Quality remains one of the key differentiators whenever we want to evaluate something or make a choice. We often explore and discuss quality at our workplace, in our processes or in the products or services we consume. But this idea of quality always begins with the individual.
How do you define your quality of work? How do you rate your own quality? How do you make quality your calling card, and the essential ingredient in creating a successful personal brand.
Here are seven tips to improve your quality quotient:
1. Clarify your purpose – You are at your best when your actions are aligned with your purpose. Hence defining your purpose is crucial to starting your pursuit of quality.
2. Prepare a “quality” plan: Spend a day and document all your daily tasks or activities to identify the best practices to enhance the quality of your output? Also, test your ideas and processes regularly to determine the required improvements or interventions. This might include deleting or letting go of certain practices or ideas that have ceased to serve you.
3. Create your quality circle – Surround yourself with positive, proactive people who challenge and inspire you to be your best. If you don’t have a choice of the physical company you keep, there is a whole virtual world at your fingertips. Read good books, watch TED videos, subscribe to quality content and follow best practices.
4. Get feedback – Just as you need a rear view and side view mirror to maneuver around your blind spots while driving, you need feedback to get the complete picture of any situation. Hence, always invite and welcome feedback from your stakeholders and view all complaints as an opportunity to improve.
5. Spend some quiet time alone – Time for introspection, reflection, and deliberation is essential in developing a conscious awareness of the self and how you choose to express it. Meditation is one of the best methods to develop this awareness and guide your actions.
6. Invest in learning – Quality is a continually evolving and ongoing process. Set aside time to continuously learn the latest ways of thinking and doing things. When you stop growing, your business stops growing.
Once in a while you will find that you just cannot get going.
You try to work in different places but your body does not respond. You eat different types of food or drink coffee or eat some sugary stuff to get the energy to buckle down and start working, but you find the rejuvenation short-lived.
When this happens your body is telling you it is time to rest and have a lazy day. If this happens too often then there would be a cause for worry. However, if it is once a month it is fine. When you go full speed for many days your body will tell you it is time to refuel by resting a bit.
It boils down to balance. There is a time to work and a time to play and a time to pray. Just like we have seasons in the year similarly we have seasons in our life journey. Enjoy the ride no matter what.
Once in a while, you will find that you just cannot get going.
You try to work in different places but your body does not respond. You eat different types of food or drink coffee to get the energy and start working, but you find the rejuvenation short-lived.
When this happens your body is telling you it is time to rest and have a lazy day. When you go full speed for many days, your body will tell you it is time to refuel by resting a bit.
It boils down to balance. There is a time to work and a time to play and a time to pray. Just like we have seasons in the year, similarly, we have seasons in our journey.
You have many unused gifts buried inside you. Some you are aware of, others you have yet to clue into.
Those you are aware of, you need to ignite by self-belief, discipline and continuous reminder. Those you are unaware of, begin the process of self-discovery through observation, reflection, and meditation. As you become aware of new gifts, optimize them by applying them at every opportunity.
The key is to remain steadfast in the belief that you indeed have these gifts. If you do not believe, they will be difficult to unleash, no matter what.
With self-belief in your innate gifts, you can spark success; one self-fulfilling prophecy after another!
“I’ve trusted the still, small voice of intuition my entire life. ” – Oprah Winfrey
You get a hunch and you feel very strongly about it. Then, you get some negative feedback from someone and you give up on the idea. But, why do that?
You may think your hunch was not backed by reasoning or proof, so it has no base. That could be true. Alternatively, your intuition may be spot-on and even more powerful than reasoned analysis.
There is an amazing power within all of us that guides us. Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey and many other highly successful entrepreneurs have all relied on their instincts to make important decisions and it has served them well. Why is that the case? Because they trust their instincts. Steve Jobs said, “Intuition is more powerful than intellect.”
If you do not trust your own intuition, how do you expect others to do so?
Here are some ways to enhance the connection to your intuition:
1. Meditation
If you meditate regularly, you will have a deeper connection to your intuition.
2. Body is aligned with your intuition
Your intuition and body are connected. If your body is feeling uneasy with your intuition it is a red flag.
3. Your values match
Intuition comes from your inner source, thus aligned with your values. If your intuition is suggesting something that does not match your values, then there is something amiss.
4. Feeling vs thinking
The source of your intuition is the heart and it is something you feel. If the source of your intuition is your mind then it is not intuition.
5. Journal and test your hunches
To enhance your trust, test your hunches out a few times. Also, journal these experiences so you can revisit them.
6. Check your energy level
If your energy level gets depleted when you’re around someone, the message is to walk away.
7. Remain present
If you are consumed by the past or the future it will be difficult to invite intuition. Intuition comes to you when you are in the now!
8. What manifestations are you consumed by?
If you keep saying, “I will be a winner no matter what the result” and you truly believe this, then your intuition will guide you to feel like a winner no matter what the result is. Intuition will guide the affirmation of your specific manifestation.
9. Take action pronto
Once you have an intuition, then by dilly-dallying you are indicating mistrust of the message. If all of the above is in place take action pronto!
Winner’s have many positive attributes. Here are some of them that you can emulate:
1. Take 100 % responsibility.
I have come across many successful people around the world. One quality they all have is they take full responsibility for their life. I have also come across people who always have an excuse for their shortcomings. For them, it is usually someone else’s fault. Taking 100 percent responsibility for your shortcomings and failures is the key to your success and happiness. When you take responsibility, you announce to the world that if things are going to change, you will be the catalyst. To create a winning attitude, take 100 % responsibility for your life.
