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    It is Time to Stop Managing Down and Start Coaching Up! By Bryan Dodge

    May 17th, 2010

    Manager: a person who has control or direction of a business, or of a part, division, or phase of it.
    Coach: a person who gives instruction or advice to elevate the performance of an individual or student.

    Businessmen and women are looking for leaders who demonstrate an enthusiastic and genuine belief in others and who strengthen their will to succeed. Look at the two definitions above and think about which of those people is going to get the results needed in business today. Coaching is all about focusing on the talent of the person, and not so much about the production of the job description given when hired. Yes, businesses hire a manager to control the output of sales in order to control the outcome or production of business. However, if the focus is on enhancing the talents of hired staff, I believe the outcome will be greatly improved. Coaches focus on supplying the means to achieve, not on the fear of employees losing their jobs. It is the title of “coach” that helps to express optimism for the future with a firm walk in life.

    A coach must keep hope alive from within the person. They must always strengthen their players’ belief that life’s struggles will produce a more promising future. This evolves into an intimate and supportive relationship, a relationship based not on pure authority, but on mutual participation that results in an inner renewal. The coach sees the good in you, and it is his or her job to bring the good out and place you in a position where your talent matches the task so success is almost a given. It is when you put people in positions of your needs that you are thinking like a manager, not a coach. Your job isn’t to put people in a position of your need; it is to put them in a position where they will succeed.

    All great coaches find ways to change up the game plan in order to get tried and true results. Different competitions, changing up strategies, having employee input ideas from the field – all these things help to get your team engaged in the company’s goals and have some friendly competition to bolster energy for production. A manager without a coaching strategy might simply post the goals of the company for the quarter and give no input as to how to achieve those goals. This kind of manager is relying on the talents of the sales staff, but not enhancing or improving upon past performance. Yes, the coaching up manager is going to have to be creative.

    Business owners should be looking for that quality in a coach for their team. Coaches, study your competition. There are strategies out there that are proven in the marketplace and should be followed, just like the skills to make a three point jumper shot at the buzzer. Perfect practice makes perfect. Follow your team on the road to help them to continue following proven principles your company has set. But by all means, have some fun with some friendly competition.

    During these uncertain and changing times, those who take the title of Coach lead with a positive, confident, can-do approach to life and business, something that is so needed with the people I see each week. The feedback I receive from investing hundreds of hours each year with people is that they want a leader with a coaching focus, not a managing agenda. These people want to believe that we all are part of a journey, and this is not just a job or a task.
    They seem to gravitate toward people with a can–do attitude, not those who always seem to have a reason why something can’t be done. It is when the pressure is on that the title Coach becomes so important. A manager thinks one way and a coach thinks another. A coach says, “I asked you to be on this team because I believe in who you are as a person, not just as a player.”  The good coach sees what is good on the inside and brings it out. A manager sees what is on the outside and pushes it in. I hope this month’s e-Zine will find you coaching up for success.

    Enhance Your Charisma & Attract More Business – M. Browne

    April 7th, 2010

    How do some seem to walk into a room and draw the attention of everyone? They seem to easily communicate and don’t have to work at getting the attention of those in power. Charismatic people often do this naturally but many others have learned the fine art of charisma. If you take a moment to exam those in Hollywood there are actors and actress  that can flash a smile or appear in a scene and draw every one’s eyes to them.  These individuals are usually not the most beautiful or handsome and are not from glamorous beginnings. Charisma can be described as a charming personality that draws others to them.  These individuals are socially attractive and magnetic.  They have a terrific ability to communicate both verbally and non-verbally. 

    Your incentive to enhance your charisma is not about having more friends it is about making the right connections, drawing opportunities  easily towards you and increasing your marketability. Those with charisma find themselves working less and receiving more.

    1)   Exude confidence and a great attitude when you walk into the room.  Walk confidently and smile, keep your eyes moving across the room when you walk into it. Move throughout the the room and introduce yourself. Many admire people who have the confidence to break the ice first. 

