Business

10 Things Smart People Don’t Do

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1. They don’t overlook the possibility to save money

Prudence is a virtue, not to be mistaken with greed or stinginess. Being able to handle your finances and save, by avoiding unnecessary expenses, is an admirable quality. In fact, it is surprising how many small details there are, warranting closer scrutiny.

These seemingly meaningless expenses can be easily avoided, and the amount of money you can save can amount to something rather significant.

For starters, buying a tap filter can reduce the money spent on bottled water. Opting to refill a printer cartridge, rather than buying a new one is another judicious investment. Replacing light bulbs inside your home with those that conserve energy, is yet another wise choice. Utilizing apps to reduce credit card processing fees, or choosing a big bank as your provider, instead of your local town bank, is also a good decision.

The internet has an unfathomable amount of quality content, both educational and entertaining. Paying for a cable or magazine subscription is undeniably meaningless. Almost anything you are after can be found online, at cheaper price, either as a streaming service, or as an online news article.

The point is, learn how to fully realize the things you are already paying for or have at your disposal – that’s what being smart is all about.

 

2. They don’t heavily rely on others

There is nothing wrong with having friends, family members or coworkers you can trust and rely on. Everyone should have someone they can count on when things go south. Heavily relying on someone, however, only portrays you as powerless. As a smart individual, you should never indulge such a commodity.

You can have a brilliant mind, outstanding intelligence, etc. but if you do not put those traits to good use, then you will only come off as incompetent. When you are in need of assistance, pay close attention, see if your problem was truly difficult. In a great number of cases, it is our fear and insecurity that prevent us from acting.

There is always a thought “What if I only make things worse?” The thought is perfectly justified. The unwillingness to overcome such a fear on the other hand, isn’t.

 

3. They don’t act irresponsibly

Do not mistake this statement as “Smart people don’t have fun” or “Smart people are boring.” You can have fun, you can have a drink, or have a good laugh. Irresponsibility does not equal uninteresting, it only means you like to have an organized lifestyle.

Superior organization leads to greater efficiency, whether you are a student, an employee, a business owner, an artist, or a celebrity.

We all have certain responsibilities, and they are not always imposed by someone else. Putting them off for no valid reason is simply packing to travel into a more stressful future. Almost everyone experiences how being irresponsible tends to backfire, but smart people simply practice what they learn from such inconveniences.

 

4. They don’t feel defeated just because they need to reevaluate their convictions

Our environment, our parents, our education and our past are all responsible for forging our convictions and our perception of the world. It leads to a creation of what is referred to as “umwelt” which roughly translates as “self-centered world”. Umwelt is more connected to how we create the image of the world surrounding us by using our sense, but it can be extended to our point of view on philosophical matters.

The convictions we acquire throughout life are not wrong per se, but are very likely to be proven incompatible when exposed to an entirely new experience or more difficult questions that need answering. Also, if you move out and change the environment you are likely to witness different patterns of behavior, simply because education, or lack of education in some areas, resulted in the blooming of other other human qualities.

Sooner or later, our convictions are challenged and sometimes they will triumph, sometimes they will be trumped. Smart people constantly challenge their convictions; they do not discard them. They reshape them, and they allow them to grow proportionally with their new experience. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to broaden your mind-set, you are not defeated if you gained something valuable.

 

5. They don’t dwell on their errors

To clarify, this refers to companies that manufactured a bad product, or movie directors who made bad movies, etc. It is not uncommon to come up with an idea for something that appears like a true masterwork for us, but once it’s realized, the general public may not be that impressed. It can feel humiliating and really unpleasant, however it happens, whether we like it or not.

When you are making something intended to be appealing to the masses, and in the end fail, start over again from scratch. If you want to impress, listen to your audience, don’t try to patch up the product, or make sequels, in an attempt to prove your vision was brilliant.

This kind of behavior will only cost you your credibility, and even when you manage to come up with something good, people might not even bother to give it a try. It won’t make you neither weak nor foolish, if you know when to give up. It will only give you more time to work on your comeback.

 

6. They don’t permit their past to hold them back

The past cannot be erased, and it does not come back to haunt us, it simply never leaves. We need to learn how to cope with it, and not allow it to interfere with our future achievements. If there is nothing useful to be recovered from the past experience, simply close those doors and let it go.

