history.
Avoiding Failure, Assuring Success
However, we know that 80 to 90 percent of new businesses fail in the first three years due to a variety of factors. One of those factors is managerial incompetence. It is an inability to sell the product or an inability to control costs or both. Another major reason for failure is offering the wrong product at the wrong price to the wrong market at the wrong time, or a combination of these. In which case, even the best marketing efforts and cost controls won't help you.
Determine the Need
The first principle with regard to selecting any new product or service is to determine that it fills a genuine, existing need, that it solves a problem of some kind for the customer, or that it makes the life or work of the customer better in some way. You must be very clear about this.
Sell a Quality Product or Service
The second principle for success with a new product or service is that it must be of good quality at a fair price. And if it is in competition with other similar products or services, it must have what is called a unique selling proposition. It must have some beneficial feature or attraction that makes it different from and superior to its competitors.
Your Area of Uniqueness
We call this its area of uniqueness. And it is central to success in business. No product or service can succeed unless it is somehow unique and superior to any other product or service like it. There is seldom any real opportunity in what is called a "me too" product - one that is just the same as all the others. At the same time, the safest business strategy is to start off with an accepted product that you can improve. In other words, instead of trying to invent a whole new business or industry, start off with something that people are already doing, people are already buying and using, and find some way to improve it.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, determine exactly what is different and special about your product or service that will cause people to buy it in competition with similar products or services. Build your entire sales and marketing around this unique selling proposition.
Second, investigate before you invest. Be prepared to look at a variety of different business opportunities until you find one that really excites you before you make a decision to get started
Friday, April 11, 2008
Feedback and Discipline
How You Can Be More Effective in Giving Feedback to Your Staff
An important part of business communication is giving feedback, correction and discipline to your staff. One of the jobs of the manager is to be a teacher, and in some cases a disciplinarian. This means that, in order to do your job properly, and in order to develop your staff to make their highest potential contribution to the organization, you must give them regular feedback on what they are doing right and where they can improve.
Constructive Criticism
Most people are very tense about giving discipline or what is often called, "constructive criticism." However you can make it a low stress occasion by focusing on the behavior and the performance rather than on the person. This requires that you report what you see, rather than what you feel, or your interpretation of events.
Focus on the Behavior
For example, a person comes back from a luncheon two hours late. Instead of getting angry with the person, you could say, "I see that you took more than two hours for lunch today. This causes some disruption in the office because of the work that doesn't get done. Is there a reason for this long lunch?"
In other words, what you are doing is reporting on the individual's behavior and leaving the door open for a variety of interpretations or explanations. The individual may have had a car accident or a medical appointment, or a family emergency.
Thinking About the Future
One of the best ways to deal with poor performance is to focus on the future over the past. Instead of becoming angry over what has already happened, or not happened, you should explain clearly to the individual what you want to see done differently. Get an agreement from the individual that the job will be done differently in the future. Agree to meet on a regular basis to review progress.
Build Self-Esteem
Always end a disciplinary interview with an expression of faith and confidence in the individual. Always do everything possible to preserve the individual's self-esteem and self-image. End the conversation with a positive statement that causes the person to go back to work feeling better about himself or herself.
Aim For Improved Performance
Remember, the only purpose of a session of constructive criticism is to improve performance. If you lose sight of that and instead you attack or criticize the other person, his or her performance will not improve. In fact, if you criticize a person too often, the individual will stop doing that job altogether. Their performance will deteriorate and they will become less and less willing to contribute to the goals of the company.
Action Exercises
First, always criticize or correct a person in private. When someone has made a mistake or done a poor job, arrange to see them alone, explain your concerns and ask for their explanation - before you say anything.
Second, no matter what has happened, always focus on the future over the past. Focus on what can be done now rather than what has already happened. Focus on what the person should do next time rather than the mistake that has already been made.
An important part of business communication is giving feedback, correction and discipline to your staff. One of the jobs of the manager is to be a teacher, and in some cases a disciplinarian. This means that, in order to do your job properly, and in order to develop your staff to make their highest potential contribution to the organization, you must give them regular feedback on what they are doing right and where they can improve.
Constructive Criticism
Most people are very tense about giving discipline or what is often called, "constructive criticism." However you can make it a low stress occasion by focusing on the behavior and the performance rather than on the person. This requires that you report what you see, rather than what you feel, or your interpretation of events.
Focus on the Behavior
For example, a person comes back from a luncheon two hours late. Instead of getting angry with the person, you could say, "I see that you took more than two hours for lunch today. This causes some disruption in the office because of the work that doesn't get done. Is there a reason for this long lunch?"
In other words, what you are doing is reporting on the individual's behavior and leaving the door open for a variety of interpretations or explanations. The individual may have had a car accident or a medical appointment, or a family emergency.
Thinking About the Future
One of the best ways to deal with poor performance is to focus on the future over the past. Instead of becoming angry over what has already happened, or not happened, you should explain clearly to the individual what you want to see done differently. Get an agreement from the individual that the job will be done differently in the future. Agree to meet on a regular basis to review progress.
Build Self-Esteem
Always end a disciplinary interview with an expression of faith and confidence in the individual. Always do everything possible to preserve the individual's self-esteem and self-image. End the conversation with a positive statement that causes the person to go back to work feeling better about himself or herself.
