Change: Taking A Real Decision
Change: Taking A Real Decision It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t . . . It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not. — JAMES GORDON Although it’s often easy to say you want to change, successfully making a change is hard. Our thoughts and emotions often prevent us from creating behavioural change, even when it will improve our lives. Many people shy away from making changes that can drastically improve their lives. See if any of the following apply to you: You tend to justify a bad habit by convincing yourself what you’re doing isn’t “that bad.” You experience a lot of anxiety about changes to your routine. Even when you’re in a bad situation, you worry that making a change might make things worse. Whenever you attempt to make a change, you struggle to stick with it. When your boss, family, or friends make changes that affect you, it’s difficult for you to adapt. You think a lot about making changes but put off doing anything different until later. You worry that any changes you make aren’t likely to last. The thought of stepping outside your comfort zone just seems too scary. You lack the motivation to create positive change because it’s too hard. You make excuses for why you can’t change, like “I’d like to exercise more, but my spouse doesn’t want to go with me.” You have difficulty recalling the last time you purposely tried to challenge yourself to become better. You hesitate to do anything new because it just seems like too big of a commitment. Do any of the above examples sound familiar? Although circumstances can change quickly, humans often change at a much slower pace. Choosing to do something different requires you to adapt your thinking and your behaviour, which will likely bring up some uncomfortable emotions. But that doesn’t mean you should shy away from change. Many people shy away from change because they think that doing something different is too risky or uncomfortable. Types Of Change We can experience different types of change, some you might find easier than others: 1. All-or-nothing changeSome changes are incremental while others are basically all or nothing. Deciding to have a child, for example, isn’t something you can do in steps. Once you have that baby, your life has irrevocably changed. 2. Habit changeYou can choose to either get rid of bad habits, like sleeping too late, or you can choose to create good habits, like exercising five times a week. Most habit changes allow you to try something new for a little while, but you can always revert back to your old habits. 3. Trying-something-new changeChange sometimes involves trying something new or mixing up your daily routine, like volunteering at a hospital or taking violin lessons. 4. Behavioural changeSometimes there are behavioural changes that don’t necessarily constitute a habit. For example, maybe you want to commit to going to all of your child’s sports games or maybe you want to behave friendlier. 5. Emotional changeNot all change is tangible. Sometimes it’s emotional. For example, if you want to feel less irritable all the time, you’ll need to examine the thoughts and behaviours that contribute to your irritability. 6. Cognitive changeThere may be ways in which you want to change your thinking as well. Perhaps you want to think less about the past or maybe decrease worrisome thoughts. Readiness For Change New Year’s resolutions are commonly broken, because we try to make changes based on a date and not because we’re really ready. And if you aren’t ready to create change, you likely won’t be successful at maintaining it. Even changing one small habit, like deciding you’ll floss your teeth every day or giving up your bedtime snack, requires a certain level of commitment. The Five Stages Of Change 1. Precontemplation – When people are precontemplative, they don’t yet identify any need to change. 2. Contemplation – People who are actively contemplative are considering the pros and cons of making a change.3. Preparation – This is the stage where people prepare to make a change. They establish a plan with concrete steps that identify what they are going to do differently.4. Action – This is where the concrete behavioural change takes place.5. Maintenance – This often overlooked step is essential. You need to plan ahead so that you can maintain your lifestyle changes even when your are facing obstacles. Why We Shy Away From Change 1. FearMany people worry that doing something different may make things even worse. Maybe you don’t like the house you’re living in, but you worry that a new home could have even bigger problems. Or maybe you worry about ending a relationship because you are afraid you won’t ever find anyone better. So you convince yourself to keep things the same, even if you’re not happy. 2. Avoiding DiscomfortMany people associate change with discomfort. And often, they underestimate their ability to tolerate the discomfort that accompanies a behavioural change. 3. GriefDoing something different means giving something up. And there’s often a grief associated with leaving something behind. To spare ourselves this grief, we can convince ourselves not to change. The Problem With Shying Away From Change Shying away from change can have serious consequences. Avoiding change and remaining stagnant can interfere with personal growth in all areas of your life. 1. Staying the same often equals getting stuck in a rutLife can get pretty boring if you don’t do anything differently. A person who simply decides to keep things as mundane and low-key as possible isn’t likely to experience a rich, full life and might become depressed. 2. You won’t learn new thingsThe world will change with or without you. Don’t think that your choice not to change will prevent anyone else from embracing change. You’ll risk being left in the dust if you choose to keep doing everything the same for the rest of your life. 3. Your life may
Self Pity: How To Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself
Self Pity: How To Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality. —JOHN GARDNER We all experience pain and sorrow in life. And although sadness is a normal, healthy emotion, dwelling on your sorrow and misfortune is self-destructive. Do you respond positively to any of the points below? You tend to think your problems are worse than anyone else’s. If it weren’t for bad luck, you’re pretty sure you’d have none at all. Problems seem to add up for you at a much faster rate than anyone else. You’re fairly certain that no one else truly understands how hard your life really is. You sometimes choose to withdraw from leisure activities and social engagements so you can stay home and think about your problems. You’re more likely to tell people what went wrong during your day rather than what went well. You often complain about things not being fair. You struggle to find anything to be grateful for sometimes. You think that other people are blessed with easier lives. You sometimes wonder if the world is out to get you. Can you see yourself in some of the examples above? Self-pity can consume you until it eventually changes your thoughts and behaviours. But you can choose to take control. Even when you can’t alter your circumstances, you can alter your attitude. Why