    2)   Before you attend a networking mixer, find out what kind of companies will be represented. Do your homework so that you can speak about  light and interesting topics about their business. Your reward, will be you will learn a lot and meet great people.

    3)   When you meet people listen more than you speak. Take interest in the other person by asking questions to learn more about them.

    4 )  Be aware of body language. Is the person you are speaking with becoming bored? What is your body language coinciding with your verbal communication?

    5 )  Be truly passionate. When you are excited you exude it, when you are angry others know it and when you are happy you are contagious!

    6)   Be genuine, people don’t like those they don’t get a feeling for or can’t seem to know where you might stand.

    7)  Be polite and pleasant. Treat everyone with respect.

    8)  Empower people by helping them feel important and more confident.

    9)  Laugh and have fun.

    10)  After meeting someone shake hands and look them in the eyes to say it was nice meeting them.  

    Stand out from the crowd using the head/heart connection. Tap into yourself and others physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.  The reward is an enrich business and personal life.

    How to Find Ambitious Employees – Chris Penttila

    November 16th, 2009

     

    Attracting proactive people isn’t easy, but it’s well worth the effort.

    Every entrepreneur wants a talented, ambitious team. But finding, hiring and managing standout employees can be quite a challenge.

    When Kevin Schaff started Thought Equity Motion six years ago, the idea was to sell pre-produced commercials made from stock video.

    As the business evolved, however, it became clear that the emerging market opportunity was actually in licensing online video. Schaff, 35, decided to refocus the company on becoming the world’s largest repository of real time search, preview and online delivery for motion-based content. The industry “was fragmented,” says Schaff, who is also the company’s CEO. “We wanted to pull it all together.”

    Today, Denver-based Thought Equity Motion works with content partners and clients including Paramount, National Geographic, the NCAA, Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. “You can’t watch T.V. for 30 minutes and not see our product,” Schaff says. The company’s sales exceed $15 million a year.

    Does he ever wish he could hit the fast forward button during job interviews to see which applicants would be the best employees? “Oh yeah,” he says. “People are by far the most expensive mistake we make.”

    Entrepreneurs Still Struggle With Hiring
    Small businesses need ambitious employees who can take initiative to get the job done. And small employers now have an opportunity to upgrade their workforce since the number of available job candidates has grown.

    There’s evidence that small employers are putting more emphasis on soft skills: 50 percent of small business owners in an October Intuit Payroll survey say they would rather hire a flexible “people person” or a “jack of all trades” instead of a highly-specialized “creative genius” or “math whiz.”

    The recession also has employees rethinking what they want in a job. An August CareerBuilder report found nearly 60 percent of workers surveyed were interested to work for a small business, and 20 percent of workers laid off from fulltime jobs over the last year had found jobs at small businesses.

    These numbers are compelling for two reasons, says Jason Ferrara, CareerBuilder’s vice president of corporate marketing. First, they show the relevance of small businesses in a poor economy. Second, they say something about job seekers. “Not everyone wants to work for a large, multi-national company,” Ferrara says.

    The good news? Small employers have a very large, interested applicant pool at their fingertips. The bad news? Small business hiring is up only 1.9 percent so far this year while salaries are down 6.5 percent, according to data from online small business payroll company SurePayroll. Many small businesses have trimmed workweeks to avoid layoffs–something that’s not always a great selling point with the most sought-after applicants. “What we’re seeing right now is a very strong level of underemployment,” says SurePayroll President Michael Alter.

    Ferrara still sees small employers struggling to define their “employment brand,” or the company’s purpose and the type of workers it needs, while grappling with a resume deluge. When small companies do pinpoint the very best applicants, they can fall short in selling them on future opportunities for advancement. “Large companies do a better job at this,” Ferrara says. “As an entrepreneur, you’re more concerned about communicating the financial [aspects] of the company.”

    Attracting the Best and Brightest
    Kara Goldin, founder and CEO of Hint, a San Francisco company that produces a line of naturally sweetened water products, says finding referrals is the ticket to attracting the best people in the recession. “If there’s a reference from somebody in the beverage industry who has worked with this person–or even a grocery chain that has worked with this person–it definitely helps,” says Goldin, whose company generates more than $1 million in sales annually.