Aim For Improved Performance
Remember, the only purpose of a session of constructive criticism is to improve performance. If you lose sight of that and instead you attack or criticize the other person, his or her performance will not improve. In fact, if you criticize a person too often, the individual will stop doing that job altogether. Their performance will deteriorate and they will become less and less willing to contribute to the goals of the company.
Action Exercises
First, always criticize or correct a person in private. When someone has made a mistake or done a poor job, arrange to see them alone, explain your concerns and ask for their explanation - before you say anything.
Second, no matter what has happened, always focus on the future over the past. Focus on what can be done now rather than what has already happened. Focus on what the person should do next time rather than the mistake that has already been made.
The Law of Compensation
You Get What You Give
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, "Compensation," wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. The Law of Compensation is another restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. It says that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contribution, whatever it is, however much or however little.
Increase Your Value
This Law of Compensation also says that you can never be compensated in the long term for more than you put in. The income you earn today is your compensation for what you have done in the past. If you want to increase your compensation, you must increase the value of your contribution.
Fill Your Mind With Success
Your mental attitude, your feelings of happiness and satisfaction, are also the result of the things that you have put into your own mind. If you fill your own mind with thoughts, visions and ideas of success, happiness and optimism, you will be compensated by those positive experiences in your daily activities.
Do More Than You're Paid For
Another corollary of the Law of Sowing and Reaping is what is sometimes called the, "Law of Overcompensation." This law says that great success comes from those who always make it a habit to put in more than they take out. They do more than they are paid for. They are always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations. And because they are always overcompensating, they are always being over rewarded with the esteem of their employers and customers and with the financial rewards that go along with their personal success.
Provide the Causes, Enjoy The Effects
One of your main responsibilities in life is to align yourself and your activities with Law of Cause and Effect (and its corollaries), accepting that it is an inexorable law that always works, whether anyone is looking or not. Your job is to institute the causes that are consistent with the effects that you want to enjoy in your life. When you do, you will realize and enjoy the rewards you desire.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remind yourself regularly that your rewards will always be in direct proportion to your service to others. How could you increase the value of your services to your customers today?
Second, look for ways to go the extra mile, to use the Law of Overcompensation in everything you do. This is the great secret of success.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, "Compensation," wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. The Law of Compensation is another restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. It says that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contribution, whatever it is, however much or however little.
Increase Your Value
This Law of Compensation also says that you can never be compensated in the long term for more than you put in. The income you earn today is your compensation for what you have done in the past. If you want to increase your compensation, you must increase the value of your contribution.
Fill Your Mind With Success
Your mental attitude, your feelings of happiness and satisfaction, are also the result of the things that you have put into your own mind. If you fill your own mind with thoughts, visions and ideas of success, happiness and optimism, you will be compensated by those positive experiences in your daily activities.
Do More Than You're Paid For
Another corollary of the Law of Sowing and Reaping is what is sometimes called the, "Law of Overcompensation." This law says that great success comes from those who always make it a habit to put in more than they take out. They do more than they are paid for. They are always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations. And because they are always overcompensating, they are always being over rewarded with the esteem of their employers and customers and with the financial rewards that go along with their personal success.
Provide the Causes, Enjoy The Effects
One of your main responsibilities in life is to align yourself and your activities with Law of Cause and Effect (and its corollaries), accepting that it is an inexorable law that always works, whether anyone is looking or not. Your job is to institute the causes that are consistent with the effects that you want to enjoy in your life. When you do, you will realize and enjoy the rewards you desire.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remind yourself regularly that your rewards will always be in direct proportion to your service to others. How could you increase the value of your services to your customers today?
Second, look for ways to go the extra mile, to use the Law of Overcompensation in everything you do. This is the great secret of success.
An Accumulation of Riches
Little Things Mean A Lot
One of the greatest success principles of all is called the Law of Accumulation. This law says that everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever sees or appreciates. It says that everything accumulates over time. That you have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. It's like a snowball. A snowball starts very small, but it grows as it adds millions and millions of tiny snowflakes and continues to grow as it gathers momentum.
Learn What You Need To Learn
There are three areas where the law of accumulation is important. The first is in the area of knowledge. Your body of knowledge is a result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small pieces of information.
Any person with a large knowledge base has spent thousands of hours building that knowledge base one piece at a time. And what you see when you meet the individual is an expert in his or her field, with that high level of knowledge that makes him very valuable in the marketplace.
Save Your Money
The second area where the Law of accumulation works is with regard to money. Every large fortune is an accumulation of hundreds and thousands of small amounts of money, and the place to start is to take any amount of money that you can right now and begin to save it. When you begin to save money, it sets up a force field of energy and it triggers the law of attraction. As a result you begin to attract to you even more bits of money to add to your savings.
Attract Riches Into Your Life
And I've spoken to many, many successful people and they've told me the same story. That as soon as you start to put savings aside, it starts to attract into your life and into your work all the money that you need to achieve your goals. The reason why most people retire poor is they never put the initial savings aside to start with.
Get The Experience You Need
The third area where the law of accumulation applies is in the area of experience. You'll find that successful people in any field are those who have far more experience in that field than the average. And there is nothing that replaces experience. Whether it's in business or entrepreneurship or management or parenting or selling or anything else. Many people do not take the risks that are necessary to move out of their comfort zone because they're afraid it won't work out.