We Feel Sorry For Ourselves If self-pity is so destructive, why do we do it in the first place? And why is it sometimes so easy and even comforting to indulge in a pity party? It’s so easy to fall into the self-pity trap. As long as you feel sorry for yourself, you can delay any circumstances that will bring you face-to-face with your real fears, and you can avoid taking any responsibility for your actions. Feeling sorry for yourself can buy time. Instead of taking action ormoving forward, exaggerating how bad your situation is justifies why you shouldn’t do anything to improve it. People often use self-pity as a way to gain attention. Playing the “poor me” card may result in some kind and gentle words from others—at least initially. For people who fear rejection, self-pity can be an indirect way of gaining help by sharing a woe-is-me tale in hopes it will attract some assistance. Unfortunately, misery loves company, and sometimes self-pity becomes a bragging right. A conversation can turn into a contest, with the person who has experienced the most trauma earning the badge of victory. Self-pity can also provide a reason to avoid responsibility. Telling your boss how bad your life is may stem from hopes that less will be expected from you. Sometimes self-pity becomes an act of defiance. It’s almost as if we assume that something will change if we dig in our heels and remind the universe that we deserve better. But that’s not how the world works. There isn’t a higher being—or a human being for that matter—who will swoop in and make sure we’re all dealt a fair hand in life. The Problem With Feeling Sorry For Yourself Feeling sorry for yourself is self-destructive. It leads to new problems and can have serious consequences. Indulging in self-pity hinders living a full life in the following ways: 1. It’s a waste of timeFeeling sorry for yourself requires a lot of mental energy and does nothing to change the situation. Even when you can’t fix the problem, you can make choices to cope with life’s obstacles in a positive way. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t move you any closer to a solution. 2. It leads to more negative emotionsOnce you allow it to take hold, self-pity will ignite a flurry of other negative emotions. It can lead to anger, resentment, loneliness, and other feelings that fuel more negative thoughts. 3. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecyFeelings of self-pity can lead to living a pitiful life. When you feel sorry for yourself, it’s unlikely you’ll perform at your best. As a result, you may experience more problems and increased failures, which will breed more feelings of self-pity. 4. It prevents you from dealing with other emotionsSelf-pity gets in the way of dealing with grief, sadness, anger, and other emotions. It can stall your progress from healing and moving forward because self-pity keeps the focus on why things should be different rather than accepting the situation for what it is. 5. It causes you to overlook the good in your lifeIf five good things and one bad thing happen in a day, self-pity will cause you to focus only on the negative. When you feel sorry for yourself, you’ll miss out on the positive aspects of life. 6. It interferes with relationshipsA victim mentality is not an attractive characteristic. Complaining about how bad your life is will likely wear on people rather quickly. No one ever says, “What I really like about her is the fact that she always feels sorry for herself.” Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself To alleviate feelings of self-pity, you need to change your pitiful behaviour and forbid yourself from indulging in pitiful thoughts. Behave In A Manner That Makes It Hard To Feel Sorry For Yourself When you notice self-pity creeping into your life, make a conscious effort to do something contrary to how you feel. Sometimes, small behavioural changes can make a big difference. Here are some examples: 1. Volunteer to help a worthy causeIt will take your mind off your problems and you can feel good that you’ve helped support someone else. It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you’re serving destitute orphans in a children’s home or spending time with elderly residents in a nursing home. 2. Perform a random act of kindnessWhether you wash the neighbour’s balcony or donate beddings and toiletries to a local prison, doing a good deed can help bring more meaning to your day. 3. Do something activePhysical
Keeping Everything Under Control: Strategies To Stop Focusing On Things You Cant Control
Keeping Everything Under Control: Strategies To Stop Focusing On Things You Can’t Control You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced bythem. —MAYA ANGELOU It feels so safe to have everything under control, but thinking we have the power to always pull the strings can become problematic. Do you respond positively to any of these points below? You spend a lot of time and energy trying to prevent anything bad from happening. You invest energy into wishing other people would change. When faced with a tough situation, you think you can single-handedly fix everything. You believe the outcome of any situation is entirely based on how much effort you choose to exert. You assume that good luck has nothing to do with success. Instead, it’s completely up to you to determine your future. Other people sometimes accuse you of being a “control freak.” You struggle to delegate tasks to other people because you don’t think they’ll do the job right. Even when you recognize you aren’t able to completely control a situation, you struggle to let it go. If you fail at something, you believe you are solely responsible. You don’t feel comfortable asking for help. You think people who don’t reach their goals are completely responsible for their situation. You struggle with teamwork because you doubt the abilities of other people on the team. You have difficulty establishing meaningful relationships because you don’t trust people. Are you guilty of any of the examples above? We can’t possibly make all our circumstances and all the people in our lives fit into the way we think things should be. When you learn to let go of the details you can’t control, the amount of time and energy you’ll be able to devote to the things you can control will give you the ability to accomplish incredible feats. Why We Try To Control Everything Trying to control everything usually starts out as a way to manage anxiety. If you know you have everything under control, what’s there to worry about? Rather than focusing on managing your anxiety, you try controlling your environment. The desire to fix everything can also stem from a sort of superhero complex. We hold on to the mistaken belief that if we just try hard enough, everything will turn out the way we want. Rather than delegating a task to a co-worker, or trusting a spouse to run an errand, we often choose to do it ourselves to make sure it will be “done right” because we don’t trust in other people’scapabilities. Locus Of Control Deciding what is within your control and what isn’t depends largely upon your belief system. The psychology field refers to this as your locus of control. People with an external locus of control believe that their lives depend highly on fate, luck, or