Past experiences shape who we are today, and our previous struggles can build a strong character, but people tend to use their past to justify their mistakes or behaviour. Perhaps we use these excuses to gain understanding from others, or to make it easier to forgive ourselves.

Still, if you acknowledge your flaws but refuse to do something about them just because you have an excuse, then you have chosen an easy way out, and that’s not what smart people do.

 

7. They don’t rely on good luck to solve their problems

“Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.” A good quote to be guided by when you invest your time and efforts into something. Hope for the best possible scenario is what motivates us, whereas preparing for the worst prevents us from falling apart. On the other hand, simply hoping for the things to work themselves out is no different from being lazy.

Luck should only take credit for a fragment of your success, considering that relying on it too frequently will only suffocate your ambition.

Besides, smart people would never permit luck to take glory for all their hard work. When you pour your heart and soul into achieving your goal, it would be disappointing to give good fortune the title of “major contributor”.

 

8. They don’t neglect important aspects of their business 

One of the key factors responsible for success is attention to details or just paying good attention in general. When one is trying to be a smart business owner, he or she is generally governed by the idea that with a quality product, success is guaranteed.

The logic is not entirely flawless, since even if you can offer a top quality product at a better price than your competition, you are still a far cry from a lucrative business.

The absolute necessity for a successful selling period is credibility, meaning you will need to have a good advertising tactic. This implies striving towards omnipresence and professional appearance, which brings us to the most efficient tool for spreading this kind of brand awareness, and that is your website.

The impact of the website should never be underestimated; people will judge you as a professional based on your website design, its responsiveness, authority and its content. There are numerous people who offer an amazing type of service or products, in person, but simply look like amateurs online.

Start off by finding a good web hosting service, to ensure your sites responsiveness, proceed with quality design, and finally, eloquently describe your product or service.

Clearly, this is a single example of an important aspect, there are others as well. like providing a good customer service and creating efficient incentive plans etc. But the point is never to push in one direction. Always work on numerous fronts.

 

9. They don’t hesitate to learn from their mistakes

Mistakes are inevitable. Sooner or later something goes wrong, and an unaccounted for variable emerges, and places a grave dent in our previously well-laid schemes. You can’t always have everything under your control, and we do not have the degree of awareness necessary to view every possible angle.

Mistakes are there to remind us of our flaws, and force us to mitigate the impact they have on our lives. Honestly, mistakes can teach us a lot about our lives, and ourselves, but only if we let them.

Learning from your mistakes means finding what is worth salvaging from your unfortunate experience, realizing what went wrong and finding a way to avert it in the future. Smart people use this input to work on themselves, and change the things they have the power to change.

Arrogant people look for excuses, and choose to blindly believe in their judgement without any retrospect. Not only does this kind of behaviour hinder your future success, it also drives people, and allies, away from you.

 

10. They don’t give up on their ideas just because other people don’t agree with them

I know that it was stated how knowing when to give up and start anew is a good thing, and how being too stubborn or pushy will ultimately yield bad results. Well, a wise person knows when he or she should push the envelope and stand firm when the situation takes a turn for the worst.

There is a difference between when someone gives your idea a chance and did not like it in the end and someone not giving your idea a chance at all. We are all entitled to constructive feedback on why our ideas or products are not satisfactory.

If someone wants to discard our efforts based on a hunch, do not let them. Fight for your chance to shine, or try finding someone else who will hear you out and appreciate your idea.

There is always a possibility that someone is intimidated by your expertise; thus that person wants to hinder your development. If you want to publish or launch something, look for more than one opinion. Even if the first one is flattering, look for more.

Constructive criticism can be used as a precious insight for the future.

Resources: lifehack.co

10 Habits of The World’s Most Productive People

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Everyone has had the experience of not having enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you need to. Given the busy lives that we all lead, staying organized and staying productive can be a challenge. It is easy to get caught up on the wrong path and waste valuable time you need to get things done. Take some advice from ten of the world’s most productive people about staying on task and staying productive.

1. No Email in the Morning

Author of The 4-Hour Workweek Tim Ferriss has a brilliant strategy for handling the ubiquitous time-sink that is email. He spends the first few hours of the day ignoring it. According to Ferriss:

“You might need to get into your email to finish 100% of your most important to-dos. But can you get 80 or 90% done before you go into Gmail and have your rat brain explode with freak-out, dopamine excitement and cortisol panic? Yes.”