Everything Counts
But the fact is that until you move out of the comfort zone and get the experience from making the mistakes, it's not possible for you to grow and become capable of earning the kind of money that you desire. Now here's the key to the law of accumulation. It says that everything counts. Everything that you do counts. The biggest mistake that people make is they think that only what they want to count, counts. That when you read a book, when you listen to an audio program, when you go to a course, when you go to bed early and you get up early and you work, it all counts. And it's all going on the plus side of your ledger.
Use Your Time Well
But when you watch television, waste time, hang out, fool around and so on, all of that counts, as well, and it's going on the negative side. A person who has a great life, by the law of accumulation, is a person who's accumulated far more credits on the credit side than debits on the debit side. And here's an important point. If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals. Nothing is neutral. Everything that you're doing is either moving you toward the things that you want to accomplish in life, the person you want to be, the wealth you want to accumulate, or it's moving you away. Everything counts. The law of accumulation says that everything counts.
Action Exercises
First, begin today to build your knowledge base in the subject that can be most helpful to you in achieving financial independence. Whether it takes a week, a month or a year to become thoroughly knowledgeable, it doesn't matter. Just get started today.
Second, get as much experience as you can in your chosen field. Start a little earlier, work a little harder and stay a little later. Take risks and try every different way you can think of to achieve your goal. This experience is invaluable and it accumulates over time.
One of the greatest success principles of all is called the Law of Accumulation. This law says that everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever sees or appreciates. It says that everything accumulates over time. That you have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. It's like a snowball. A snowball starts very small, but it grows as it adds millions and millions of tiny snowflakes and continues to grow as it gathers momentum.
Learn What You Need To Learn
There are three areas where the law of accumulation is important. The first is in the area of knowledge. Your body of knowledge is a result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of small pieces of information.
Any person with a large knowledge base has spent thousands of hours building that knowledge base one piece at a time. And what you see when you meet the individual is an expert in his or her field, with that high level of knowledge that makes him very valuable in the marketplace.
Save Your Money
The second area where the Law of accumulation works is with regard to money. Every large fortune is an accumulation of hundreds and thousands of small amounts of money, and the place to start is to take any amount of money that you can right now and begin to save it. When you begin to save money, it sets up a force field of energy and it triggers the law of attraction. As a result you begin to attract to you even more bits of money to add to your savings.
Attract Riches Into Your Life
And I've spoken to many, many successful people and they've told me the same story. That as soon as you start to put savings aside, it starts to attract into your life and into your work all the money that you need to achieve your goals. The reason why most people retire poor is they never put the initial savings aside to start with.
Get The Experience You Need
The third area where the law of accumulation applies is in the area of experience. You'll find that successful people in any field are those who have far more experience in that field than the average. And there is nothing that replaces experience. Whether it's in business or entrepreneurship or management or parenting or selling or anything else. Many people do not take the risks that are necessary to move out of their comfort zone because they're afraid it won't work out.
Everything Counts
But the fact is that until you move out of the comfort zone and get the experience from making the mistakes, it's not possible for you to grow and become capable of earning the kind of money that you desire. Now here's the key to the law of accumulation. It says that everything counts. Everything that you do counts. The biggest mistake that people make is they think that only what they want to count, counts. That when you read a book, when you listen to an audio program, when you go to a course, when you go to bed early and you get up early and you work, it all counts. And it's all going on the plus side of your ledger.
Use Your Time Well
But when you watch television, waste time, hang out, fool around and so on, all of that counts, as well, and it's going on the negative side. A person who has a great life, by the law of accumulation, is a person who's accumulated far more credits on the credit side than debits on the debit side. And here's an important point. If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals. Nothing is neutral. Everything that you're doing is either moving you toward the things that you want to accomplish in life, the person you want to be, the wealth you want to accumulate, or it's moving you away. Everything counts. The law of accumulation says that everything counts.
Action Exercises
First, begin today to build your knowledge base in the subject that can be most helpful to you in achieving financial independence. Whether it takes a week, a month or a year to become thoroughly knowledgeable, it doesn't matter. Just get started today.
Second, get as much experience as you can in your chosen field. Start a little earlier, work a little harder and stay a little later. Take risks and try every different way you can think of to achieve your goal. This experience is invaluable and it accumulates over time.
The Law of Investing
The Law of Investing - investigate before you invest. This is one of the most important of all the laws of money. You should spend at least as much time studying a particular investment as you do earning the money to put into that particular investment.
Check Every Detail
Never let yourself be rushed into parting with money. You have worked too hard to earn it and taken too long to accumulate it. Investigate every aspect of the investment well before you make any commitment. Ask for full and complete disclosure of every detail. Demand honest, accurate and adequate information on any investment of any kind. If you have any doubt or misgivings at all, you will probably be better off keeping your money in the bank or in a money market investment account than you would be speculating or taking the risk of losing it.
Money is Easy to Lose
The first corollary of the Law of Investing is: "The only thing easy about money is losing it." It is hard to make money in a competitive market but losing it is one of the easiest things you can ever do. A Japanese proverb says, "Making money is like digging with a nail, while losing money is like pouring water on the sand."
The Best Rule of All
The second corollary of this law comes from the self-made billionaire, Marvin Davis, who was asked about his rules for making money in an interview in Forbes Magazine.
He said that he has one simple rule and it is, "Don't lose money." He said that if there is a possibility that you will lose your money, don't part with it in the first place. This principal is so important that you should write it down and put it where you can see it. Read it and reread it over and over.
