“If you are faced with a problem and you do not ask yourself what your role was in arriving to the problem, you are fundamentally doing yourself a disservice…”
Category: Be in it to Win It!
Be Forgetful!
As I get, “wiser”, I realize that life really is a journey. For some, the journey is amazing and beyond what most imagine possible. Did Bill Gates ever think he was going to be the richest man in the world? Did Ernest Duchesne (and subsequently, Alexander Fleming) realize that when they discovered (and re-discovered) penicillin that it would change the lives of billions of people?
Unfortunately, for the other 99%, this journey is in a state of constant flux – not necessarily because of our environment, but rather, our thoughts and choices. Many of us wake up and habitually fall into our personal “rat race” and in that race, we dwell on the past, we wonder what our life would have been had we made different choices, and we unintentionally live a life not of significance.
We can, thankfully, change our lives immediately!
Great lessons by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar was one of the greatest sales people that ever lived! What made him great wasn’t his ability to close a deal but rather his ability connect with those that he was making a deal with. After a successful career in Sales, he went on to becoming a widely recognized author and motivational speaker. Unfortunately, he passed away last week but his lessons will leave an indelible mark in history.
The Value of your Word
How much is your “word” worth? Well, I think in order to assign a value, tangible or otherwise, we must first understand what is being asked. Keeping your word, in essence, is making a promise to do something and, when you don’t live up to your word, you are in effect, breaking your promise. It’s really that simple…
The Trio of Trust
At the foundation of any real relationship, whether personal or professional, is trust. In fact, a relationship itself cannot sustain or survive without it. Imagine asking a friend for a favor and not trusting in the fact that they would actually deliver – what’s the point of asking in the first place? Or, in a business transaction, when you verbally agree upon terms – if you don’t trust the other party to honor their commitment, why would you want to do business with them? It’s a pretty straightforward concept to get your head around.
“I’m Golden, baby!!”
Ahh… to be “golden” – what a great feeling! For those of you don’t understand the context, being “golden” is when you can do no wrong. Be it in your career or in your personal life – you basically have reached living bliss! Everything you touch – turns to gold! People love you! They want to be around you! It just doesn’t get any better!
All of us, at some point, have enjoyed being golden at some point. Note the past tense? That’s right – being golden isn’t, for many of us, a constant. It’s a state that we enter and exit at different points in time. Remember when Michael Phelps set all those world records for swimming? No – what you remember is his being in the news for possession of marijuana! Sorry Michael – not golden! Or how about Tiger Woods and the fact the he’s probably the greatest golfer ever? You get the point.
My Thoughts on Taking “Vacations”
You put in the long hours at the office and after a period of time, you have earned enough hours to go on vacation!
In fact, given today’s naturally stressful work environment, vacations are important to help get recharged so you can continue to push forward and climb the corporate ladder.
The Value of Facetime!
Communication, in itself, is a form of expression… communication between two people – well, that is an art! I think people tend to underestimate how important effective communication is, regardless of the topic, in ensuring understanding between all those involved.
At times, speaking to people can be challenging for a myriad of reasons. Layer on a topic sensitive in nature or frame the conversation around a tense situation, and suddenly your intent of that straightforward talk doesn’t play out as you originally thought.
So, what’s the best way to have this “type” conversation?
Outsource Your Decision Making!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you have heard of the term “outsourcing” or some variation thereof (e.g. near sourcing, co-sourcing, off-shoring, etc.). Fundamentally, they all mean the same thing – basically, it’s “viewed as involving the contracting out of a business function – commonly one performed in house – to an external provider”.
Outsourcing, when used correctly, can yield tremendous benefits – some financial and sometimes more importantly, some intangible benefits, such as peace of mind.
Definition of Success
For those of you who know me, my definition has been shared on numerous occasions. Granted, it is not the “traditional” definition that many people are used to but, after hearing it and processing what it means, its concept is widely applicable to many facets of your life.
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