destiny. They’re more likely to believe “Whatever’s meant to be will be.” People with an internal locus of control believe they have complete control over their future. They take full responsibility for their successes and failures in life. They believe they have the ability to control everything from their financial future to their health. Your locus of control will determine how you view your circumstances. Imagine a person who attends a job interview. He possesses the qualifications, education, and experience the company is looking for. But a few days after the interview, he receives a call telling him he didn’t get the job. If he has an external locus of control he’ll think, They probably had some overqualified people apply for the position. It wasn’t the right job for me anyway. If he has an internal locus of control, he’s more likely to think, I must not have done a good job impressing them. I knew I should have redone my résumé. I’ve also got to sharpen my interview skills. Several factors influence your locus of control. Your childhood experiences certainly play a role. If you grew up in a family where hard work was valued, you may lean more toward an internal locus of control, because you’ll believe that hard work can pay off. If however, you grew up with parents who drilled into you things such as, “Your vote doesn’t matter in this world,” or “No matter what you do, the world will always keep you down,” you may have developed an external locus of control. Your experiences throughout life can also influence your locus of control. If you achieve success when you try hard, you’ll see that you have a lot of control over the outcome. But if you feel like no matter what you do, things just don’t turn out right, you may begin to feel like you have less control. An internal locus of control has often been idealized as the “best” way to be. Ideas like “You can do anything if you just put your mind to it” have been valued in many cultures. In fact, people with a high sense of control often make great CEOs because they believe in their ability to make a difference. Doctors like having patients with a strong internal locus of control because they do everything possible to treat and prevent illness. But there are also potential downsides to believing you can control everything. The Problem With Wasting Energy On Things You Can’t Control There are several problems associated with trying to control everything: 1. Trying to maintain complete control leads to increased anxietyEfforts to manage your anxiety by trying to control everything in your environment will backfire. The more unsuccessful your attempts to control the situation are, the more anxious you’ll become. It can lead to feelings of inadequacy as you see that you aren’t able to fully control the outcome. 2. Attempting to control everything wastes time and energyWorrying about things outside of your control wastes mental energy. Wishing circumstances were different, trying to convince people they have to do everything your way,
Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier And More Productive
Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier And More Productive Men ought to know that from the brain, and from the brain only, arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains, griefs and tears. Through it, in particular, we think, see, hear and distinguish the ugly from the beautiful, the bad from the good, the pleasant from theunpleasant. It is the same thing which makes us mad or delirious, inspires us with fear, brings sleeplessness and aimless anxieties. . . . In these ways I hold that the brain is the most powerful organ in the human body. –HIPPOCRATES YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT Our industrially ravaged diets supply cheap and plentiful calories with poor nutrient content and toxic additives. Our careers shoehorn us into doing the same tasks over and over again, while our brains thrive with change and stimulation. We are saddled with stress, a lack of connection to nature, unnatural sleep patterns, and overexposure to news and tragedy, and our social networks have been replaced by The Social Network—all of which lead ultimately to premature aging and decay. We’ve created a world so far removed from the one in which our brains evolved that they are now struggling to survive. Nowadays, even well-educated people are confused when it comes to nutrition. One day we’re told to avoid whole milk, the next that we may as well drink it. On a Monday we hear that physical activity is the best way to lose weight, only to learn by Friday that its impact on our waistline ismarginal compared to diet. We are told over and over again that whole grains are the key to a healthy heart, but is heart disease really caused by a deficiency of morning oatmeal? Blogs and traditional news media alike attempt to cover new science, but their coverage (and sensational headlines) often seems more intent on driving hits to their websites than informing the public. In this article we’ll use diet to reset your brain to its “factory settings,” leaving you feeling and performing your very best. Up next, as you begin to reclaim your cognitive legacy, you’re going to learn about the nutrient that your brain is desperate for. May the odds be ever in your favour. 1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Place some extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) in a spoon, and then slowly slurp it up like you’re eating soup and being particularly rude about it. (Yes, I’m telling you to drink oil, but you’ll see why in a second.) You should in short order notice a spicy feeling in the back of your throat: that’s a compound called oleocanthal. Oleocanthal is a type of phenol—plant compounds that powerfully stimulate our bodies’ own repair mechanisms when we consume them (phenols are usually found linked together in the form of polyphenols). Oleocanthal possesses anti-inflammatory effects so powerful that it is comparable to taking a small dose of ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drug, but without any of the potential side effects. Inflammation can strongly negate neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change throughout life) and even produce feelings of depression Extra-virgin olive oil is a staple food in the Mediterranean diet, and people who consume these kinds of diets display lower incidence of senile dementia. Oleocanthal may play a role here as well, having demonstrated the potential to help the brain clear itself of the amyloid plaque, the sticky protein that aggregates to toxic levels in senile dementia. It does this by increasing the activity of enzymes that degrade the plaque. It has been shown in large, long-term trials to protect the brain against decline (and even improve cognitive function) when consumed at volumes of up to a litre per week. And if protecting your brain wasn’t enough, EVOO has been shown to block an enzyme in fatty tissue called fatty acid synthase, which creates fat out of excess dietary carbohydrates. Aside from oleocanthal, EVOO is also a rich source of monounsaturated fat, which is a healthy fat that helps maintain the health of your blood vessels and your liver, and can even help you lose weight. One tablespoon also contains 10 percent of the recommended intake of vitamin E per day. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects fatty structures in your body—such as your brain—from the wear and tear of aging. About finding the right olive oil, colour has no bearing on the quality of the oil. The single best way to assess an oil is to taste it. Good extra-virgin olive oils should taste grassy, never greasy. Because oleocanthal is responsible for virgin oil’s peppery taste, it can in fact be used as a measure of how much oleocanthal is present in the oil. Stronger oils can be so spicy that you may find yourself coughing from the heat—which is actually a classification of oil quality! Next time you find yourself consuming “three-cough” oil, you’ll know you’ve found a keeper and your brain will thank you for it. How to use: Extra-virgin olive oil should be the main oil in your diet, to be used liberally on salads, eggs, and as a sauce. Ensure that the oil is kept in a bottle that shields it from light (dark glass or tin is fine) and store in a cool, dry place. 2. Avocados Avocados are an all-in-one Genius Food—the perfect food to protect and enhance your brain. To start, they have the highest total fat-protecting capacity of any fruit or vegetable. This is good news for your brain, which is not only the fattiest organ in your body, but also a magnet for oxidativestress (a major driver of aging)—a consequence of the fact that 25 percent of the oxygen you breathe goes to create energy in your brain! Avocados are also rich in different types of vitamin E (a characteristic not many supplements can claim), and they are a potent repository for the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These pigments can boost your brain’s processing speed, but they
Personal Branding: A Brand Called You
Personal Branding: A Brand Called You In a brilliant and often referenced article titled “A Brand Called You,” management guru Tom Peters argued the case for personal branding: “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. Weare CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. It’s that simple—and that hard. And that inescapable.” In his book, Me 2.0, personal branding guru, Dan Schwabel defines personal branding as “. . . the process by which individuals differentiate themselves and stand out from the crowd by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition, whether professional or personal, and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. In this way, individuals can enhance their recognition as experts in their field, establish reputation and credibility, advance their careers, and build self-confidence.” The simple definition of branding is the act of distinguishing one commodity, service, or product from another in order to create differentiation in the mind of the purchaser: Nike vs. Adidas, Coke vs. Pepsi, Apple vs. Samsung. Following this definition, personal branding is the act of distinguishing one’s self from others in the same industry or field by creating differentiation in the mind of the customer, prospect, peer, or manager. As Tom Peters articulates in his article, the concept is simple, but implementing it is not. It requires constant focus, self-discipline, and self-awareness. Your personal brand is the perception of others based on how they perceive you on the surface and their actual experience with you. Your personal brand is a promise of the value customers, prospects, peers, employees, and managers will receive when investing their time with you. In her book, Get Back to Work Faster, bestselling author and sales guru, Jill Konrath, makes the case for this, writing that we each must have a value proposition that others perceive as tangible value to their business. Your personal brand is powerful when dealing with others because it replaces concerns about logical issues (price, terms and conditions, delivery times, quality, or experience) with the emotional decision to do business with you based on the belief that you, and only you, can truly solve their problems. Thisemotional connection to your brand will propel you to the upper echelons of your industry. Building a Personal Brand There is the misnomer that to build a personal brand you have to sell others on why you should be valued. People love to buy, but they hate to be sold. Building a strong personal brand is achieved primarily through actions. It is what you do versus what you say. Over time, this shapes the perceptions of those with whom you do business and most importantly generates brand loyalty. Inevery interaction with others, you are provided with an opportunity to differentiate yourself. This shapes and reinforces the perception that there is unique value in doing business with you. Everything you do and everything left undone, big and small, good or bad, is judged and the accumulated impact of those actions affects how others perceive the brand called You. Action alone is not enough, though. Personal branding also requires you to invest in the ongoing process of managing your reputation and credibility. This enables those who have no direct experience with you to have a positive perception prior to actually meeting you, and those who have had an experience with you receive consistent messaging (positive emotional experiences) that reinforces their belief that you bring value as a problem solver. Not unlike branding a product or service, you must develop consistent messaging, positioning, and packaging that allow you to manage how others perceive you. In today’s world, this means investing in both your online andoffline presence. This article is designed to provide you with the basic tools you need to build and manage the brand called You. As always, my goal is to keep things simple and easy to execute. Interpersonal Relationships The quality of your interpersonal relationships will always have the greatest impact on your personal brand. Imagine a real estate agent who spends so much money on advertising. He puts his face on billboards, on bus-stop benches, and in real estate magazines. He may build his brand awareness up to the point that his phone starts ringing; but, if he is an unlikable, self-centered person who is unable to emotionally connect with people, it will not take much time for his reputation to suffer. Word of mouth is far more powerful than billboards. Answering the following five questions will help you identify the most powerful tools you need in your branding toolbox. Be honest with yourself. Consider your relationships and recent interactions with other people. Think about it. How are you perceived? 1. Is Brand You Likable?Are you consistently smiling, cheerful, and polite? How about manners? Do people perceive you as enthusiastic, optimistic, confident, and authentic? 2. Do You Connect?Do people like being around you because you make them feel important? Do you take a genuine interest in others? Do you give others your complete attention and listen deeply? Do people feel that you listen to them? 3. Are You a Problem Solver? Do you deliver value first by consistently focusing on and solving others’ problems? Do you solve problems even if there is nothing in it for you? Are your customers loyal to you because you consistently solve their problems? Do people feel that you genuinely want to help them get what they want, not because it is in your best interest, but because it is in their best interest? 4. Are You Trustworthy?Do you do what you say you will do? Can people count on you? Do you freely admit when you are wrong or have made mistakes, and do you apologize? Do others feel that you keep your promises? 5. Do You