Time Equals Money
Think of your money as if it were a piece of your life. You have to exchange a certain number of hours, weeks and even years of your time in order to generate a certain amount of money for savings or investment. That time is irreplaceable. It is a part of your precious life that is gone forever. If all you do is hold on to the money, rather than losing it, that alone can assure that you achieve financial security. Don't lose money.
Be Smart About Investing
The third corollary of the Law of Investing says: "If you think you can afford to lose a little, you're going to end up losing a lot."
There is something about the attitude of a person who feels that he has enough money that he can afford to risk losing a little. You remember the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted." There's another saying, "When a man with experience meets a man with money, the man with the money is going to end up with the experience and the man with the experience is going to end up with the money." Always ask yourself what would happen if you lost one hundred percent of your money in a prospective investment. Could you handle that? If you could not, don't make the investment in the first place.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, think back over the various financial mistakes you have made in your life. What did they have in common? What can you learn from them? Accurate diagnosis is half the cure.
Second, invest only in things that you fully understand and believe in. Take investment advice only from people who are financially successful from taking their own advice. Play it safe. It's better to hold onto your money rather than to take a chance of losing it, along with all the time it took you to earn it.
Check Every Detail
Never let yourself be rushed into parting with money. You have worked too hard to earn it and taken too long to accumulate it. Investigate every aspect of the investment well before you make any commitment. Ask for full and complete disclosure of every detail. Demand honest, accurate and adequate information on any investment of any kind. If you have any doubt or misgivings at all, you will probably be better off keeping your money in the bank or in a money market investment account than you would be speculating or taking the risk of losing it.
Money is Easy to Lose
The first corollary of the Law of Investing is: "The only thing easy about money is losing it." It is hard to make money in a competitive market but losing it is one of the easiest things you can ever do. A Japanese proverb says, "Making money is like digging with a nail, while losing money is like pouring water on the sand."
The Best Rule of All
The second corollary of this law comes from the self-made billionaire, Marvin Davis, who was asked about his rules for making money in an interview in Forbes Magazine.
He said that he has one simple rule and it is, "Don't lose money." He said that if there is a possibility that you will lose your money, don't part with it in the first place. This principal is so important that you should write it down and put it where you can see it. Read it and reread it over and over.
Time Equals Money
Think of your money as if it were a piece of your life. You have to exchange a certain number of hours, weeks and even years of your time in order to generate a certain amount of money for savings or investment. That time is irreplaceable. It is a part of your precious life that is gone forever. If all you do is hold on to the money, rather than losing it, that alone can assure that you achieve financial security. Don't lose money.
Be Smart About Investing
The third corollary of the Law of Investing says: "If you think you can afford to lose a little, you're going to end up losing a lot."
There is something about the attitude of a person who feels that he has enough money that he can afford to risk losing a little. You remember the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted." There's another saying, "When a man with experience meets a man with money, the man with the money is going to end up with the experience and the man with the experience is going to end up with the money." Always ask yourself what would happen if you lost one hundred percent of your money in a prospective investment. Could you handle that? If you could not, don't make the investment in the first place.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, think back over the various financial mistakes you have made in your life. What did they have in common? What can you learn from them? Accurate diagnosis is half the cure.
Second, invest only in things that you fully understand and believe in. Take investment advice only from people who are financially successful from taking their own advice. Play it safe. It's better to hold onto your money rather than to take a chance of losing it, along with all the time it took you to earn it.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
The Golden Hour
You become what you think about most of the time. And the most important part of each day is what you think about at the beginning of that day.
Start Your Day Right
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.
Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.
Use Your Quiet Time Effectively
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.
Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now?
Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.
Practice Daily Visualization
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.
Fasten Your Seatbelt
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.
Everything Counts
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.
Become A Living Magnet
Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:
First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.
Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!
Start Your Day Right
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost everyone of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.
Feed Your Mind With Positive Ideas
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.
Use Your Quiet Time Effectively
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.
Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now?
Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.
Practice Daily Visualization
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.
Fasten Your Seatbelt
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.
Everything Counts
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment in the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal and by the law of attraction, you will, you must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.
Become A Living Magnet
Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two things you can do every single day to keep your mind focused on your financial goals:
First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.
Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!
Three Rules for Developing Courage
The step-by-step development of courage in yourself is the first responsibility of leadership. The second responsibility is to develop and instill courage in others, your staff, your children, your spouse, and your friends. But you must begin with yourself because you can't give away something that you don't have. You can only encourage others to the degree to which you experience and demonstrate courage yourself. You set the tone and determine the standard.
Control Your Fear
Here's the first rule: "Everyone is afraid." You're afraid, I'm afraid, everyone you meet is afraid in some way, often in many ways. As Mark Twain said, "Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear." The brave person is the person who acts in spite of his or her fear, who faces the fear, feels the fear and moves forward regardless.
Here's the second rule: "Fears diminish and lose their power over you as you confront them and move toward them; conversely, every time you back away from a fear situation, the fear grows and becomes more powerful."
Confront Your Fear
The only way to develop courage is to consciously and continuously make a habit of confronting your fear of treating every fear-inducing situation as a challenge and as an opportunity to become stronger, more resolute.
