Are you doing stuff today based on assumptions?
We make many decisions based on our own assumptions. If your like most people your daily actions are driven by these assumptions.
Now more than ever it is important to continually question what you assume.
Sun Tzu wrote of creating a ‘death ground’ — a place where an army is backed up against some geographical feature like a mountain, a river, or a forest and has no escape route.
It was reasoned without a way to retreat an army fights with double or triple the spirit compared to being on open terrain, precisely because death is viscerally present. Sun Tzu advocated deliberately stationing soldiers on death ground to give them the desperate edge that makes men fight like they never had before. There doesn’t seem to be any better way to motivate someone to give it their all and maybe it’s time for you to create your death ground?
Recently I was working with some people and dividing up action items and tasks (or otherwise known as work). Then I remembered the 3 things I once learned that you should have in place to ensure satisfaction with the work you do.
For any work or task to be satisfying it needs to have three qualities: read more →
How focused have you been today?
First, before we go any further, do you have a really clear vision for what you want?
Let’s say you have that covered. Then, so far today how many actions, thoughts and forward steps have you made on this vision?
Seriously, take a few moments right now and write down the exact things you’ve done today. And not just the actions and things you’ve done, but also add up the amount of time you’ve spent on each one of those activities.
Did you get distracted way more than you imagined … for example, the way I just did while looking at a new analytic tool that in the end I realized we don’t need in our business. But, as I told myself …
image by ganderssen1
I recently attended the Allied Executives Refocus Sales Symposium titled Refocusing your Sales Department.
The panel discussion was great. Literally tons of insight from people out in the trenches, consulting and running sales organizations.
I don’t claim any these insights for my own and wont be able to properly attribute these quotes or insights to the individual panel member.
What follows is a combination of direct quotes, my notes and my thoughts.
Think and Leave Your Opinion (Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis)
One way to differentiate yourself right now is to have a opinion. But go deeper and have an opinion about your industry, your niche, or what you do. But I know you’re saying… I already have one of those (or a few). Awesome!
The next step is make sure those opinions are valid and you can actually back them up. Having an opinion is simply not enough. The ability to persuade and sway others to your side is where the true power resides.
Read further or watch video below.
How to grow and develop you need to ‘unlearn’
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We have released a new special report called Personal Branding is a Joke.
Click image to view Personal branding is a joke.
You can watch that special report here.
Three core reasons we feel personal branding is a joke:
Here’s a few quotes from the:
“Screw Google! if the internet dies, phones evaporate, and Apple renames the IPad to something that doesn’t sound like a female hygiene product, people will still search for miles and miles to come get what I’ve got…”
“A brand does not define the depth of a person”
“What did Tiger and Oprah do?” (Yes as required we mention Tiger and Oprah).
Reading and retaining information is the key to knowledge. One of the keys of personal development is reading and not only reading but ingesting in your mind what you read. This article notes a recent study and explains the best way to retain information and place it in your long term memory:
If you’re like many professors, you’ll tell them something like this: Read carefully. Write down unfamiliar terms and look up their meanings. Make an outline. Reread each chapter.
That’s not terrible advice. But some scientists would say that you’ve left out the most important step: Put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you’re uninhibited, say it out loud.
