Do What You Know

The answers to the practical questions in life are often simple. If you want better grades in school, the answer is; "Go to class. Do your homework!" If you want to lose weight and be more fit; "Eat less, exercise more!" We all know these things but we don't always do them. It takes a bit of self discipline! The secret to success involves overcoming temptations of instant gratification and doing what is good for you in the long term. Success is not in the knowing, it is in the doing.

Keys To Marketing Communication

In your marketing communication material firstly, make it easy for the customer to say "yes" and introduce nothing she can easily repudiate. Keep the communication brief and to the point to evoke curiosity and make her want to know more. Minimize customer risk, make it safe to do business with you by offering guarantees, freebies or a customized approach. Over all in your customer communication, be personable and express your personality like a real human being. Good luck!

Don't Beat The Dead Horse

Every once in a while you have to figure out when to stop fighting a lost cause or trying to reach an unattainable goal. One way to determine this is to set a time goal or deadline. When overdue, sit down and think about a possible change of focus or simply set a new goal and for crying out loud; stop beating on that dead horse.

Challenge Your Thinking

For survival and practical reasons the human mind constructs chunks of thoughts into concepts, associations and assumptions to rationalize and aid our thought process. The creative mind knows how to challenge conventional wisdom by asking questions, like "How come I think this way?" and "Why is this important to me?" To become more conscious and creative, Ask yourself; why not?, more often.

Measure And Measure Again

There is the old carpenters rule of thumb that says: "Measure twice, cut once" to be sure the measurements are correct since mistakes in measurements can be very costly. The rule of measurement also applies in business. To be successful you need to be constantly measuring your progress towards your goals. Are you tracking well and getting closer to you goals each week? If you have goals you can't measure, how will you know when you have arrived?

Great Strength, Big Weakness

The world of life and leadership is full of paradoxes. In classical philosophy, the word dialectic means controversy and is based on the idea that to every argument there is a counter argument. I have found that your greatest strengths often become your biggest vulnerability. If you are great with people you may not be as good attending to details for example. Balance your team to offset your weak areas with people of complementary temperament and skill.

Informed Intuition

When I think back on my role models over the years I find that they have been quick to act when they got an idea, from getting dates in high school to landing business deals later in life. My worst role models were also quick to make rash decisions, failed or died before their time. The difference between success and failure is a bias for action based on informed intuition. Don't wait, don't procrastinate. Get the relevant information and act decisively.