The Key to Motivation…
Your Real Goal
Your goal is to become a transformational leader, the kind of person that motivates and inspires people to perform at levels far beyond anything that they had previously thought possible.
Keep People In the Know
Transformational leaders empower others by keeping them "in the know," by keeping them fully informed on everything that effects their jobs. People want and need to feel that they are "insiders," that they are aware of everything that is going on. There is nothing so demoralizing to a staff member than to be kept in the dark about their work and what is going on in the company.
Give Regular Feedback
One empowering behaviour practiced by transformational leaders is regular feedback on performance and results. People need to know how they’re doing so they can improve if performance is below standards and so that they can be proud of their successes. The more feedback you give to people, the better it is, as long as the feedback is objective and not critical. My friend, Ken Blanchard, says that, "Positive feedback is the breakfast of champions."
Be generous with your praise and encouragement. Remember, people are the only asset that can be made to appreciate in value by giving them warmth, respect, approval and by creating a climate of positive expectations. Create An Exciting Future
What companies and countries and institutions need today are courageous visionary leaders who are committed to creating an exciting future for themselves and others. You have within yourself the ability to evolve and grow as a leader and to make a real difference in the world around you. And the one thing you can know for sure about yourself is that, no matter what you’ve accomplished up to now, there is far more that you can do.
As you practice the behaviours of effective leaders, you will grow more and more toward the realization of your full potential. It’s completely up to you.
Action ExercisesHere are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action in your work.
First, hold regular meetings with your staff and tell them everything that is going on. Invite their comments, questions and concerns. Make everybody feel as if he or she was an insider in the organization.
Second, continually look for opportunities to give positive feedback, praise and encouragement. People need praise and encouragement like roses need rain and sunshine. Take every opportunity to make people feel better about themselves and their work.
By Brian Tracy
The Power of Pausing…
All the top salespeople ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. One of the most important skills of listening is simply to pause before replying. When the prospect finishes talking, rather than jumping in with the first thing that you can think of, take three to five seconds to pause quietly and wait.
Becoming a Master of the Pause
All excellent listeners are masters of the pause. They are comfortable with silences. When the other person finishes speaking, they take a breath, relax and smile before saying anything. They know that the pause is a key part of good communications.
Three Benefits of Pausing
Pausing before you speak has three specific benefits. The first is that you avoid the risk of interrupting the prospect if he or she has just stopped to gather his or her thoughts. Remember, your primary job in the sales conversation is to build and maintain a high level of trust, and listening builds trust. When you pause for a few seconds, you often find the prospect will continue speaking. He will give you more information and further opportunity to listen, enabling you to gather more of the information you need to make the sale.
The second benefit of pausing is that your silence tells the prospect that you are giving careful consideration to what he or she has just said. By carefully considering the other person’s words, you are paying him or her a compliment. You are implicitly saying that you consider what he or she has said to be important and worthy of quiet reflection. You make the prospect feel more valuable with your silence. You raise his self-esteem and make him feel better about himself. Understanding With Greater Efficiency
The third benefit of pausing before replying is that you will actually hear and understand the prospect better if you give his or her words a few seconds to soak into your mind. The more time you take to reflect upon what has just been said, the more conscious you will be of the their real meaning. You will be more alert to how his words can connect with other things you know about the prospect in relation to your product or service. The Message You Send
When you pause, not only do you become a more thoughtful person, but you convey this to the customer. By extension, you become a more valuable person to do business with. And you achieve this by simply pausing for a few seconds before you reply after your prospect or customer has spoken. Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, take time to carefully consider what the customer just said and what he might mean by it. Pausing allows you to read between the lines.
Second, show the customer that you really value what he has said by reflecting for a few moments before you reply.
Six Steps to Effective Delegation….
To delegate effectively in your work with others, there are six steps that you can take. If you neglect any one of these steps, you run the risk of miscommunication, misunderstanding, demoralization, and poor performance.
Step 1: Match the Person to the Job
One of the great time wasters in the world of work is delegating the task to the wrong person. Often the task is delegated to a person who is not capable of doing it properly or getting it done on schedule.
Step 2: Agree on what is to be done
Once you have selected the right person for the job, take the time to discuss the job with the person and agree upon what must be done. The more time you talk to discuss and agree upon the end result or objective-the more effort you make to achieve absolute clarity-the faster the job will be done once the person starts on it.
Step 3: Explain how the Job Should Be Done
Explain to the person your preferred approach or method of working. Explain how you would like to see the job done, and how you or someone else has done it successfully in the past.
Ask the person to feed your instructions back to you in her own words. Have him or her explain to you what you have just explained and agreed upon. This is the only way that you can be sure that the other person actually understands the job or assignment he or she has been delegated to accomplish. Step 5: Set a Deadline
Set a deadline and schedule for completion of the task. At the same time, arrange for regular reporting and periodic inspection. Invite feedback and questions if there are any delays or problems. Step 6: Manage by Exception
Managing by exception is a powerful time management tool that you use to work more efficiently with other people. If the job is on track and on schedule, managing by exception means that the person does not have to report back to you. If you don’t hear from him, you can assume that everything is going well. The individual only has to report back to you when an exception occurs and there is a problem with getting the job done on time, to the agreed upon level of quality. Action Exercise
Sit down with your staff members and explain to them exactly why they are on the payroll and what their highest value tasks are.