Do the Thing You Fear
Here's the third rule: "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." Psychologists call this the process of "systematic desensitization," doing it over and over until it holds no fear for you at all. Many businesspeople who have been so afraid of public speaking that they couldn't lead a silent prayer in a phone booth have used this process of eliminating fear. By going to meeting after meeting of Toastmasters International, speaking and getting feedback each time, they have developed competence and confidence where once they experienced only terror. So can you.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to apply these rules to develop courage in yourself.
First, confront your fears directly and immediately. Whenever you feel afraid for any reason, do it anyway! You'll be amazed at your success.
Second, do the thing you fear over and over until it has no more power over you. The more you repeat the action, the more courage and confidence you will have.
Control Your Fear
Here's the first rule: "Everyone is afraid." You're afraid, I'm afraid, everyone you meet is afraid in some way, often in many ways. As Mark Twain said, "Courage is not absence of fear; it is control of fear, mastery of fear." The brave person is the person who acts in spite of his or her fear, who faces the fear, feels the fear and moves forward regardless.
Here's the second rule: "Fears diminish and lose their power over you as you confront them and move toward them; conversely, every time you back away from a fear situation, the fear grows and becomes more powerful."
Confront Your Fear
The only way to develop courage is to consciously and continuously make a habit of confronting your fear of treating every fear-inducing situation as a challenge and as an opportunity to become stronger, more resolute.
Do the Thing You Fear
Here's the third rule: "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain." Psychologists call this the process of "systematic desensitization," doing it over and over until it holds no fear for you at all. Many businesspeople who have been so afraid of public speaking that they couldn't lead a silent prayer in a phone booth have used this process of eliminating fear. By going to meeting after meeting of Toastmasters International, speaking and getting feedback each time, they have developed competence and confidence where once they experienced only terror. So can you.
Action Exercises
Here are two ways to apply these rules to develop courage in yourself.
First, confront your fears directly and immediately. Whenever you feel afraid for any reason, do it anyway! You'll be amazed at your success.
Second, do the thing you fear over and over until it has no more power over you. The more you repeat the action, the more courage and confidence you will have.
The Magic of Solitude
The greatest men and women of all ages have practiced solitude regularly. They learned how to use silence to still their minds and tap into their superconscious powers for answers to their questions.
In this newsletter, you learn how you can apply this wonderful technique immediately to improve the quality of your inner and outer life.
The Magic of Solitude
Your feelings, your emotions, are the access point to your inner powers of mind. The most important part in the process of getting in touch with your feelings is to begin to practice solitude on a regular basis. Solitude is the most powerful activity in which you can engage. Men and women who practice it correctly and on a regular basis never fail to be amazed at the difference it makes in their lives.
Most people have never practiced solitude. Most people have never sat down quietly by themselves for any period of time in their entire lives. Most people are so busy being busy, doing something-even watching television-that it's highly unusual for them to simply sit, deliberately, and do nothing. But as Catherine Ponder points out, "Men and women begin to become great when they begin to take time quietly by themselves, when they begin to practice solitude." And here's the method you can use.
The River of Ideas
The incredible thing about solitude is that if it is done correctly, it works just about 100 percent of the time. While you're sitting there, a stream, a river, of ideas will flow through your mind. You'll think about countless subjects in an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. Your job is just to relax and listen to your inner voice.
At a certain stage during your period of solitude, the answers to the most pressing difficulties facing you will emerge quietly and clearly, like a boat putting gently to the side of a lake. The answer that you seek will come to you so clearly and it will feel so perfect that you'll experience a deep sense of gratitude and contentment.
Trusting Yourself
When you emerge from this period of quiet, you must do exactly what has come to you. It may involve dealing with a human situation. It may involve starting something or quitting something. Whatever it is, when you follow the guidance that you received in solitude, it will turn out to be exactly the right thing to do. Everything will be OK. And it will usually work out far better than you could have imagined. Just try it and see.
You must learn to trust yourself. You must develop the habit of listening to yourself and then acting on the guidance you receive.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select a specific time and place to sit quietly and practice one full hour of solitude. Don't put it off.
Second, take small periods of silence and solitude during the day, especially when you feel overwhelmed with problems or responsibilities.
Third, take action immediately on the ideas and insights you receive while in solitude. One good idea can save you months and years of hard work. The key is trust.
In this newsletter, you learn how you can apply this wonderful technique immediately to improve the quality of your inner and outer life.
The Magic of Solitude
Your feelings, your emotions, are the access point to your inner powers of mind. The most important part in the process of getting in touch with your feelings is to begin to practice solitude on a regular basis. Solitude is the most powerful activity in which you can engage. Men and women who practice it correctly and on a regular basis never fail to be amazed at the difference it makes in their lives.
Most people have never practiced solitude. Most people have never sat down quietly by themselves for any period of time in their entire lives. Most people are so busy being busy, doing something-even watching television-that it's highly unusual for them to simply sit, deliberately, and do nothing. But as Catherine Ponder points out, "Men and women begin to become great when they begin to take time quietly by themselves, when they begin to practice solitude." And here's the method you can use.
The River of Ideas
The incredible thing about solitude is that if it is done correctly, it works just about 100 percent of the time. While you're sitting there, a stream, a river, of ideas will flow through your mind. You'll think about countless subjects in an uncontrolled stream of consciousness. Your job is just to relax and listen to your inner voice.
At a certain stage during your period of solitude, the answers to the most pressing difficulties facing you will emerge quietly and clearly, like a boat putting gently to the side of a lake. The answer that you seek will come to you so clearly and it will feel so perfect that you'll experience a deep sense of gratitude and contentment.
