Great ideas

When you receive a brilliant idea in a conversation, seminar reading, listening to an audio tape or watching a video, stop everything you are doing.

Jump straight into implementing the idea in whatever format possible at that moment. Some ideas are grand and cannot be implemented right away. However, the planning can be done, which is a great start to any idea.

If you fail to take this action right away the chances of you implementing the idea are grossly minimized.

Great ideas come to all of us, but only those who act upon them right away benefit. The rest are left with excuses!

Decide and act!

Decide and act are two operative words. If you are wishy-washy, unclear or cannot decide, then it will be hard to make progress.

On the other hand, if you are decisive but slow to action, you will not go too far either.

Once you have done your homework, make a decision. Then, execution is the name of the game.

If your progress is not at the level you want it to be then check whether the decision or the action is the thing holding you back. The only other road block could be a wrong decision!

Breakthrough, not breakdown

Every breakdown has a potential of creating a breakthrough.

When normal problems come, things are normal. When a crisis comes, you get on your toes and tap into your reservoir.

So do not look at a crisis as a curse, look at a crisis as a blessing in disguise. Ask yourself: What can I learn from this? How can I prevent this in future? What are the hidden benefits that can come out of this situation?

If you are going through a very difficult relationship challenge with a spouse or business partner, use this challenge to communicate deeply – more so then ever before to understand the other. Your goal being that this crisis would enhance your relationship, not destroy it. If you take this approach, your crisis becomes an opportunity, potentially leading to a breakthrough instead of a breakdown.

When crises happen, you use more of your faculties to overcome them. Your reservoir is unused when there is no crisis or breakdown.

Planning your meeting

How important is what you are grappling with now? If it’s very important in terms of results it can create for you, and the consequences of not achieving desired outcome are big, then it requires your undivided attention.

Get all the facts on the table to expedite the decision-making and planning process. When you have incomplete information, it takes much longer to decide and plan. If you desire efficiency, avoid discussing outcomes before you have all the facts. If you are meeting to discuss the facts you need, that is fine as long as you are clear of the meeting’s purpose.

Thoroughly preparing for a meeting can greatly enhance the outcome in terms of the overall results.

Reward for value

If you expect to be rewarded but do not deliver value, you are totally misguided. People who get rewarded are those who understand the clients problems well, help solve them and give extraordinary service.
 
The world is ready to reward the people who work hard, work smart and give special service. If you want to be rewarded handsomely, be willing to put in the extra effort, learn more and serve more.
 
The Universe is fairer than most think. In sports, those who earn more are the ones who perform better. In business, the ones who earn more are the ones who perform better. 
 
If you want to fill your bucket with reward, fill your bucket with effort and service.

Your biggest obstacle

You can have many obstacles or enemies in life, but when you boil it down to the essence, there is only one obstacle and one enemy. Who? You!

What about you is your enemy? This is a bit complex. First there is your fear. Fear that you cannot do something,  or fear that you will fail, or fear of the unknown.

Most fear is an illusion. Once you get all the facts together, you will find that most of what you need to do can be done by breaking your task into many small actionable items.

The other part of your fear comes from unnecessary worrying. My friend Dr. Nido Qubein says “95 % of your worry never comes true.” We worry about so many eventualities which never materialize. And the worst part is, the anxiety and anticipation is more exhausting than the event itself!

Then there is the fear that is rooted in our negative ego. “If I fail people will look down upon me.” When you choose a goal larger than self, you become fearless!

Finally there is the obstacle of not being true to oneself. We live secret lives, avoid the harsh truth, and avoid making hard yet important decisions, justifying that it is not right time to do so. However, the time is always right to do the right thing! You are your biggest obstacle!

Turning it around

Some days, all of your planning will be thrown out the window. Hopefully these kinds of days are few and far between.

If you happen to go through one of those days – stay calm, delegate as much as you can and handle what you need to take care of. It could be a family issue, a crisis at work or any completely unexpected happening. Once the dust settles, then attend to your plans.

You will find that if you are able to spend two uninterrupted hours after a tumultuous day, at least 80% of your plans will be met. This means you will be able to turn a disastrous day into a half decent day in terms of productivity!

To make a football analogy, the game is not over till the final whistle! The Seattle Seahawks were down until the final quarter but ended up winning the NFC final versus the 49ers. They recovered in the last quarter. If the first three quarters of the day are a loss for you, how do you turn it around and make a win out of the day?!