 

2. Create a System for Certain Tasks

When you have something you work on everyday it is best to create a system to handle it efficiently and without getting overwhelmed. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com has come up with a strategy for staying on top of emails that he calls “Yesterbox.” Each morning when he boots up his computer he only answers emails he received the day before. As he explains on yesterbox.com:

“The great thing about this is when you get up in the morning, you know exactly how many emails you have to get through, there’s a sense of progress as you process each email from yesterday and remove it from your inbox, and there’s actually a point when you have zero emails left to process from yesterday.”

 

3. Limit Decision Fatigue

Each time you have to make a decision you use up a little bit of your limited supply of mental energy. To make the most of your cognitive reserves eliminate unnecessary decisions and simplify others. Take an example from productivity gurus like Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, and Albert Einstein andwear the same outfit every day. By not spending time and energy on picking out clothes, you have more time and energy to devote to more worth-while things.

 

4. Handle Things Once

When swift action or decision-making is required, use Harvard Business Professor Robert Pozen’s OHIO strategy and Only Handle It Once. If you get an important email that requires your attention, reply immediately and move on to the next task. Keep your day moving and keep easily finished tasks off your to-do list.

 

5. Prioritize Tasks

Sometimes the best strategies for staying productive are the most obvious. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stresses the importance of getting easy tasks out of the way in rapid-fire succession:

“I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of  progress.”

 

6. Take Vacations

In a world where everyone is always fighting to get ahead it might seem counter-intuitive to go on vacation, but more and more companies are adopting policies that make time away from the office mandatory. Taking some time to clear your head and relax can do wonders for your productivity when you return. Follow Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s philosophy:

“I pace myself by taking a weeklong vacation every four months.”

 

7. Sleep

Similar to taking regular vacations, getting a good night’s sleep will recharge your brain and improve your ability to stay on task. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington swears by the strategy of stepping away from a perpetually busy schedule to get the necessary amount of rest (at least 7 hours a night). Not only are you more able to make decisions when you’re rested, those decisions tend to be of better quality and you are less likely to feel overwhelmed by them.

 

8. Stay Fit

Take a page from Virgin CEO Richard Branson’s playbook and treat working out like it is part of your job. Many productive people (and scientists alike) find that engaging in at least 20 minutes of moderate intense exercise each day keeps their brains working at a high level and their energy levels high to match.

 

9. Start Early

You may not love the idea of waking up at the crack of dawn but a surprising number of the world’s most productive people love to get a head start on their day by starting early. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz takes advantage of working at a company built on foundations of caffeine:

“I get up around 4:30, and naturally the first thing I do is make some coffee.”

 

10. Keep a Routine

Let’s end with a tip from one of the busiest and most powerful men in the world, US president Barack Obama. The secret that keeps him from getting overwhelmed when the going gets tough is to keep to a strict schedule. In addition to only ever wearing blue or gray suits, the leader of the free world insists on his morning workout, dinner with his daughters, and having a late night block of time devoted to reading and preparing for the next day’s work. By limiting uncertainty, he is able to stay maximally productive.

Resources: lifehack.co

 

10 Management and Business Skills Everyone Should Learn To Be More Productive

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Business leaders measure productivity by the quality and quantity of output over input. Management seems to have a big part in a business. They decide, implement actions, and take the control. The professional skills and roles of managers are important to be adapted and put into practice not only by business people but all people who want to do and be more everyday.

1. Prioritize tasks

Lining up your daily tasks can be one of the effective ways to be productive.Focus on what is important by asking what are the things needed to be done first or by measuring the value of each task needed to be accomplished. It is essential to assess the things needed first to finish the right job at the right time.

 

2. Manage time properly

Get an early start. Doing things now instead of later is the ultimate secret that business people use to get more done, providing a schedule and record to help them track their activities and progress during the day. They reward themselves with a break that is short enough to avoid wasting time but long enough to refresh and clear their minds.

 

3. Know when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no

What keeps people from saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’ (when they mean ‘no’) is the fear of losing opportunities. In some cases, there are people that don’t want to be rude to others and make others feel rejected, so they take the responsibility. But, it is all up to you. Come to think of it, everyone has their own desires and priorities in life. There is nothing wrong with saying ‘no’ to the things you don’t want and you are no longer interested in doing, as long as saying it will do no harm to others.