Trusting Yourself
When you emerge from this period of quiet, you must do exactly what has come to you. It may involve dealing with a human situation. It may involve starting something or quitting something. Whatever it is, when you follow the guidance that you received in solitude, it will turn out to be exactly the right thing to do. Everything will be OK. And it will usually work out far better than you could have imagined. Just try it and see.
You must learn to trust yourself. You must develop the habit of listening to yourself and then acting on the guidance you receive.
Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select a specific time and place to sit quietly and practice one full hour of solitude. Don't put it off.
Second, take small periods of silence and solitude during the day, especially when you feel overwhelmed with problems or responsibilities.
Third, take action immediately on the ideas and insights you receive while in solitude. One good idea can save you months and years of hard work. The key is trust.
Two Rules for Business Start-ups
Entrepreneurship is the art of finding profitable solutions to problems. Every successful entrepreneur, every successful businessperson has been a person who has been able to identify a problem and come up with a solution to it before somebody else did. Here are the five rules for entrepreneurship.
Find A Need And Fill It
First, find a need and fill it. Ross Perot, when he was working for IBM, saw that his customers who were buying IBM computers, needed help in processing their data. He went to IBM with this idea and they said they weren't interested, so he started his own business. He eventually sold it out for $2.8 billion dollars. He found a need and he filled it.
Find A Problem And Solve It
The second rule is to find a problem and solve it. A secretary working for a small company began mixing flour with nail varnish in order to white out the mistakes she was making in her typing. Pretty soon, her friends in the same office asked if she could make some for them. So she began mixing it on her kitchen table. Then, people in other offices started asking for it, and she eventually quit her business and worked full time creating what is today called Liquid Paper. A few years ago, she sold her company to Gillette Corporation for 47 million dollars.
Look For Solutions
Find a problem and solve it. Find a problem that everybody's got and see if you can't come up with a solution for it. Find a way to supply a product or a service better, cheaper, faster or easier. Clemmons Wilson saw that there was a need for hotels that could accommodate families that were traveling, and he started Holiday Inns. And Holiday Inns has now become one of the most successful hotel chains in the world.
Focus On Your Customer
Here's the key to success in business. Become obsessed with your customer. Fixated on your customer. Think of the customer. Think of what the customer wants, what the customer needs. What the customer will pay for, what the customer's problems are. Thomas J. Watson, Senior, the founder of IBM, taught his people and built his company on this principle. See yourself as working for the customer. Once you've come up with a product or an idea, then start to invest your time, talent and energy instead of your money, to get started.
The Source of Most Great Fortunes
Remember this, most great fortunes in America were started with an idea and with personal efforts. Most great fortunes were started with the sale of personal services. This is called sweat equity. In other words, instead of cash equity, put in sweat equity. Put in the sweat of your brow to begin your business. You can learn valuable lessons operating on a small scale.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, find a need and fill it. Look around you and search for needs that people have for products or services that are not being met. One small idea is enough to start you on the way to business success.
Second, find a problem and solve it. Look around you for problems that you or other people have that are not yet being solved. Look for solutions that nobody has thought of and give them a try. One good solution could change the whole direction of your life.
Find A Need And Fill It
First, find a need and fill it. Ross Perot, when he was working for IBM, saw that his customers who were buying IBM computers, needed help in processing their data. He went to IBM with this idea and they said they weren't interested, so he started his own business. He eventually sold it out for $2.8 billion dollars. He found a need and he filled it.
Find A Problem And Solve It
The second rule is to find a problem and solve it. A secretary working for a small company began mixing flour with nail varnish in order to white out the mistakes she was making in her typing. Pretty soon, her friends in the same office asked if she could make some for them. So she began mixing it on her kitchen table. Then, people in other offices started asking for it, and she eventually quit her business and worked full time creating what is today called Liquid Paper. A few years ago, she sold her company to Gillette Corporation for 47 million dollars.
Look For Solutions
Find a problem and solve it. Find a problem that everybody's got and see if you can't come up with a solution for it. Find a way to supply a product or a service better, cheaper, faster or easier. Clemmons Wilson saw that there was a need for hotels that could accommodate families that were traveling, and he started Holiday Inns. And Holiday Inns has now become one of the most successful hotel chains in the world.
Focus On Your Customer
Here's the key to success in business. Become obsessed with your customer. Fixated on your customer. Think of the customer. Think of what the customer wants, what the customer needs. What the customer will pay for, what the customer's problems are. Thomas J. Watson, Senior, the founder of IBM, taught his people and built his company on this principle. See yourself as working for the customer. Once you've come up with a product or an idea, then start to invest your time, talent and energy instead of your money, to get started.
The Source of Most Great Fortunes
Remember this, most great fortunes in America were started with an idea and with personal efforts. Most great fortunes were started with the sale of personal services. This is called sweat equity. In other words, instead of cash equity, put in sweat equity. Put in the sweat of your brow to begin your business. You can learn valuable lessons operating on a small scale.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, find a need and fill it. Look around you and search for needs that people have for products or services that are not being met. One small idea is enough to start you on the way to business success.
Second, find a problem and solve it. Look around you for problems that you or other people have that are not yet being solved. Look for solutions that nobody has thought of and give them a try. One good solution could change the whole direction of your life.