    Applicants have approached Hint with a great resume in hand, but Goldin, 42, still wants to know they’ve done their research. She remembers being impressed when Hint current head of sales contacted the company to say it was on his short list of desirable employers, and went on to explain why. “He’s terrific, and he could have gone to a lot of [companies],” she says. “He was really selling us on why he loved the product, and what he said made a ton of sense to us.”

    Thought Equity has pulled its employees into the recruitment process by paying them a bonus for referring talented applicants who get hired. Encouraging employees to recruit their new coworkers has been very effective, says Schaff, who estimates 90 percent of the company’s new hires are coming to the company via referral.

    The company still receives about 100 resumes every day–mainly from younger applicants. Jobs in technology and development can still be very tough to fill. The company must also constantly re-recruit its best employees as competitors try to upgrade their workforces. “Good people are always being recruited, and you always have to focus on making sure that you can retain them,” Schaff says.

    Ultimately, attracting talented, self-directed employees requires great positioning, great messaging and a great understanding of what they want in a job. Financial incentives don’t hurt, either: Hint offers its 25 employees equity in the company, something Goldin sees as a big motivator for the most talented, ambitious employees.

    Alter predicts Main Street’s recovery will be slow as small business owners get their existing employees back up to full employment plus overtime before they start hiring new people. Still, he’s encouraged that small business wages have been declining at a shallower pace in recent months. “This tells me that we’re hitting bottom, and as we start to hit bottom we will recover,” he says. “I just don’t see a big, robust recovery.”

    Strong recovery or not, Goldin plans to increase Hint’s headcount in 2010. “As we open with stores across the country, we’ll definitely need salespeople to manage those accounts,” she says.

    Exceptional talent is out there, provided entrepreneurs can sell them on the opportunity and turn them loose on the job. Says Ferrara: “You should be hiring people who are smarter than you.”

    Chris Penttila is a freelance journalist whose work has also appeared in The Costco Connection, Oregon Business magazine, QSR Magazine, TheStreet.com and other publications. She lives in the Chapel Hill, NC, area and covers workplace issues on her blog, Workplacediva.blogspot.com.

    Employee Award – Mercedes for a Month: Jan Norman

    September 27th, 2009

    Emplicity an Irvine human resources outsourcing service, gives its employee of the month something more than a plaque. It’s the use of an E-class Mercedes Benz with “Employee of the Month” on the side.

    Here’s the first winner Lorraine Ontiveros, 23, with her company-supplied ride:

    Lorraine Ontiveros Lorraine Ontiveros 

    The company calls its employee recognition “Driving to Success” and has employees vote on their peer who best exemplifies the chosen theme for the month.

    Ontiveros was the landslide winner in July for the theme: “positive attitude.”

    “The first time I drove the car, people were waving, giving me a thumbs up and even taking pictures of the car and it was a bit distracting, in a good way,” Ontiveros says.”It kinda felt like I had the paparazzi following me.”

    In August she passed the keys to Jennifer Meehan, who fellow employees decided best exemplifies “excellent teamwork.”

    Vic Tanon, Emplicity founder Vic Tanon, Emplicity founder 

    Emplicity founder Vic Tanon says he’s always trying to figure out how to reward and incentivize employees, which isn’t that easy in a recession.

    “We have a lot of Gen Y employees who want recognition in different ways,” he says. “We wanted to make a loud statement when recognizing our employees and felt that a nice ride would give people something they could proudly take home and show to mom and dad and to their friends.”

    Emplicity is a 14-year-old professional employer organization plus outsourced human resources service. It has 35 employees and offices in Irvine, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Antonio and Los Angeles.

    The monthly award also helps emphasize core company values, Tanon says. Each month’s theme is one value re-enforced on a daily basis.

    Employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat, says Susan Heathfield at About.com.