 

4. Begin with the end in mind

Business people have a clear picture of the goals they desire to achieve or to have at the end of the day, week, month or even year. It helps them focus more on important concerns. It also involves the idea of “believing in yourself” that you can do it. Efficient and timely strategies can lead to successfully achieving the goal. Nothing happens in waiting for things to come your way, so the most important step is to make it happen.

 

5. Keep on learning and finding new ways

Knowledge can be found everywhere. It is not only something people can get in school, but is also acquired through their personal experiences. Productive business people look for hobbies that will encourage their learning everyday. They explore. They are open to new great things that could help them grow mentally, physically, and emotionally.

 

6. Allocate resources efficiently

In business terms, resource allocation is the proper assignment and management of scarce resources to effectively support an organization’s goals. Management knows how to maximize their time (to get duties done before the deadline) and power (to create and accomplish more productive things everyday). They learn to value what they have today and create wise actions out of it, because not all things will be present at all times.

 

7. Use the right tools to stay productive

Productive tools can improve the level of productivity and maximize efficiency while working. Mobile phones, although not objectively stated, are obviously essential when dealing with your team, for example, in group projects, since it can bridge the gaps of communication with the members. With the rise of technology, productivity applications on mobile devices are highly useful and powerful and helps business people keep track of daily agendas and increase their productivity level.

 

8. Live for today

“Work smarter, not harder.”

Productive business people normally dwell on things they have yet to achieve, but they always have breaks intended to appreciate life and to focus in the ‘now.’ They avoid worrying about things regarding the future that can ruin the day.

 

9. Deal with the unexpected

Unexpected events can come anywhere, at any time, to anyone. Business people prepare for the worst. They learn to keep everything in mind to deliver a quick and meaningful response.

 

10. Get organized

Like beauty, organization comes from within. It has to start within oneself before other people can actually see it. Organized people know how to keep everything in its proper place. They carry a journal and love to make lists. They are busy categorizing so everything will fall into place.

Resources: lifehack.net

Why You Should Want Your Employees to Love Each Other

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There is something to be said for an environment where people feel comfortable expressing appreciation, respect and caring for their co-workers.

When employees can feel really comfortable and supported in the workplace, magic can happen — innovation peaks, creativity stirs and collaboration naturally happen. This is how really great results are produced. When you create an environment where “we win” is supported over “I win,” you will create a much more supportive and collaborative work environment. And what’s not to love about that?

 

1. Embrace differences.

Most workplaces today are extremely diverse. Backgrounds, life experiences, choices and worldviews — we all bring something different to the table. You don’t have to become an advocate for each person’s unique traits, but you can embrace those differences to benefit the workplace as a whole. Do this by looking for ways to assign people with unique talents and abilities to certain situations where they would be a good fit and by looking for common ground among people and celebrating both the similarities and the differences.

 

2. Listen deeply.

Focus on listening as much as you talk. Every person has a need to feel heard, and being a good listener can help your employees feel that they have a voice. Even if you can’t implement an employee’s idea or solve a problem she may have, your willingness to listen will make a difference.

 

3. Care about others — and show it.

It may seem easy to simply care about your employees, but it can be difficult for some bosses to show it in a genuine way. Take time to understand your employees’ points of view, and make exceptions to the rules when necessary. Make it a priority to express your appreciation to them in a genuine way.

If emotional intelligence is something that your workplace just doesn’t embrace, consider making an argument for how this can effect not just employee morale, but your company’s stock performance too. An important economic link between company intangibles, such as employee satisfaction, and broader financial performance among large publicly held companies.

So make your workplace where employees love each other. This could be the key to achieving your organization’s goals.

Sources: Entrepreneur.co

Five steps to a humanised omnichannel strategy

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Ad blocking is by no means a new concept, but as it becomes mainstream, it has caused a split in opinion. Whether you think it’s happening because it slows down servers or if it’s due to poor consumer experience – both reasons being admittedly two sides of the same coin – either way it cements the ideology that today’s market is consumer-led.

If you’re a marketer, you already know this – and if you’re a pro, you may even welcome it as it will help you weed out the weak, disruptive marketing that taints your customers’ trust when you’re trying to deliver the content they really do want. It will be the spammy websites and publishers that will take the biggest hit, forcing them to become creative and relevant.

Yet the experienced marketer will have already explored new ways to provide enticing yet helpful campaigns; so you should already be exposed to alternative – and more effective – ways of delivering your ROI. If you aren’t, then it’s high time to start.

Integrated vs multichannel vs omnichannel?