The Power Of Informed Thinking: Enhancing Decision-Making In Business
The Power Of Informed Thinking: Enhancing Decision-Making In Business Beware of endeavouring to be a great man in a hurry. One such attempt in ten thousand may succeed: these are fearful odds. —BENJAMIN DISRAELI The two most popular words among experienced businesspeople are “due diligence.” This requires taking the time, however long, to get the critical information you need to make the right decision. The biggest mistakes we make are those where we commit time, money, and resources without having done sufficient homework. The best decisions we make are almost invariably based on having acquired complete knowledge of the issue before we act. We “look before we leap.” Reasons For Business Success In business the number one reason for failure is that there is no demand for the product or service. Whatever it is, the customers don’t want it or don’t want it at the price that the company has to charge to stay in business. The major reason for business success is high sales. The major reason for business failure is low sales. All else is commentary. The primary reason for the poor decisions that lead to market failure is that the key people failed to ask the right questions or to get the necessary information before the product was produced and sold. Get the Facts The most important elements in business are facts. Get the real facts, not the obvious facts or assumed facts or hoped-for facts. Get the real facts. Facts don’t lie. One of the most important words in business today is “validation.” Never assume. When you get a good idea, immediately take action to validate it, to gather proof that it is really as good as you think it is. Think on paper. Make a list of all the information you have about the product or service and all the information you will need to make the right decision. Talk to other people. Seek advice and input from others who have been in the same situation. Hire an expert. One person who specializes in a particular area can save you a fortune in lost time and money. Do an online search. Put in the key words associated with your question, problem, or idea, and see what pops up. Very often, this ground has already been thoroughly plowed by someone else. Solicit opinions. Ask everyone in your business who might have some knowledge about this subject to share his or her candid opinions and ideas. One thought or observation can change your perspective completely. Use the Scientific Method Create a hypothesis—a yet-to-be-proven theory. Then seek ways to invalidate this hypothesis, to prove that your idea is wrong. This is what scientists do. This is exactly the opposite of what most people do. They come up with an idea, and then they seek corroboration and proof that their idea is a good one. They practice “confirmation bias.” They only look for confirmation of the validity of the idea, and they simultaneously reject all input or information that is inconsistent with what they have already decided to believe. Create a negative or reverse hypothesis. This is the opposite of your initial theory. For example, you are Isaac Newton, and the idea of gravity has just occurred to you. Your initial hypothesis would be that “things fall down.” You then attempt to prove the opposite—“things fall up.” If you cannot prove the reverse or negative hypothesis of your idea, you can then conclude that your hypothesis is correct. For example, you come up with an idea for a product or service. You then attempt to prove that there is no demand for this product or service at this particular price. You approach a prospective customer and describe the product or service and then say, “Of course, this is not something thatyou want, need, or are willing to pay for, is it?” If your customer agrees that he does not want what you are proposing, you have a valuable piece of information to guide your decision making. If, on the other hand, the customer counters your negative hypothesis by saying, “No, no, no. This is actually something that I would be very interested in buying and using if you were to bring it to market,” then you have validated yourinitial theory about the potential demand for this new product or service. Be Willing to Fail Be prepared to try and fail, to propose and be rejected, over and over. Failure, trial, and error are absolutely essential to your ultimate success. Be your own management consultant with any of your ideas and conclusions. Ask yourself the brutal questions that a consultant would ask you to help guide you in decision making. “Is there a market demand for this new product or service?” “How big is the demand, and at what price?” “What changes would you have to make in your initial idea to make this a product or service attractive enough that people would want to buy it in sufficient quantities?” “Is the demand for this new product idea large enough to justify developing this product rather than something else?” “Is the market for this product idea concentrated enough so that you can reach potential customers with current marketing and sales channels?” “Will customers pay enough for this product or service to enable you to earn a greater profit than you would with some other product or service?” Be tough on yourself in becoming informed. Don’t let yourself off the hook or ask yourself softball questions. As Zig Ziglar said, “If you are hard on yourself, life will be very easy on you. But if you insist on being easy on yourself, life will be very hard on you.” Better to Be Right As the psychologist Jerry Jampolsky once wrote, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” It is amazing how many people come up with a new product or service idea and then fall in love with the idea long before they validate
Entrepreneurial Thinking: Achieve High Levels Of Financial Success
Entrepreneurial Thinking: Achieve High Levels Of Financial Success Be true to the best you know. This is your high ideal. If you do your best, you cannot do more. — H. W. DRESSER All people want to achieve the highest possible level of financial success in the course of their careers. According to Thomas Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door, fully 80 percent of self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs. They earned their fortunes in one lifetime by starting andbuilding their own business, by producing and selling something to someone. They thought and acted like entrepreneurs most of the time. According to the April 2024 Forbes magazine, there are 2,781 billionaires in the world today, 70 percent of whom are self-made. They started as entrepreneurs with nothing and built their fortunes from the ground up by creating and selling products and services that people wanted and were willing to buy and pay for. Think About Customers Entrepreneurial thinking means focusing on the customers at all times, thinking about the customers continually. Tom Peters wrote in the book In Search