    Her “Five Most Important Tips for Effective Recognition” include:

    • Establish criteria for what performance or contribution constitutes rewardable behavior or actions.
    • All employees must be eligible for the recognition.
    • The recognition must supply the employer and employee with specific information about what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.
    • The recognition should occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces behavior the employer wants to encourage.
    • Don’t want to design a process in which managers select the people to receive recognition.

    I Wants Simple Pleasures and Rewards, Often – M. Smith

    August 21st, 2009

    Give me a simple pleasures!  A free movie, an ice cream sundae,  a piece of chocolate or dinner on you. Demonstrate to me that I made the right choice by doing business with you. 

    I am not only a looking for the ease of technology, I looking for traditional customer service and a warm greeting or two. I want options of online products and services along with face to face service.  I like variety in my life with lots of options. As Gen Xer, I want to know you are interested in my family, friends and I.  I want to know you are working on new online services that are easy to use with lots to offer. I also want rewards because they are at the top of my list when making my purchase decisions. I be interested in a credit or ATM card unless, I get a good deal and incentive rewards.

    Point reward programs are interesting due to the variety of incentives that they offer.   I can either earn points to buy my mom something,  save up for a green vacation or donate to my favorite charity.  I definitely do not want to stuff my closet with another t-shirt or put add to my coffee mug collection in my kitchen.

    I am your employee and your customer, I am your best advertising.  I will speak positively and energetically about my experience and believe in our relationship as an your employee and as your customer.

    From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle by Jim Rohn

    August 18th, 2009

    After having struggled for so long, it took a shift in attitude for my family and me when success started to happen. When I started making a little extra money at age 25, Schoaff taught me to also let it serve as a new inspiration for lifestyle. Take my family to dinner after I’d had two or three pretty good weeks and it looked like it was going to continue. I would say, “Today we get to order from only the left-hand side of the menu, we don’t have to look at the right-hand side”. Didn’t cost much, just a little extra. But you can’t believe the effect on the family, wow, that these are new days.

    It’s called changing your life as well as changing your skills and earning more money. It’s best to invest some of that early money in lifestyle. Go to the movies. Take two vacations instead of one. Just some little extra things that now the family gets inspired by this new commitment to earning more and becoming more and learning more, taking some night classes, whatever you have to do. Now you make it more worthwhile for the family by thinking of lifestyle changes that now become very exciting. Go to the concerts. My parents said don’t miss anything. Don’t miss the play, the music, the songs, the performances, the movie—whatever is happening.

    When I started making some extra money, I opened up an account for my wife and I called it the “No Questions Asked Account.” I said, “Here is the checkbook for a new account and it’s called no questions asked. I’ll just keep putting money in there and you spend it for whatever you wish.” It was life-changing. It wasn’t a fortune. But she didn’t have to ask for money anymore. I could sense that it was a little embarrassing at times when she had to ask me for money. I thought, that’s not good, so the first time I get a chance, here’s what I’m going to do. And sure enough, I did it. The “No Questions Asked Account.” You can’t believe what that did. It was absolutely amazing.

    With that little extra money, work at creating lifestyle. Social friendships, church, community, country. All those things that make a composite of our overall life. Start furnishing that with new vigor, vitality, money, whatever it takes to expand your life into what I call the good life as well as economics.

    And it doesn’t always take a lot of money. How much is a movie? Even for a person of modest means. $8 or $10? It might cost $60 million to make it and it only costs $8 to see it.

    When I discovered those kinds of concepts at age 25 you can imagine it was hard for me to sleep nights that first year. I got so excited about changing everything. And one discipline leads to another. One change leads to another. Feeling good about yourself and starting to make the turn to do something you’ve never done before, then it starts to work, wow, and then you get excited about changing other areas of your life as well.

    Now after you have made your fortune, the money and extravagance might not seem as big a deal. And fortunately you can then create even more powerful opportunities, in particular, opportunities for benevolence, philanthropy and giving.

    Now I’m certainly not saying to focus only on external pleasures and rewards. Your relationships, health and spirituality are all of more consequence.

    But in the beginning, when the rewards of your hard work begin paying off, make sure and treat yourself and those closest to you to a new world of lifestyle and celebrations.