Seven Ways to Get More Done Each Day…
There are seven methods you can use to get more done each day. Each suggestion is simple, direct, and costs no money.
Work Harder
Work harder than you are working today. You can concentrate with greater intensity on your work. You can focus single-mindedly and discipline yourself to work without interruption, diversion, or distraction. You can work harder than anyone else, which is a secret to great success.
Work Faster
You can work faster than you do today. You can pick up the pace. You can develop a faster tempo. You can move more quickly from place to place and from job to job. When you combine working harder and working faster, you can get more done in a single day than most people get done in a week.
Batch your Tasks
You can batch your tasks. You can do a series of similar jobs together, taking advantage of the learning curve.
You can batch your tasks. You can do a series of similar jobs together, taking advantage of the learning curve. Do Things You’re Better At
Do things at which you excel. The better you are in a key skill area, the more you can get done, and at a higher level of quality. Because you are better at these tasks, they will be easier for you, so you will get them done with less effort, and you will have more energy as a result. Make Fewer Mistakes
To get more done, you can make fewer mistakes. You can take the time to do it right the first time. You’ve heard it said, "there is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over." One of the best time management techniques is to do it right the first time, even if it takes a little more effort and concentration. Simplify the World
You can simplify the work by reducing the number of steps necessary to complete the task. This makes the job simpler and easier to get done. Action Exercise
Focus on doing a quality job the first time you do the task so that you do not need to waste time to go back and fix that task.
The Law of Compensation….
You Get What You Give
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, "Compensation," wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. The Law of Compensation is another restatement of the Law of Sowing and Reaping. It says that you will always be compensated for your efforts and for your contribution, whatever it is, however much or however little.
Increase Your Value
This Law of Compensation also says that you can never be compensated in the long term for more than you put in. The income you earn today is your compensation for what you have done in the past. If you want to increase your compensation, you must increase the value of your contribution.
Fill Your Mind With Success
Your mental attitude, your feelings of happiness and satisfaction, are also the result of the things that you have put into your own mind. If you fill your own mind with thoughts, visions and ideas of success, happiness and optimism, you will be compensated by those positive experiences in your daily activities.
Another corollary of the Law of Sowing and Reaping is what is sometimes called the, "Law of Overcompensation." This law says that great success comes from those who always make it a habit to put in more than they take out. They do more than they are paid for. They are always looking for opportunities to exceed expectations. And because they are always overcompensating, they are always being over rewarded with the esteem of their employers and customers and with the financial rewards that go along with their personal success. Provide the Causes, Enjoy The Effects
One of your main responsibilities in life is to align yourself and your activities with Law of Cause and Effect (and its corollaries), accepting that it is an inexorable law that always works, whether anyone is looking or not. Your job is to institute the causes that are consistent with the effects that you want to enjoy in your life. When you do, you will realize and enjoy the rewards you desire. Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remind yourself regularly that your rewards will always be in direct proportion to your service to others. How could you increase the value of your services to your customers today?
Second, look for ways to go the extra mile, to use the Law of Overcompensation in everything you do. This is the great secret of success.
Four Steps To A Super Attitude…
Decide How to React
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
In this newsletter, you learn powerful strategies you can use to keep yourself thinking and acting positively and creatively.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Second, whenever you’re faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being. Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it. Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow. Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people. Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:
First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.
Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.
Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
Don’t Lose Money!
Throughout the history of American enterprise, you’ve heard the words, "work hard and save your money." Work hard and save your money. It is the oldest rule for success in America. It’s so important, as a matter of fact, that W. Clement Stone once said, "if you cannot save money, then the seeds of greatness are not in you."
Saving Is a Discipline
Why is it that saving money is so important? Because saving money is a discipline and any discipline affects all other disciplines in your life. If you do not have the discipline to refrain from spending all the money that you earn, then you are not qualified to become wealthy and if you do become wealthy, you’ll not be capable of holding on to it.
The Law of Attraction
A principle with regard to saving your money is the law of attraction. The law of attraction is activated by saved money. Even one dollar saved will start to attract more money. Here’s what I suggest that you do. If you’re really serious about your future, go down and open a savings account. Put as much money as you can into it, even if it’s only ten dollars. And then begin to collect little bits of money, and every week go down and put something into that account.
Attract More Money Into Your Life
You will find that the more you put in that account, the more you will attract from sources that you cannot now predict. But if you do not begin the savings process, if you don’t begin putting something away towards your financial independence, then nothing will happen to you. The law of attraction just simply won’t work.
Once you begin to accumulate money, here’s another rule. Invest the money conservatively. Marvin Davis, self-made billionaire, was asked by Forbes Magazine, "How do you account for your financial success?" And he said, "Well, I have two rules for financial investing." He said, "Rule number one is, don’t lose money." He said, whenever I’m tempted, whenever I see an opportunity to invest where there’s a possibility I could lose it all, I just simply refrain from putting the money in. Rule number two is, whenever I get tempted, I refer back to rule number one. Don’t lose money. Get Rich Slowly
George Classon says, in The Richest Man In Babylon, that the key is to accumulate your funds and then invest them very conservatively. One of the characteristics of self-made millionaires, one of the characteristics of old money in America is that it’s very cautiously, conservatively and prudently invested.