of Excellence that the single most important quality of successful businesses was “an obsession with customer service.” Corporate Thinking Corporate thinking is different from entrepreneurial thinking. Company people, whether employees, managers, executives, or technicians, view customers either with disinterest or as problems who are always complaining or requesting something new or different. Customers areoften seen as flies that have to be swatted and brushed away. Corporate thinkers are preoccupied with doing their jobs, pleasing their superiors, following the rules, and doing the minimum necessary to avoid being fired or laid off. Employees who are corporate types use the pronouns “them, they, and their” to describe the company and the people in charge. They feel that whatever happens in the company has little to do with them personally. They say, “A job is a job.” As one corporate type told me some time ago, “When I go to work, I think about my job, but when I come home, I don’t think about my job or company at all.” Lack of Engagement Many researchers conclude that more than 60 percent of employees at large and small companies are “disengaged.” They feel no deep commitment or loyalty to the company. They are just going through the motions of work, thinking about doing something else. They check the jobs ads on a regular basis, post their résumés and qualifications on LinkedIn and other websites, and are continually looking for something else to do. Corporate types come to work at the last minute, take every minute of tea breaks and lunches, and spend as much as 50 percent of their time chitchatting with co-workers, checking social media on their smart phones and doing things of no or low value to their company. Commitment Is the Key Entrepreneurial thinkers are different. They are committed to the success of the company. They see themselves as self-employed and act as if they owned their companies personally. They use words like “we,” “mine,” and “our” when they refer to their company and to their products and services. Above all, they accept and take on high levels of responsibility for results. Entrepreneurial thinkers are always volunteering for more responsibility. They continually think about making a greater contribution. They are continually upgrading their skills, learning new things, and seeking ways to become more valuable to their companies. Above all, entrepreneurial thinkers search for ways to increase the sales and profitability of their companies. Entrepreneurial thinking is customer-centric, customer-focused thinking. Entrepreneurial thinkers think about customers all the time. Sales Are Central The number one reason for business success is high sales. The number one reason for business failure is low sales. All else is commentary. The key to business success is SMS, which stands for “Sell More Stuff.” This is what the entrepreneurial thinker focuses on most of the time. How can we sell more stuff? Successful business people have certain qualities, characteristics, and disciplines that enable them to achieve far more than the average person. There are several ways for you to develop the qualities of entrepreneurial thinking and to make a greater contribution to the sales and profitability of your organization. Remember the three keys: clarity, focus, and concentration. Ask the Basic Questions There are basic business questions that you need to ask and answer all the time, especially when you face rapid change in knowledge, technology, and competition. First, what business are you really in? Define your business in terms of how you serve your customers, the improvements or transformations your products bring about in their lives and work. Who is your ideal customer, the perfect person for what you sell? This is a description of the demographics and psychographics of the type of person who most appreciates and values the special features, benefits, and results of the product or service that you offer. What does your ideal customer consider valuable? What is so important to him or her that you can provide that makes your prices seem unimportant? The main reason that businesses fail is that there is little or no demand for their product. People don’t value it or want it and have no interest in buying it. Your Area of Excellence What is it that you do especially well? What is your area of excellence or superiority in comparison to your competitors relative to what your ideal customer wants, needs, and is willing to pay for? All companies, products, and services must have a competitive, comparative advantage over their competitors that makes them the best choice and ideally the “only” choice in their market. What is yours? What could it be? Jack Welch said, “If you don’t have competitive advantage, don’t compete.” He is famous for his rule that General Electric would be number one or number two in every market it was in, or it would abandon that market and concentrate its efforts somewhere else. For a company to be successful, it must dominate a
Smart Thinking: Long-Term Perspective
Smart Thinking: Long-Term Perspective Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personalsacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life. —JAMES ALLEN The better you think, the better results you will get and the more successful you will be in every area. The most important measure, the only measure of the quality of your thinking, is the results you get, the consequences of what you decide to do as a result of the decisions you make. Milton Friedman, the economist, once wrote, “The best measure of quality thinking is your ability to accurately predict the consequences of your ideas and subsequent actions.” His point was that economic theory divorced from what actually happened when that theory was applied was clearly incorrect. Consequences are everything! The only question is, “Did your idea work or not?” Some people are confused about the importance of long-term consequences. They think that their intentions are most important, not the results. This is a major cause of confusion in our society today. They say, “If I intend for good things to happen as the result of my ideas, my decisions, and my actions and they don’t, you can’t blame me.” Your ability to accurately foresee and predict the consequences of your decisions and actions is the true measure of your intelligence. What Is Intelligence? Intelligence is not a matter of IQ, grades in school, or years of study. Intelligence is instead a “way of acting.” This means that if you act intelligently, you are smart. If you act stupidly, you are stupid, irrespective of grades or measures on IQ tests. What, then, by definition, is an intelligent act? The answer is simple. An intelligent act is something you do that moves you closer to something you really want. A stupid act is something you do that does not move you closer to something you want or, even worse, moves you away from it. You personally define a smart or stupid act when you decide what you want and what you don’t want. As Winston Churchill said, “I long ago stopped listening to what people said. Instead, I look at what they do. Behaviour is the only truth.” Action Is Everything How can you tell what a person really wants, thinks, feels, believes, and is committed