    The Law of Compensation – By: Brian Tracy

    July 9th, 2009

    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.

     
    Do More Than You’re Paid For
    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.

    Do your people (customers, prospects, team, colleagues) know they’re important to you? Always? Sometimes? Rarely?

    Remember… It’s your occasional words and continual actions that’ll help them know best

    What happened to the 56 that signed the Declaration of Independence? – Unknown

    July 4th, 2009

    Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,

    and tortured before they died.

    Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

    Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
    another had two sons captured.

    Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or

    hardships of the Revolutionary War.

    They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,

    and their sacred honor.

    What kind of men were they?

    Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

    Eleven were merchants,
    nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
    men of means, well educated,
    but they signed the Declaration of Independence
    knowing full well that the penalty would be death if
    they were captured.
    Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
    trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
    British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
    pay his debts, and died in rags.

    Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British

    that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
    He served in the Congress without pay, and his family
    was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
    and poverty was his reward.

    Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,

    Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

    At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that

    the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson
    home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
    George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
    and Nelson died bankrupt.

    Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

    The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

    John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying.

    Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
    were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
    and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
    children vanished.
    So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
    silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

    Remember: freedom is never free!

    Fourth of July has more to it than beer,
    picnics, and baseball games.

    You Can’t Beat Habit – By Neale Martin

    June 30th, 2009

    Learning how to alter customers’ routines likely means making significant changes to your own.

    Let’s face it: Your regular customers are on autopilot. When a purchase is repeated enough times, it becomes habit. However, market shifts can disrupt even the most powerful habits, and the current financial meltdown is the single biggest market disruption we’ve ever lived through. Customers are altering their behavior because of uncertainty about the future: laying off employees (maybe even your contacts), hoarding cash and postponing routine purchases. All purchase decisions are now up for conscious review.

    This is a daunting challenge, but it also creates opportunities. Here are some ways to get your customers back in the habit of buying from you.

    your existing customers to buy something–anything. You want to grease the wheels of habit formation by getting your customers to once again get used to doing business with you. Even if it’s selling small volumes or items with low margins, write orders. Once you have customers buying from you, you can look for ways to sell bigger and more profitably. Remember, your goal is to reestablish purchase behavior, so be flexible.

    Recognize that your original value proposition may no longer hold.
    Perceptions of value have changed along with perceptions of need. Spend time with your contacts inside the company to determine if you, your products and your services have maintained their reputation and relevance. Make sure you know who the new influencers are, and spend time with them to uncover new directives.

    Go for the throats of your competitors.
    Their customers have changed their purchasing habits, too, so now’s the time to get your products and services into the mix. Get in front of potential customers and pitch strongly. Again, get a foot in the door by getting a sale–any sale. Get into their systems so ordering becomes easy. Create repeatable processes that will lead to long-term sales relationships.

    Reinforce your value. This means not only delivering on your promises, but also understanding the sequence and timing of rewards and the removal of punishments. Salespeople often treat their prospects better than their clients. This is bribery and doesn’t lead to habit. Reinforcing behavior means providing the reward after the targeted behavior occurs.

    Pay attention to customer feedback. Your customer is trying to train you as well. Pay attention to the feedback. What’s the preferred method of communication? This may vary by the context; for example, e-mail for documents and work flow, phone calls for complaints, and text messages for quick questions. Work with it.

    By becoming your customers’ habit, you will create a strong competitive advantage. And we all know how hard it is to break a habit.

    A noted author, speaker and consultant, Neale Martin works to bridge the gaps between marketing and sales as well as between the scientific and business worlds. Neale’s latest book,
    Habit, updates our understanding of marketing and sales based on current findings from neuroscience and cognitive psychology. – Entrepreneur magazine

    Lead by Doing What Others Won’t Do: Drive to Completion By Mark Sanborn

    June 27th, 2009

    Visit any home improvement store on a Saturday morning, and you will see the beginning of hundreds of projects. People gather supplies, get instruction, and consult with professionals to get their game plans in order. Week after week the same scenario plays out. Based on sales, it would appear that these weekend warriors will soon beautify and improve the entire planet.