Don’t try to get rich quickly. Concentrate rather on getting rich slowly. If all you do is save ten percent of your earnings, put it away, and let it accumulate at compound interest, that alone will make you wealthy.
Action ExercisesHere are two things you can do to apply these lessons to your financial life:
First, open a separate savings and investing account today. From this day forward, put every single dollar you can spare into this account and resolve to never touch it or spend it for any reason.
Second, whenever you consider any investment of your savings, remember the rule, "Don’t lose money!" It is better to keep the money working at a low rate of interest than to take the chance of losing it. Be careful. A fool and his money are soon parted.
Do You Have Everything You Want In Life?
If you’re like most people the answer is a resounding NO.
Sure, you’ve worked hard and achieved some of your goals…but ask yourself, is there more? Could you do better?
If you are still falling short of reaching your dreams, I can help.
Most successful people have a common trait. They are notorious goal setters. They realise that a dream without a goal is only commentary. And hope is not a business plan.
Are these people smarter than you? Do they come from wealthy families?
Many were in a worse position than you might ever be in. And yet they had a dream. They set goals. Goals they knew were achievable simply because others had done it before.
Setting goals can be a real challenge; especially if you’ve tried and failed before. But don’t worry; it’s not your fault. It’s just that people make goal setting seem difficult or even impossible.
I’ve got news for you. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, you’ll face the odd challenge, we all do. Remember, most challenges are really just opportunities to bring you closer to your goals.
What successful people know that you don’t is how to make their goals work for them. In my live ”Eat That Frog” 1 day training workshop, I take you by the hand to show you simple, proven strategies designed to help you achieve all of your goals.
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To your success!
Mark Garbelotto
Slice and Dice the Task…
Why You Procrastinate
A major reason for procrastinating on big, important tasks is that they appear so large and formidable when you first approach them. One technique that you can use to cut a big task down to size is the "Salami slice" method of getting work done. With this method, you lay out the task in detail and then resolve to do just one slice of the job for the time being, like eating a roll of salami, one slice at a time. Or like eating one piece of a frog at a time.
Do One Small Part to Start
Psychologically, you will find it easier to do a single, small piece of a large project than to start on the whole job. Often, once you have started and completed a single part of the job, you will feel like doing just one more "slice." Soon, you will find yourself working through the job one part at a time, and before you know it, the job will be completed.
Just Get Started
Once you start working, you develop a sense of forward momentum and a feeling of accomplishment. You become energized and excited. You feel yourself internally motivated and propelled to keep going until the task is complete.
Action Exercises
Now, here are two actions you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, select one big important task and lay it out in front of you.
Second, select one part of the task and do it immediately.
Too Much to Do, Too Little Time….
The most common form of stress that we experience is the feeling of being overwhelmed with far too much to do and having too little time to do it in. In fact, "time poverty" is the biggest single problem facing most managers in America today. We simply do not have enough time to fulfill all our responsibilities. Because of budget limitations, staff cutbacks, downsizing, and competitive pressures, individual managers are forced to take on more and more work, all of which appears to be indispensable to the smooth functioning of our company or department.
Become an Expert
The solution to this problem of work overload is for you to become an expert on time management. There is probably no other skill that you can learn that will give you a "bigger bang for the buck" than to become extremely knowledgeable and experienced in using time management practices.
Be Open to New Ideas
The most foolish manager of all is either the manager who feels that he has no time to learn about time management or, even worse, the manager who, while being overwhelmed with work, feels that he already knows all that he needs to know about the subject.
The fact is that you can study time management and take time management courses for your entire business life and you will still never learn everything you need to know to get the most out of yourself while doing your job in the most efficient way. The Keys to Time Management
The two indispensable keys to time management are:1) the ability to set priorities; and 2) the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing at a time. Since there is never enough time to do everything that needs to be done, you must be continually setting priorities on your activities. Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?" The Best Question of All
This question, "what is the most valuable use of my time right now?" will do more to keep you on track, hour by hour, than any other single question in the list of time management strategies.
The natural tendency for all of us is to major in minors and to give in to the temptation to clear up small things first. After all, small things are easier and they are often more fun than the big, important things that represent the most valuable use of your time.
Start With Your Top TasksHowever, the self-discipline of organizing your work and focusing on your highest value tasks is the starting point of getting your time under control and lowering your stress levels. Action Exercises
Here are there things you can do immediately to get your time under control.
First, make a decision today to become an expert on time management. Read the books, listen to the audio programs, and take a time management course. Then, practice, practice, practice every day until you master time management skills.
Second, set clear priorities on your work each day, before you begin. Then, discipline yourself to start on your most important task and stay at that until it is complete. This will relieve much of your stress immediately.
Written by Brian Tracy and train by Mark Garbelotto.