to? Simple. You just look at his or her actions. It is not what people say, wish, hope, or intend that counts. It is only what they do, and especially what they do when faced with temptation or put under pressure. Someone says, “I want to be successful in my career and in life.” He actually believes it. But then you observe his behaviour. This person arrives at work at the last possible minute, leaves at the first possible minute, and hurries home so that he doesn’t miss the latest episode of his favourite television show. Clearly, based on his behaviour, his goal is not to be successful in his career but rather to watch television. How do you know? Because that is exactly what he is doing, every night after work. Did It Work? The only real measure of your decisions and action is “Did it work?” Did your action, based on your thinking, move you toward something that you wanted or something that is important to you? There are two laws that trip people up all the time, in personal life, in politics, and in international affairs. They are the Law of Unintended Consequences and the Law of Perverse Consequences. The economist Henry Hazlitt, in his classic Economics in One Lesson, wrote that human beings are self-seeking. Therefore, every action is an attempt to improve one’s conditions in some way. People always seek the fastest and easiest way to get the things they want as soon as possible, with little consideration of secondary consequences. Hazlitt said that the desired result of any action is always an improvement in conditions of some kind. The improvement is the primary consequence aimed at. It is always positive. All action is focused on improvement of some kind. Consider the Consequences But it is the secondary and tertiary consequences—what happens afterward and after that—that are most important. The Law of Unintended Consequences says that in many cases an act or a behaviour brings about immediate positive results, in the short term, but the long-term consequences can be quite negative. For example, a young man quits school to take a job to earn cash so that he can buy a car, socialize, go out with girls, and have an enjoyable life. These are all positive and immediate aims and goals that young people want to enjoy. However, the consequences of a lack of education are often a lifetime of depressed earnings, little upward mobility, and the strong likelihood of the individual’s never reaching his or her full potential. Creating Something Worse The Law of Perverse Consequences is what happens when the results of an apparently positive action turn out to create a situation that is far worse than if nothing had been done at all. For example, the immediate benefit of giving money to people who need it in our society is to help them and provide for them in the short term. The perverse consequences can be that the individual becomes addicted to “free money,” drops out of the workforce, becomes dependent on handouts, and loses his pride, self-esteem, and self-respect. The individual ends up much worse off than if nothing had been done at all. In society, the primary reason for social programs, giving money to the less fortunate, is always an attempt
Resilience: Bouncing Back From Adversity
Resilience: Bouncing Back From Adversity The miracle. Or the power, that elevates the few to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the promptings of a brave, determined spirit.—Mark Twain True success comes from positive knowing, rather than positive thinking. Your goal should be to achieve the kind of unshakable success and happiness that makes you an unstoppable force of nature. Your job is to take every step possible to make yourself so positive that you become irresistible and able to accomplish any goal that you set your mind to. One of the most importantthings you need is an absolute faith in your ability to overcome any adversity that the world can throw at you. Persistence Is Essential Napoleon Hill wrote that “Persistence is to the character of man, as carbon is to steel.” He also said that “Before success comes in any man’s life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.” In reality, your persistence is your measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed. If you absolutely believe, without question, that if you persevere long enough and hard enough, you will ultimately win, then nothing will stop you. When you build within yourself this absolute assurance, then virtually anything becomes possible for you. Your success and happiness goesthrough the roof. The Reality Habit Robert Ringer, in his best-selling book, Million Dollar Habits (Fawcett, 1990), says that the most important of all the habits that lead to great achievement is what he calls the “reality habit.” It explains the attitudes of men and women who have achieved greatness in almost every field. Happy, successful people are intensely realistic. They do not allow themselves the luxury of self-delusion. They face the world as it is, rather than the way they wish it would be. They accept the unalterable facts of life as given, and they work and plan their activities around them. In learning how to triumph over adversity, the application of the reality principle is to simply accept that “problems are inevitable.” Problems, setbacks, and disappointments are an unavoidable reality of life. Your ability to deal with these difficulties has as much to do with your success asany other factor. The Test of Character It’s easy to feel good about yourself and to have high levels of happiness when everything is going well, but the true test of a man or woman is when you can keep your head and continue to function when things seem to be falling down around you, and everyone else is discouraged and often blaming it on you. These are the times when you really show the kind of stuff you are made of. The Stanford University Business School conducted extensive research into the qualities of a man or woman that mark him or her for advancement into the executive suite, and ultimately, to the position of president and chief executive officer. They used a variety of questionnaires, surveys, and tests, going back to when an individual first joined a large company, to find ways to predict which people would be most likely to rise to the top of a large organization. After examining dozens of qualities, they were finally able to isolate two qualities that were most predictive of executive success, in terms of assuring that the organization under their control would continue to survive and thrive in a dynamic and competitive world. Play Well on the Team The first quality they identified was the ability to perform well as a member of a team, and the ability to put together teams to accomplish common objectives. All the business and the interpersonal skills that make a person valuable to an organization seem to be demonstrated in a team setting. This quality was relative easy to observe and measure over the course of a person’s career. Crisis Management The second quality they identified was harder to measure, even though it was absolutely indispensable for long-term, high-level success. This quality was the ability to function well in a crisis.Napoleon called this “four o’clock in the morning courage,” the kind of courage that is instantly