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To often we all fall into the trap of attributing success or failure based on the number of hours we have devoted to a project.  We view it as our ‘investment’ in the project.  This is just wrong.  The hours put into a project are irrelevant.  All that matters is ‘if you got it done’.

When you start your next project/program and feel mired in the morass of managing it, focus on what it takes to achieve the desired results.. NOTHING ELSE.

The U.S. Military uses typical training techniques and modifies their delivery in order to turn an ordinary person into an extraordinary leader.

When we think of military training, sometimes we think of a drill sergeant screaming in the face of a new recruit. Although this does happen, the branches of the U.S. Military utilize some of the same techniques we use in corporate training – except the delivery is different. This delivery creates the extraordinary members of the U.S. military.

Many corporate organizations refer to their new hire programs as “boot camps” – it’s an appropriate nickname, but in theory only. A military boot camp, as well as a corporate one, uses accelerated learning techniques. A great deal of knowledge is crunched into a short period of time, but that’s where the similarities end. Military boot camps use shock value and “break down” techniques as a way to mold a recruit into someone else, while leaving the best characteristics of the person intact. According to one former member of the U.S. Navy, the boot camp formula is break down, instruction, and reinforcement – both negative and positive. The other element of training is adaptation – the military consistently adapts the training recruits receive in step with changes in the world. Perhaps that’s a page corporate training can take to heart. (more…)

I believe it is possible for ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. For me, the difference between an “ordinary” and an “extraordinary” person is not the title that person might have, but what they do to make the world a better place for us all.

I recently was in the grocery store.  Looking for my favorite coffee.  When I found the isle I was presented with a wall of choices.  38 different varieties of coffee were on the racks with another set of choices as to the volume of coffee.  In a simple walk through the rest of the store, I began to realize that consumers are presented with a Tsunami of choices in all categories.

We all become overwhelmed with these choices and often then gravitate to the best known brand or make some other criteria that will provide the consumer with a method to make their purchase.  The lack of true analysis based on the choices translates into consumers sometimes buying the product that is not the highest quality or the best product, but the product that they know best.

This lesson of choice is important to each of us individually or as a corporation.  When given a choice, why would a consumer seek to choose you?  What makes you remarkable?  Are you packaged differently so that you and your product stand out?  What features of your product is extraordinary?  In service industries, it is close to impossible to change our products.  But our presentation of our products can provide the differentiation that will allow for us to stand out.  Design or experience or features, they all are ways to different products.   Apple computers uses a design and simplicity as the hallmark of their product.  They have the most elegant designs and the simplicity of their user interface is years ahead of the competition’s.   Bank of New York has long emphasized the ‘history’ and ‘experience’ of the bank and its bankers as their distinguishing marks.  They don’t sell checking or saving accounts, they sell the value of their advise in the financial arena.  It is what sets them apart.  Trader Joe’s, a grocery store, long ago determined that they could provide high quality private label products to their consumers.  They choose to eliminate the big national brands in lieu of their own labeled products.  Many grocery stores do this also, but Trader Joe’s did it with panache, a unique sales experience, and the quality of their products made them highly successful. (more…)

We are all looking for more time. We all claim that there is insufficient time in our days to accomplish anything, let alone something we actually want to accomplish. My solution to this is the biblical concept of tithing. Take 10 percent of anything you are currently doing and dedicate it towards your real goals, and aspirations.

If you are watching 3 hours of television a day, then take 30 minutes for yourself and your dreams. You still get 2 1/2 hours of television but you also get 30 minutes closer to achieving your dreams. That 30 minutes a day, over the course of a year is equal to 5.21 weeks of work. What could you accomplish if you had over 5 weeks of work to concentrate on a project? What could you achieve with that amount of time dedicated to your dreams.

Google allow for their people to work 1/2 of a day per week on projects that are interesting to them. Many of their ‘new’ products are directly related to that freedom of ideas, expression and the necessary time to develop those ideas.

Tithing of time, allow for you to accomplish so much with nominal loss of those habits we have created over a life time. So, what excuse do you have about not having sufficient time to work on your goals?

Napoleon Hill “A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

Zig Ziglar “Goals are dreams we convert to plans and take action to fulfill.”

Unknown author “Goals that are not written down are just wishes.”

Jim Rohn “Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”

Mark Victor Hansen “Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else’s results.”

Seneca “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”

Norman Vincent Peale “All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do.”

Author unknown “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

Milton Berle “I’d rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has-been was once an are.”

One of the most important aspects to the process of goal settings is to first establish and define your goal. The truth of this evident in a statement made by Lee Iacocca: “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” For one reason or another, when we write something down it seems to be more permanent. It is rarely forgotten and we are constantly reminded of it.

To help illustrate this, think about why we write down a grocery list every week. We do this so nothing is forgotten or skipped over. We make this list so every necessary item and component is purchased. If you have ever gone grocery shopping without a list, you know how confusing of an experience it can be. You seem to be all over the store, only to get home and realize things you had forgotten to buy.

It is quite one thing to say you want to accomplish something, but without a clear and defined plan; few goal settings are rarely accomplished. It is too easy to get sidetracked without a plan to keep you on the path to your goal.

The first step in your goal settings plan to set a goal is to write the plan! Commit the goal and yourself to paper and you are more invested in the process and therefore much more likely to succeed.

If you’re like most, you have probably made a few resolutions for the upcoming year. And if you’re like most, you’re probably wondering what went wrong with all those wonderful intentions. You may be asking yourself, ‘Why can’t I stick to a diet,’ or ‘I just don’t understand it; I promised myself that I’d go to the gym,’ or “Why am I so weak.” It seems like such a puzzle to try to figure out why all of this different resolutions seemed to fail. Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, the ability to change our habits is only as good as your motivation to start to change yourself.

The main reason for failing to fulfill these objectives is an inability to realize the full benefit of a goal. When trying to get off the couch to go for a run, you may find it difficult and start to rationalize with yourself that, “loosing an extra 10 pounds won’t be that big of a difference,” or say ‘I am fine with my appearance just the way I am.’

Due to our inability to realize the full potential of our goal, we ultimately give up and fail. The same is true for goals in our professional life. Because we fail to realize the full potential of a goal in our professional life, we simple let opportunities fall by the way side.

However, with the help of Bryant Nielson and ‘Lengthen your Stride’ you will be able to better realize your long-term personal and professional goals by realizing your full potential. After realizing the full potential of all your goals, you will be increasingly motivated and extremely more likely to complete your goals and become more of a success in both personal and professional avenues of your life.

Every single interaction is an opportunity to do marketing, not a chance to cut costs.

I thought the title might catch a few extra glances. Who would have thought that there was something sexy going on with all those trainer happy sheets? For one, I did.

Happy sheets, for those uninformed, are those polled results you provide at the end of a seminar. It is where you get the opportunity to rate the instructor and provide valuable feedback on how the seminar/course can be improved in the future. For the most part, the stakeholder (those people who sponsor the programs) take these sheets and quickly look at them and then forget them.

What a waste!

Happy sheets are more than just a quick analysis of how a particular program was conducted. They are more than an ‘off-the-cuff’ judgement of the instructor. They are more than feedback for the sponsors. When used properly, the can provide a valuable path for improving the course and building on the knowledge that the participants/delegates/students received while attending. (more…)