Pick the right targets
THE phrase “climb every mountain” encourages people to confront their challenges instead of shying away from them.
While there are lessons to be learned from exposure to a variety of experiences, people lead such busy lives that they need to be able to differentiate between the challenges that are worth confronting and those that can be safely sidestepped in favour of more meaningful pursuits or for peace of mind.
For example, you may feel that working long hours in a difficult job is a challenge that you’re taking on to get promoted and earn more money.
The reality may be that you could be better rewarded by focusing on more significant developments taking place in other areas of your life.
Sometimes the end doesn’t justify the means. Many adults facing retirement regret the time they invested in ill-advised career pursuits and wish that they had done things differently -- — travelled more, gone back to school or taken the time to maintain relationships.
If you are beginning to feel disappointed that your achievements are not commensurate with your efforts, you may be climbing the wrong mountains.
Consider those who take on too many things without pausing to consider the big picture of their lives. These people tend to see work merely as a means of earning money.
Then there are those who know immediately which way to go – whether to take on a challenge or walk away. Most likely, these are individuals who have a career plan, a clear idea about how they want to work, live, and feel about life.
Ask yourself some important questions such as:
Have I set my goals too high? Or to put it another way: Am I being ambitious or just greedy? Go ahead and reach for the stars but plan to achieve your goals without harming your health, finances, spiritual self, values or relationships.
Worklife coaches describe success as a wheel made up of several spokes. These represent money, career, leisure, family, spirituality (or religion), community, continuous education, and finally, the special things that represent success for you.
Success happens when all the different areas of your life communicate harmoniously. Think carefully about how these parts of your life are faring under your current career plan.
One of two things will become clear: either that your efforts are enriching all the areas of your life or that you should give more focus to the issues that have become apparent under your scrutiny.
Avoid copycat career or life decisions based on what other people are doing or what the latest magazine says.
Play to your own strengths, and choose what’s best for you.
Adjust and perfect your own wheel of success depending on what’s happening in your life and how it makes you feel. Good decisions should make you feel good! Climbing the wrong mountain just makes you tired.
Am I waiting for success, or making every day a success? Some people are prepared to suffer lousy jobs (or people) for money, a promotion or partnership. Working without satisfaction is emotionally draining, a waste of your time and definitely one mountain you do not want to climb.
Don’t wait to enjoy your life. Do work that you can enjoy now, and use that satisfaction and feeling of wellbeing as your springboard to success. Even if it means there will be no partnership or a luxury car any time soon, get a job you love to do.
Work takes up a huge chunk of your life so make it pay, not just in terms of money, but in making you feel good about yourself. Do it now, not after all your enthusiasm is gone.
Know how to pick your battles. Working flat out for a promotion is one thing but weigh the rewards that come with the promotion against what you’re giving up to get it.
Will your new status mean that you will have less or more time for yourself? What will be your nett reward?
Remember to... Climb the mountains that deliver the best reward for you. Only you will know what each challenge represents in terms of rewards (such as more money or recognition) or consequences (such as a stressful lifestyle or poor relationships).
Single out challenges with rewards that are worth striving for and bring lasting satisfaction or fulfilment. Consider what you will gain and when — think short-term, mid-term and long-term — and what you will be giving up in those time frames to achieve your goal.
Make mountain-climbing memorable, focusing on the quality of the journey rather than the destination. Make it a journey that will bring a smile to your face whenever you think about it in the future.
While there are lessons to be learned from exposure to a variety of experiences, people lead such busy lives that they need to be able to differentiate between the challenges that are worth confronting and those that can be safely sidestepped in favour of more meaningful pursuits or for peace of mind.
For example, you may feel that working long hours in a difficult job is a challenge that you’re taking on to get promoted and earn more money.
The reality may be that you could be better rewarded by focusing on more significant developments taking place in other areas of your life.
Sometimes the end doesn’t justify the means. Many adults facing retirement regret the time they invested in ill-advised career pursuits and wish that they had done things differently -- — travelled more, gone back to school or taken the time to maintain relationships.
If you are beginning to feel disappointed that your achievements are not commensurate with your efforts, you may be climbing the wrong mountains.
Consider those who take on too many things without pausing to consider the big picture of their lives. These people tend to see work merely as a means of earning money.
Then there are those who know immediately which way to go – whether to take on a challenge or walk away. Most likely, these are individuals who have a career plan, a clear idea about how they want to work, live, and feel about life.
Ask yourself some important questions such as:
Have I set my goals too high? Or to put it another way: Am I being ambitious or just greedy? Go ahead and reach for the stars but plan to achieve your goals without harming your health, finances, spiritual self, values or relationships.
Worklife coaches describe success as a wheel made up of several spokes. These represent money, career, leisure, family, spirituality (or religion), community, continuous education, and finally, the special things that represent success for you.
Success happens when all the different areas of your life communicate harmoniously. Think carefully about how these parts of your life are faring under your current career plan.
One of two things will become clear: either that your efforts are enriching all the areas of your life or that you should give more focus to the issues that have become apparent under your scrutiny.
Avoid copycat career or life decisions based on what other people are doing or what the latest magazine says.
Play to your own strengths, and choose what’s best for you.
Adjust and perfect your own wheel of success depending on what’s happening in your life and how it makes you feel. Good decisions should make you feel good! Climbing the wrong mountain just makes you tired.