available to a person woken up at that time, who has no time to prepare mentally and emotionally for a crisis. He called this the rarest form of courage, and, in his conclusion, very few people hadit. In military terms, they call this being under fire. A question that all soldiers, sailors, and airmen wonder about is how they and others will perform under fire. They know that this is the ultimate test of the character and training of an individual. Organizations know that, often, their very survival will depend on how well an individual deals with the inevitable, unexpected reversal of fortune. The Stanford study concluded that, although this quality was hard to measure because a real crisis could not be anticipated or created for test purposes, it was still critical in predicting success in the higher levels of the business. Reversals of Fortune This is also true for you. Your happiness and success is closely tied to your deep inner feeling about your ability to be effective when faced with problems and difficulties that hit you like a punch in the solar plexus. It is your ability to pick yourself up from the mat and keep on swinging that is the real measure of what you are made of. One of my favourite poems is The Quitter by Robert W. Service. There is a verse in that poem that goes like this: You’re sick of the game, well that’s a shame, You’re young and you’re strong and you’re bright: You’ve had a raw deal! I know, but don’t squeal, Buck up, do your damnedest and fight. It’s the plugging away that will win you the day, So don’t be a piker, old pard;
Capitalizing On Your Strengths To Achieve Success
Capitalizing On Your Strengths To Achieve Success I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome while trying to succeed. —Booker T. Washington You are extraordinary! The odds are more than 50 billion to 1 against there ever being anyone with the unique combination of talents, skills, and abilities that you bring to your life and to your world. The incredible things that you can do and be, no one knows, not even you. However, the one thing we do know is that virtually everything noteworthy that you will ever achieve will come from your ability to identify your areas of greatest strength and then to capitalize on them in every situation. Your Area of Excellence Each person has one or more “areas of excellence” that, if properly exploited, would enable them to be, have, and do, almost anything they could possibly want. Each person, as the result of years of education and experience, has developed possibilities that make him or her different from all other people. The men and women who achieve the most, in every field, are invariably those who have taken the time to identify their areas of greatest strengths and then to capitalize on them continuously. Life is the study of attention. Where your attention goes, there will your heart be, too. The people, things, and events that hold your attention are indicative of your entire mental makeup. The things you are interested in are an indication of what you should be doing more of. Choose the Right Field In one longitudinal study examining 1,500 men and women who started out eager and ambitious at the beginning of their careers, they found that only 83 of them, over the course of 20 years, became millionaires.When they went back and studied the attitudes and decisions of these people, as they had evolved over the 20 years, they found that all millionaires had one thing in common. They had all chosen fields they enjoyed and then become totally absorbed in what they were doing. They had gone to work in an area of endeavour in which they were extremely interested and which held their entire attention. They had then thrown their whole hearts into becoming very good in that area, developing the strengths necessary to succeed in that field. They had then capitalized on those strengths by becoming better and better progressively over time. The conclusion of the study was that success, wealth, and happiness seemed to occur when a person was completely pre-occupied doing something else. The wealthy people in this study never set out to make a lot of money. Instead, they set out to find fields that they really enjoyed, and then theydevoted themselves to them. The money came as an afterthought. Happiness and Satisfaction The flip side of this equation is that you will never really be happy or satisfied until you have found a way to apply your unique human capabilities to your life and to your career. In the book, Working, by Studs Terkel (Pantheon Books, 1974), he reports that more than 80 percent of peopledo not feel that their full potential is being utilized in their work. They may be busy and they may be reasonably satisfied, but, way down deep, they feel that there is far more that they could do if given the right situation and the right opportunity. You probably feel this way yourself, from time to time. This is called the feeling of divine discontent. It is a feeling of uneasiness and dissatisfaction that arises whenever you are not fully challenged by what you are doing. To enjoy high levels of happiness and success, you must be working at the outer edge of your envelope. You must be stretching your capabilities continually. You must have a feeling that you are growing, day by day, with the challenges that your work is putting on you. Without that feeling of challenge and growth, you will experience a nagging discontent, and this is a good sign. Discontent and dissatisfaction almost always precede a constructive change that forces you to change and starts you growing, once more. Living Congruently Men and women with clear values, who are living their lives consistent with their highest aspirations, are those who have a deep sense of self-confidence and well-being. The most important value you can have is the value of integrity. Integrity is the value that guarantees all the others. Having integrity means that you will not compromise on what you believe to be right, in any area. Integrity is absolutely essential if you want to capitalize on your strengths. It means, more than anything, looking at yourself honestly and making your decisions based on the fact that you are an extraordinary human being. Your feelings are very valuable clues to your choices and behaviour. Your peace of mind and personal satisfaction is perhaps the most accurate guide you will ever have to doing what is right for you. Courage Is Essential In combination with integrity, courage is the most important quality you can have if you want to be happy and successful. If integrity means being honest with yourself, then courage means having the strength of mind to follow where your heart leads you. Courage means having the ability to push aside all other considerations in order to remain true to the very best that is in you. Winston Churchill said, “Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend.” You know by now that fear is the greatest single enemy of success and self-fulfilment. It is not that people don’t know what to do; it is usually that they are afraid to do what their hearts tell them to do. However, when you build up your courage, act by act, you gradually overcome your fears.With courage, your whole world opens up before you. Your self-confidence increases. You