Tag: Success 2013

  • Down to the Essentials

    If you want to increase the efficacy of your business or other projects, focus on the essentials. It is amazing how many times we get carried away spending our time, energy and precious resources on things that do not really help us develop a more profitable endeavor. And, yet, if we focused more on the things that were essential, we would have more to show for our efforts. Frankly, it is easy to understand why we deviate from focusing on the essentials. Basics can get boring. Yet unnecessary variety is not a prescription for business success. A quote from legendary martial artist Bruce Lee comes to mind, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

  • Design versus Default

    Proper planning prevents poor performance. Performance in business, school and life is enhanced when we plan our work and work our plan. How many of us actually do this, however? Something tells me that most of the time, many of us fly by the seat of our pants. We have a vague notion of what we want to accomplish and we go about accomplishing it in some vague way. The results? Less than stellar. There are two ways we can make our way through life. One is by default. The other is by design. The default approach has it that we are largely at the mercy of external circumstances and, consequently, life will take us where it takes us and there is not much we can do about it. This notion sees us as nothing more than leaves, being blown about the garden of life for the duration of our existence.

  • An Achievement Mindset

    We often end up being our own impediment to success. People may tell us how good we are. If we do not believe it what end does it serve? Praise for our abilities falls on deaf ears unless we are ready, willing and able to accept it, believe it and act on it. We are our own worse critics. Many of us struggle with having faith in ourselves. We believe that somehow, we lack a key ingredient enabling us to succeed. Of course, this is false, but if we believe it we will act as if it is true. Hence, our efforts will rarely lead to anything meaningful. Instead, we will be trapped in a purgatory of self-fulfilling negative prophecies.

  • Relax Into Success

    The notion that relaxing can lead to success probably seems unusual to some people. After all, we are taught that success comes as a result of hard work. Perhaps, we are taught to not just work hard but also to work smart. Certainly, we are taught to focus on what we are doing. We are taught to be goal oriented. How many times are we taught to relax, when it comes to learning how to succeed? Not many I suspect. Unfortunately, we tend to become myopic about what it is we are trying to accomplish. We forget what we might accomplish if we modified, albeit slightly, our approach to whatever it is we are attempting to achieve.

  • Surround Yourself with Success

    Years ago, in high school, I went to a local community center to lift weights. The center had a gym, basketball courts, a swimming pool, a track, etc. Additionally, a variety of courses were given there. For those who were interested, there were karate classes.