Triple Your Chances of Accomplishing Your Greatest Goal
“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” – Henry Ford If you want to triple or perhaps even quadruple your chances of success, partner up with someone who will work with you toward your goal. Two heads are generally better than one —…
READ MOREAcknowledge the Behavior You Want Repeated
“The applause of a single human being is of great consequence.” – (Samuel Johnson) When you are acknowledged for doing something well, the pride you feel can be a seed that grows into a lifelong virtue. My father’s positive review of my first poem (which I wrote when I was…
READ MOREEnjoy the Subtle Pleasures of Keeping a Daily Journal
“If you would not be forgotten, / As soon as you are dead and rotten, / Either write things worthy of reading, / Or do things worth the writing.” – Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1738) One of the consistent small pleasures in my life — something I recommend…
READ MOREHook Your Prospect in the First 25 Words
Want to write something that will grab a reader’s attention and get them—and keep them—reading? Then pick up a copy of Leads & Conclusions by Marshall J. Cook. One interesting tip he offers comes from the Direct Mail Marketing Association. They wanted to find the point where people stop reading…
READ MOREHow To Do Anything You Want – And Get Paid For Doing It
“None will improve your lot if you yourselves do not.” – Bertolt Brecht (Roundheads and Peakheads, 1933) This afternoon, I dropped by my brother’s house. He told me that the business he started two years ago — a mail-order program that teaches parents how to teach their children about wealth…
READ MORESome Things Will Never Change – No Matter What Some Experts Say
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson (address to the nation, Nov. 28, 1963) In “As the Future Catches You” — a book that talks about how genomics and other things are changing the world — Juan…
READ MOREQuiz Yourself: Are You a Good Leader?
“You don’t get points for predicting rain. You get points for building an ark.” – Louis J. Gerstner, chairman and CEO of IBM How good a leader are you? Answer the following questions by giving yourself a score of one point for every “inadequate” answer, two points for every “competent”…
READ MOREProductivity Secrets from the NBA: How To Do Everything Better and Quicker — And Make A Lot More Money in the Process
Did you ever notice how many professional basketball games are decided in the last 10 minutes? Plenty. It’s a curious thing. Ten guys jump around like madmen for 50 minutes, the score seesawing a few points this way and a few points that way. Then — halfway through the last…
READ MOREWhy You Should Never Wrestle With a Pig
“Common sense suits itself to the ways of the world.” – Joseph Joubert (Pensées, 1842) I like Mark H. McCormack’s new book, “Never Wrestle with a Pig,” not only because of its intriguing title but also because he admits on Page 1 that he doesn’t have a computer and…
READ MORE5 Myths About Leadership
“The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.” – Whitney Griswold (The New York Times, Feb. 24, 1959) Karen Elliott House, newly appointed publisher of the Wall Street Journal, is working hard to make the paper’s employees “feel happy and appreciated,” according to an article about her in…
READ MOREis It Really Possible to Have It All?
There is no doubt in my mind — if you want the best chance of achieving a specific goal in your life, what you need to do is make that goal the sole purpose of your living. By making everything else secondary and focusing almost exclusively on your top goal,…
READ MOREHow To Be Convincing When Pitching a New Idea
“He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” – Edmund Burke (Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790) When pitching a project, you’ll increase your chances of success if you draw a simple and compelling picture of the benefits it…
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