    But reality and results tell another story entirely. A quick look through the garages and basements of many of these great starters would likely reveal the truth about completion: the final ten percent, for many people, is virtually uncharted territory – meaning they never get there.

    Carry the accumulation of half-demolished foyers, clogged caulk guns, and piles of debris into the business world, and it’s no different.

    The pattern for success in business is to recognize an unsatisfied need, innovate to find and provide a solution, then to expand and repeat the process. Somewhere between innovation and delivery, we find the no-man’s zone known as completion.

    I once employed someone who proved to be an excellent initiator but a terrible finisher. She would start a task but get hung up once she encountered an obstacle. When asked why she didn’t get the job done, she blamed someone for not getting back to her or a situation she’d encountered. In short, she didn’t understand how to drive to completion.

    What makes completion such a challenge?

    Completion forces us to step forward.
    For many people, the thought of completing a goal is unsettling – even when the task at hand is unpleasant. Maybe it’s the sense of the ‘known evil’ being preferable to the unknown one. No matter how ornery a project has become, at least it’s a pain in the neck that is familiar. We know that upon completion, we must choose again. We question whether we’ve got the goods needed to accomplish the next challenge.

    Completion forces us to step up.
    Concluding the current initiative inevitably moves us to a point of “what next?” For success-minded people, the answer to that question always comes in the form of raising the bar. Knowing that an even greater challenge lies ahead can make incompletion insidiously alluring. We know that each completion is followed by a call for even more. We wonder how we will bear up as the stakes are raised.

    Completion forces us to step out.
    Whether the task at hand is pleasant or not, we become attached to it. No matter how hard it seemed as we first put our hands to the plow, it is now within our comfort zone. It is familiar, and it seems manageable. People generally fear change. We convince ourselves that survival depends on staying inside our circle of competency. Completion represents a not-so-subtle nudge out of that circle.

    For many people, incompletion has become a way of life. It takes the form of procrastination, loss of interest, confusion, and frustration. By remaining at the 90% complete mark, we reap the dubious benefits of security, mediocrity, and familiarity.

    How can we push forward for completion?

    Assess the current situation.
    Focus on one task at a time until it is complete. This sounds like an effective solution – on paper. Chances are, though, that your world is more complex than that. However, even with multiple projects and priorities going on at the same time, you can still focus on one idea at a time and then move on. Each new opportunity should be evaluated before you commit. Remember that ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘best’ in your consideration. Does it serve your purpose? If so, engage and then move forward into completion.

    Realize that the final 10% isn’t so bad.
    Often the final stretch is comprised of unremarkable, monotonous, or tedious tasks. Because they are less than exhilarating, they seem onerous. Reality is that these final milestones are a lot closer, and a lot easier to attain than they seem. These loose ends rarely take the time or energy we fear they will. Just like the sticker on your car’s rearview mirror reads, completion “may be closer than they appear.”

    Understand the price you pay for incompletion.
    The process of beginning an initiative and working on it requires that you fully engage your commitment, your creative power, and your attention. The deepest recesses of your mind loathe letting go of these commitments. Like an elbow constantly poking into your ribs, your mind will nag you unceasingly about your incompletion. This distraction is often enough to pull you right out of the game when it’s time to take your next step.

    Enjoy the rewards of completion.
    The marketplace rewards completion. Every purchase of goods or services is immediately and unconsciously evaluated for completion. If you were to go out for dinner, place your order, and then never receive your food, you would complain, refuse to pay, and never want to go there again. If you purchased a car and discovered it was missing some key component, a steering wheel for example, you would refuse to take delivery.

    It’s been said that the key to outrageous success is to do what nobody else will do. This brings to the forefront an opportunity to excel through completion, and reap the rewards of your diligence. A quick look around illustrates people’s tendency toward procrastination, loss of momentum, distraction, and incompletion. By committing to completion, you will do what nobody else will do, and the rewards will follow.

    Recognizing the prices and benefits of completion may be enough to move you forward. What prize awaits when you push forward for completion?

     
         
     

     
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