Business Motivation – November 20, 2009
You Climb A Mountain One Step At A Time Everyone who got where they are had to begin where they were. Your opportunity for success is right in front of you. To attain success or to reach your goal, don’t worry about having all the answers in advance. You just need to have a clear idea of your goal and move toward it. Don’t procrastinate when faced with a difficult problem. Break your problems into parts and handle one part at a time. Develop a tendency toward action. You can make something happen today. Break your big plan for success into small steps and take the first step right away. Success starts with beginning. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Realizing the Personal Aspect of All Productivity
Recently in one of my business coaching workshops, a client hit the nail right on the head when it comes to company productivity. “Let me see if I’ve got this right,” he said, “What you’re saying is that company productivity is really all about personal productivity. It’s all about us.” You can imagine my response: “Excellent,” I said. “Gold Stars.” All productivity, whether your company is a small firm or a global corporation, derives from the personal. And what does that mean to you, the leader or owner of a company? It means that your company’s productivity begins (or ends) with your personal leadership and productivity. You get your team to be more productive by setting an example of personal productivity. Leadership Matters in Productivity Productivity starts at the top, in your office. Think of who has the most invested in your company or department. I’d wager that that person is you. If you own the business, it’s your money on the line. If you’re the managing executive of a department, it’s your career and reputation on the line. Your investment in productivity is huge. Now, consider the essential nature of productivity. If I’m on your sales force, I can bring in all the work in the world, but if it can’t be done within budget and without cost overruns or rework or, at worst, orders cannot even be filled, then we do not get the net result we’re looking for. In fact, we do our business more harm than good when we over-sell and under-deliver; i.e., when productivity cannot meet needs. This is no small order, either, and is especially challenging now that many workforces have been reduced and everyone has to be more productive without having a nervous breakdown. Productivity can mean the difference between survival or not…
Business Motivation – November 18, 2009
Opportunity Lies In The Midst Of Difficulty Every problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity. You’ll find that every situation, properly perceived, offers opportunity. As fast as each opportunity presents itself, use it. No matter how tiny an opportunity it may be, use it. You’ll find new directions when you have an open mind and a willing hand. Successful people didn’t achieve their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They developed an opportunity that was at hand. You must make your own opportunities if you want success. Opportunities are all around you. Open your eyes and take action. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 16, 2009
You Can Be Whoever You Want To Be There are no real barriers to your success. You must overcome any doubts you have about your ability. Your self image prescribes the limits for your accomplishments. It prescribes the area of what is possible for you. Don’t be afraid of living. Your belief that life is worth living will help you create the fact around you. If you see yourself as prosperous, you will be. If you see yourself as continually hard up, that’s precisely what you will be. You can never succeed until you believe you can succeed. Everything is possible if you believe. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 13, 2009
You Are Responsible For Your Life If you don’t run your own life, somebody else will. If you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things in your own hands. To affect the outcome of anything, you must control the action at the point of decision making. You’re in control of your life to the degree that you make the decisions. If you let others make decisions for you, you have no control. When you control your decisions, you control the actions. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 11, 2009
Change Influences Your Personal Growth Personal growth is the process of responding positively to change. It involves risk as you step from the known to the unknown. All your growth will depend on your activity. Your strength and growth will come only through continuous effort and struggle. There will be no development without effort. Trouble is the common denominator of living. It’s the great equalizer of life. Your trials and your sorrows will develop you. When good or bad fortune comes your way, you must give it meaning and transform it into something of value. What happens to you is not as important as your reaction to what is happening. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 9, 2009
Happiness Lies In The Joy Of Achievement You were built to conquer your environment, solve problems, and achieve goals. You’ll find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve True happiness lies in activity. It’s a running river not a stagnant pond. Happiness is not in having or being, it’s in doing something you love. The secret of happiness is in having something to do. Happiness is a byproduct. You cannot pursue it by itself. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 6, 2009
DO THE NEXT THING Keeping a little ahead of conditions is one of the secrets of business. The time to repair your roof is when the sun is shining. So, do things before they need to be done. Let your advance worrying become advance thinking and planning. Position yourself ahead of time in the best place for you. You’ll gain the advantage in any situation through the medium of time. When you think ahead of any approaching action you’ll always have the advantage. You’ll be the winner. When you do what is necessary, all the odds are in your favor. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Business Motivation – November 4, 2009
Opportunity Knocks All The Time The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, for time and chance happen to everyone. Take a second look at what appears to be someone’s “good luck.” You’ll find not luck but preparation, planning and success-producing thinking. Opportunity is around you all the time, but you have to be ready for it. When your chance comes, you must have the equipment to take advantage of it. When you’re prepared for opportunity, your chance for success is sure to come. The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success. The tide of opportunity comes to everyone. (Reprinted with permission, Sam Maitz, Director of Marketing Technology, Leadership Management® International, Inc.)
Getting Excited About Productivity
— the best-kept secret to business success in any economy Many businesspeople I consult with hear the word productivity and immediately fall into a deep sleep. There’s just nothing exciting about the word. But I have to tell you that the difference productivity can make in your life and business is very, very exciting. Improve your productivity and you improve your chances of spending quality time away from business, leaving you more time with the ones you love. How to Improve Productivity Productivity is fundamental to meeting any business goal. And in challenging economic times, being strong on the fundamentals can be a make or break for a business. But how do you improve and increase your productivity? This is one of the essential business concepts I tackle during some of my first meetings with clients. We go through many steps and use several different tools to reveal the truth underlying the hours spent at the office. When we do, we almost always discover that too many of the hours we spend at work are virtually “lost hours”, which in turn contribute to long days – and weekends – at work instead of play. I want to share with you one of the first steps toward discovering these lost hours and the holes in your own productivity: Know – and understand – what your time is worth. Your productivity will always be tied to how you spend your time, so seriously evaluate how you spend each minute and hour at work. What are your high-payoff activities, and how much time do you spend on them? How much time are you spending on low-payoff activities? How much time is lost to no-payoff activities? Once you’ve taken this step, you should see some opportunities for increasing your productivity. And when you increase…