2. Decide and reinforce.
Once you decide what you stand for and where you are going, reinforce it in as many ways as you can. Emphasize it in your verbal, written, non-verbal and third-party communication. Go forward, and make decisions that help you implement your ideas. The more you reinforce them, the deeper your understanding and confidence will become. When people on your team see you in that mode, they start to increase the tempo, and you will see a positive effect. However, the starting point is you as the leader. If you waver in your actions or decision making, you signal a doubt about your intentions and plans.
3. Value feedback.
Regular feedback and accountability can be very valuable. Being open and objective allows you to evaluate where you can do better. We all have blind spots and can miss some obvious errors we may be making. One of the qualities of successful people is inviting feedback and being open to it. There is always room for improvement, even when you have performed at your peak.
4. Break it down.
When you are faced with a lot to do, there are three simple and valuable things you can do:
• Break things down into small pieces.
• Prioritize and put timelines around each task.
• Begin with the first item.
These tips seem simplistic, but they work. The alternative is anxiety and worry, which waste time and drain energy.
5. Do one thing at a time.
Finish one important task completely. Most people prefer to have a hand in many things at the same time in the name of multi-tasking and efficiency. The danger with this approach is that you will finish many things at about 80 to 90 percent instead of doing the few most important things at 100 percent. Sometimes the problem is that you do not know what the most important thing is; at other times the problem is that you are not able to focus. Multi-tasking can also mean that you are running away from the one most important thing that you “must do.”
One important task totally completed is worth more than a few tasks nearly complete.
6. Avoid unnecessary interruptions.
Interruptions can create an unproductive day or days. Some interruptions are valuable and need to be attended to. However, there are many interruptions which are not important. You need to be vigilant to differentiate between these two.
7. Build on momentum.
Beginning something new is harder. It requires much more energy and commitment. When things are in motion, it is easier to keep them in motion. Usually I go to sleep early and wake up early. But one time I got up around midnight, bursting with ideas. I decided to act on them and implement my thoughts. By 2:30 a.m. I was able to put together material that I had been struggling to complete for the past few years. I could not believe how clear everything appeared. I learned that when you have momentum you want to go all out. Whether the momentum is in an idea or an insight, you want to act on it right away—whether it is midnight or midday. Ideas come from the highern, and by acting on them right away, you express gratitude for the blessing. If you procrastinate, you lose the momentum and the intensity of the idea.
8. When winning takes over
When you notice things falling into place, you may be tempted to say “I am lucky.” However, usually things fall into place because you:
• are becoming more clear and focused
• are becoming confident of your success
• have accelerated your work rate.
The above combination results in luck and synchronicity.
9. Don’t let the past dictate the future.
It does not matter where you start; it is where you finish that counts. Bill Gates was a college dropout who at times enjoyed playing poker in lieu of going to classes at Harvard. He started Microsoft in 1975, went public in 1986 and became one of the richest men on earth with his belief in the power of digital tools.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple in 1976 in Steve Job’s garage. In 1996, Apple was struggling. Today, Apple is one of the most dynamic and creative success stories. Albert Einstein had challenges with some of the most basic daily activities but was one of the eminent scientific geniuses of the 20th century. The past does not equal the future.
Visualize a week that incorporates – meditation, one-on-one family visits, exercise, reading, reviewing and/or modifying your financial plan, work, and relaxation time – all while feeling centered despite the stress.
If you can dream it, you can do it,” Walt Disney said.
Affirmations unleash your imagination. Once you have completed your affirmations, practice visualization.
Imaginations are powerful. Willpower without clarity and imagination is not as effective. So if you are going through chaos right now, don’t despair. Through imagination, you can transport yourself to a state of bliss. It has immense power to allow you to let go of your limitations and connect with the universe’s energy. You can move beyond the limits of your conscious mind and tap into the reserves of the subconscious mind, or sixth sense. Constantly ask, “How does that look to me? How does that feel?”. And once you get that sense, hold onto that feeling as it will bring clarity to your imagination. Repeat this daily and often, and gradually it will manifest into reality.
When you are able to master how to ‘feel’ the success of achieving your dreams, you will invite the universe to join you in your pursuit of those felt achievements. Upon writing down your feelings, read and re-read what you’ve written and gauge whether they make you feel good.
For example, you might write: “I love knowing that my life is awesome and I am at my peak.” Just reading this statement has the power to energize you.
This energy will increase the possibilities of achieving the outcomes you envision. And your conviction will remove doubts about any outcomes; will keep your mind on what you want, and away from what you don’t want.
Because affirmations are positive thoughts to feed you, they create energy, passion, and gusto. They are catalysts that create the action to overcome inertia and self-doubt.
But, the key is to not let doubt come into this. A small doubt grows like a seedling. Trust that although things will not change overnight, over time, and through persistence, it will all pay off. Let there be no doubt in your mind about it!
“A feeble man can see the farms that are fenced and tilled,” wrote philosopher-poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The strong man sees the possible houses and farms. His eyes make estates as fast as the sun breeds clouds.”
Imagination alone does not mean you will be spared the work that needs to be done. However, it will provide a much-needed clarity, focus and desire to execute!
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Once in a while, you will find that you just cannot get going.
You have many unused gifts buried inside you. Some you are aware of, others you have yet to clue into.
