Be Thorough

There’s really no such thing as knowing too much about what you’re doing.

When I was in college, I spent my spare time reading about real estate and foreclosures. I didn’t feel it was a sacrifice of my time, because I was interested in real estate; I wasn’t studying just to pass a test. The knowledge I gained on my own led to my first successful investment. I couldn’t have achieved that if I hadn’t spent the time studying on my own.

In college, I also read something that Rudyard Kipling said, which I’ve never forgotten: “I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew - their names are What and Why and When--and How and Where and Who.” Finding the answers to these questions will ensure that your information is comprehensive and correct.

An example of this was from The Apprentice, when my assistants and I interviewed candidates. Sometimes the process went on for hours - one boardroom meeting lasted for over five hours so we could make the most knowledgeable decision possible!

Staying informed is a daily task, and challenge, considering how quickly our world is moving. But not keeping up is like agreeing to check out - please don’t do that. Plug in and learn everything you can. You never know when information will come in handy. If I hadn’t studied real estate foreclosures as a student, I wouldn’t have been able to see the great opportunity that led to my first big success.

Resolve to move forward and to learn as much as you can - today and every day.

- Donald Trump

Serve & not Work

One evening a scholar was addressing the participants on the concept of work culture. One of the participants asked the following question :

"I am a manager of Materials Department and I joined an organization 10 years ago as an Engineer Trainee and over the last 10 years I have gone through every experience in the organization. During the initial part of my career, the job was very challenging and interesting. But all those exciting days are gone since I do not find my joy any more interesting because there is nothing new in my job. I am now feeling bored because I am doing a routine job.

However, Sir, I was comparing my life to my mother's and mine should actually be more satisfying than hers but she seems more satisfied with her life than I am. I see that my mother has been doing the same boring job of looking after the family day in and day out, and that too with a smile on her face. She cooks, cleans, waits for everyone in the family, looks after our routine and though we rarely thank or appreciate her, doesn’t seem to get bored or tired.

The response from Scholar was very interesting and convincing. He asked the executive the question:

"Please tell me for whom does your Mother do all this?"

The executive replied that obviously the mother does all that she does for the family i.e. others.

Then the Scholar said, "Your mother 'Serves' others and because of this service mindedness, she does not feel tired or bored. But in an office, we 'Work' and not 'Serve'. Anything we consider, as service will not make us feel bored. That is difference between Serving and Working. Whenever you put a larger context around your work and see a broader meaning for your work, you will take interest in your work and it will make a very big difference in your internal energy." He asked the executive to consider his work as service and not merely a work.

Well. I know that life is more complicated than this simplistic story, but the point is clear. So, today lets 'Serve' and not 'Work'.

Creating Opportunity

An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life. To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.

By Jim Rohn

Focus on Key Result Areas

The Key Question for You to Ask :

Why are you on the payroll? This is one of the most important questions you ever ask and answer, over and over again, throughout your career.

As it happens, most people are not sure exactly why they are on the payroll. But if you are not crystal clear about why it is that you are on the payroll and what results you have been hired to accomplish, it is very hard for you to perform at your best and get paid more and promoted faster.

Determine the Results Expected of You :

In its simplest terms, you have been hired to get specific results. A wage or a salary is a payment for a specific quality and quantity of work that can be combined with the work of others to create a product or service that customers are willing to pay for.

Define Your Key Result Areas :

Each job can be broken down into about five to seven key result areas, seldom more. These are the results that you absolutely, positively have to get to fulfill your responsibilities and make your maximum contribution to your organization. Your failure to perform in a critical result area of your work can lead to failure at your job. There is essential knowledge and skill that you must have for your job. These demands are constantly changing. There are core competencies that you have developed that make it possible for you to do your job in the first place. But there are always key results that are central to your work and which determine your success or failure in your job.

You Are Responsible :

A key result area is defined as something for which you are completely responsible. This means that if you don't do it, it doesn't get done. A key result area is an activity that is under your control. It is an output of your work that becomes an input or a contributing factor to the work of others.

Give Yourself A Grade :

Once you have determined your key result areas, the second step is for you to grade yourself on a scale of 1-10 in each of those areas. Where are you strong and where are you weak? Where are you getting excellent results and where are you under performing?

Here's the rule: Your weakest key result area sets the height at which you can use all  your other skills and abilities.

This rule says that you could be exceptional in six out of seven key result areas but really poor in the seventh. And your poor performance in the seventh area will hold you back and determine how much you achieve with all your other skills. This weakness will act as a drag on your effectiveness and be a constant source of friction and frustration.

Decide to Become Excellent :

The fact is that everybody has both strengths and weaknesses. Refuse to rationalize, justify or defend your areas of weakness. Instead, identify them clearly. Set a goal and make a plan to become very good in each of those areas. Just think! You may be only one critical skill away from top performance at your job.

Here is one of the greatest questions you will ever ask and answer: "What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?"

You should use this question to guide your career for the rest of your life. Look into yourself for the answer. You usually know what it is.

- By Brian Tracy

How to Identify Your Goals

Here are seven goal-setting questions for you to ask and answer over and over again. I suggest that you take a pad of paper and write out your responses. 

Question Number One:

What are your five most important values in life?

This question is intended to help you clarify what is really important to you, and by extension, what is less important, or unimportant. Once you have identified the five most important values in life for you, organize them in order of priority, from number one, the most important, through number five. 

Question Number Two:

What are your three most important goals in life, right now?

This is called the "quick list" method. When you only have thirty seconds to write down your three most important goals, your subconscious mind sorts out your many goals quickly. Your top three will just pop into your conscious mind. With only thirty seconds, you will be as accurate as if you had thirty minutes. 

Question Number Three:

What would you do, how would you spend your time, if you learned today that you only had six months to live? This is another value questions to help you clarify what is really important to you. When your time is limited, even if only in your imagination, you become aware of who and what you really care about. 

Question Number Four:

What would you do if you won a million dollars cash, tax free, in the lottery tomorrow?

How would you change your life? What would you buy? What would you start doing, or stop doing? This is really a question to help you decide what you'd do if you had all the time and money you need, and if you had virtually no fear of failure at all. 

Question Number Five:

What have you always wanted to do, but been afraid to attempt?

This question helps you see more clearly where your fears could be blocking you from doing what you really want to do. 

Question Number Six:

What do you most enjoy doing? What gives you your greatest feeling of self-esteem and personal satisfaction? 

This is another values question that may indicate where you should explore to find your "heart's desire." You will always be most happy doing what you most love to do, and what you most love to do is invariably the activity that makes you feel the most alive and fulfilled. The most successful men and women in America are invariably doing what they really enjoy, most of the time. 

Question Number Seven:

What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you would not fail?

Imagine that a genie appears and grants you one wish. The genie guarantees that you will be absolutely, completely successful in any one thing that you attempt to do, big or small, short or long-term. If you were absolutely guaranteed success in any one thing, what one exciting goal would you set for yourself?

- By Brian Tracy

Take The Responsibility

Take the responsibility. Take the hit. If you do that, you will have no need to blame others or continually find fault with them.

A guy I once knew used to constantly call me to complain about everybody and their brother. To listen to him, you would think that the entire world was against him and that he never made a mistake in his life.

From day one, nothing was ever his fault. Everyone else was to blame. In truth, he was his own biggest blind spot and sad to say, he eventually became a total loser because he never remedied his biggest problem - himself.

So when things go wrong, look at yourself first. Don’t instinctively blame others or the circumstances - or use them to cover your behind. Be the leader. Stand tall and take the hit.

If you accept the glory, be willing to accept the blame.