Am I waiting for success, or making every day a success? Some people are prepared to suffer lousy jobs (or people) for money, a promotion or partnership. Working without satisfaction is emotionally draining, a waste of your time and definitely one mountain you do not want to climb.
Don’t wait to enjoy your life. Do work that you can enjoy now, and use that satisfaction and feeling of wellbeing as your springboard to success. Even if it means there will be no partnership or a luxury car any time soon, get a job you love to do.
Work takes up a huge chunk of your life so make it pay, not just in terms of money, but in making you feel good about yourself. Do it now, not after all your enthusiasm is gone.
Know how to pick your battles. Working flat out for a promotion is one thing but weigh the rewards that come with the promotion against what you’re giving up to get it.
Will your new status mean that you will have less or more time for yourself? What will be your nett reward?
Remember to... Climb the mountains that deliver the best reward for you. Only you will know what each challenge represents in terms of rewards (such as more money or recognition) or consequences (such as a stressful lifestyle or poor relationships).
Single out challenges with rewards that are worth striving for and bring lasting satisfaction or fulfilment. Consider what you will gain and when — think short-term, mid-term and long-term — and what you will be giving up in those time frames to achieve your goal.
Make mountain-climbing memorable, focusing on the quality of the journey rather than the destination. Make it a journey that will bring a smile to your face whenever you think about it in the future.
Do you delegate or do it?
ONE of the biggest frustrations of many managers is the lack of time to perform all of the work required of them in their role as a manager.
I have yet to meet a manager who does not have too much on his plate.
Think of delegation as nothing more than giving yourself the opportunity to spend more time in the vital areas of your job such as planning, organising, inspecting, coaching, innovating and developing people.
Why not take a serious look at how you are spending your time and what tasks you are involved in that can be delegated to someone else.
Track your use of time for a week, logging all of the repetitive activities, problem-solving routines, crisis management issues and routine stuff.
Ask yourself at the end of the week: Could someone else, or some other department, have done this? What did I not complete because of these actions?
I personally guarantee that you can free up at least an hour a day if you will find creative ways to delegate something, anything. Here are some suggestions:
Learn to let go
A weakness of poor managers is their inability or unwillingness to delegate tasks, responsibilities or outcomes.
To be an effective manager, you need to know what you can delegate, when you can delegate it and whom you can delegate it to. The role of a manager is not to do it but to get other people to do it.
Even self-employed business owners who have small staff strengths can delegate some tasks to someone else, such as sub-contractors, freelancers or temporary employees.
Learn to trust others
Why don’t managers delegate? There are three simple causes.
One, they don’t trust their employees.
Two, they think they can do it faster and easier themselves.
Three, they lose control when they give a task or responsibility to someone else.
Problem with delegation
There are three fundamental problems with delegation.
Managers delegate the methods, techniques, processes rather than the outcomes.
They delegate responsibility without giving the people the authority to use necessary resources to get the job done.
They delegate a task and then take it back.
In other words, they ask an employee or a group to do a task and then, before the person or group has completed it, they take it back and finish it themselves.
This does three things, none of which are healthy for the organisation:
They have just invalidated the employee;
They have de-motivated the employee; and
They have sent a clear message that they do not trust the employee and that they could do the task better or faster.
Any of these will have a negative short- and long-term negative impact on performance and effectiveness.
The purpose of delegation is to train, teach, motivate employees and free up some of the manager’s time to work on the key tasks that he should be doing.
I have yet to meet a manager who does not have too much on his plate.
Think of delegation as nothing more than giving yourself the opportunity to spend more time in the vital areas of your job such as planning, organising, inspecting, coaching, innovating and developing people.
Why not take a serious look at how you are spending your time and what tasks you are involved in that can be delegated to someone else.
Track your use of time for a week, logging all of the repetitive activities, problem-solving routines, crisis management issues and routine stuff.
Ask yourself at the end of the week: Could someone else, or some other department, have done this? What did I not complete because of these actions?
I personally guarantee that you can free up at least an hour a day if you will find creative ways to delegate something, anything. Here are some suggestions:
Learn to let go
A weakness of poor managers is their inability or unwillingness to delegate tasks, responsibilities or outcomes.
To be an effective manager, you need to know what you can delegate, when you can delegate it and whom you can delegate it to. The role of a manager is not to do it but to get other people to do it.
Even self-employed business owners who have small staff strengths can delegate some tasks to someone else, such as sub-contractors, freelancers or temporary employees.
Learn to trust others
Why don’t managers delegate? There are three simple causes.
One, they don’t trust their employees.
Two, they think they can do it faster and easier themselves.
Three, they lose control when they give a task or responsibility to someone else.
Problem with delegation
There are three fundamental problems with delegation.
Managers delegate the methods, techniques, processes rather than the outcomes.
They delegate responsibility without giving the people the authority to use necessary resources to get the job done.
They delegate a task and then take it back.
In other words, they ask an employee or a group to do a task and then, before the person or group has completed it, they take it back and finish it themselves.
This does three things, none of which are healthy for the organisation:
They have just invalidated the employee;
They have de-motivated the employee; and
They have sent a clear message that they do not trust the employee and that they could do the task better or faster.
Any of these will have a negative short- and long-term negative impact on performance and effectiveness.
The purpose of delegation is to train, teach, motivate employees and free up some of the manager’s time to work on the key tasks that he should be doing.
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