As every industry becomes saturated and the advancement of tools and easy to access information allows the average person to do all the things that previously only an elite few could do, there is only one sure way to maintain a competitive advantage – by humanising your approach. Why? Because as marketing becomes ever-more digital, there is the danger of your customers being swamped in automated, data driven interaction. It’s not a disadvantage to them – they’ll just ignore you – it’s a disadvantage to you.

The evolution of marketing across the decades doesn’t even remotely compare to how much it has changed in just the past two years; we started with integrated marketing and with the rapid development of the digital landscape, we’ve arrived at omnichannel. It’s worth noting that nothing here is revolutionary; just our relationship with how we use these tools is changing in line with the consumer’s relationship with brands. The question is: are you keeping up?

Before we even embrace some core approaches to executing an omnichannel strategy with a human touch and why you should be considering it, let’s flag up what differentiates it from the others so you can start building one with clarity and focus.

  • Integrated: Integrated marketing is essentially a communication strategy that incorporates different styles of marketing such as direct, affiliate, social, email, and PR. The emphasis is on the consistent messaging delivered across these different platforms.
  • Multichannel: With multichannel, you run your campaign on different channels to attract diverse audiences such as TV, mobile, and video. Multichannel focuses on campaigns specifically so each runs efficiently on the chosen platform, even if the messaging is adapted for the platform it’s running on.
  • Omnichannel: Omnichannel emphasises how different channels interact with each other. Creating a seamless interaction means there is a relationship between those channels with the consumer’s journey in mind. This means you will map out how they will interact, and react, at each step of the way for you to be able to anticipate their next move.

While all three approaches are inevitably part of the same web, it is the nuances that should help concentrate your efforts, and when combined and executed simultaneously and consistently, you have a high powered brand.

Having moved from integrated and multichannel to omnichannel, here are five ways to create an ideal strategy.

Create seamless transitions

You want the customer to transition from one channel to another without losing them in between. Mapping out a user journey is no longer just for web designers, especially if as a marketer you can now no longer afford to put out self sufficient, standalone content. Successful transitions are the result of attention to detail – what differentiates one channel from another and how you can use that as leverage.

Avoid monopolisation

Data highlights what works best for your audience so you can optimise the high fliers and downplay the stragglers. With this in mind, there can be a real danger of only driving your highest performing platform and overlooking the others.

While it’s best practice to prioritise, an omnichannel strategy will require that you take into account all the available platforms that your digital savvy customer may use, leaving no stone unturned. This is then your opportunity to establish your brand robustly on all fronts and show you’re just as mobile as they are.

Practice authenticity

Content marketing and authenticity go hand in hand, and while there are some great content management systems to help you do this, the art of this practice will always come down to mastering relationship marketing.

Gone are the days when just knowing your stuff was good enough – the big question now is whether your audience believe you and can relate to you, especially if you’re exposing your content on multiple platforms.

Getting the balance right between blending your brand’s collective voice with a personable approach will take some crafting, but if done correctly you will end up with a distinctive and streamlined tone with a competitive edge amidst a sea of salespeople. A way to facilitate this is by advocating thought leadership or reaching out to influencers to promote your product.

Don’t be scared to ask your customers questions

If your marketing is not asking your customers questions or not making it easy for them to get involved in your campaigns, don’t be surprised if your sales aren’t flying or your material isn’t going viral. Engagement has been talked about extensively, but it’s even more critical for an omnichannel approach; it’s one of the ways of differentiating the annoying ads from the helpful ones. To engage means to go many steps beyond the product and concentrate on material that will first evoke a feeling before a sale.

Stay disciplined

As an experienced marketer, you already know the routine; you know you need a strategy with a goal which you have to measure, and then make tweaks and go through the whole process again to see what does and doesn’t work. But how consistent are you when the processes start to feel repetitive? It’s simple, but it takes commitment to consistently refer back to your personas to make sure every piece of content is targeted, to religiously follow through your strategy from start to finish, and then do it all over again, and again, and again.

Contrary to what it may seem, omnichannel is not just for retailers. Just as various sectors are starting to embrace the cloud otherwise they will get left behind, various industries will also have to start embracing omnichannel so your target audience can find you, whether you’re selling a product or just raising awareness. The rise of ad blocking should nudge you in the right direction and get you thinking about how to start combining a personal approach within multifaceted strategies – it’s no longer an option so you might as well be one of the few brands that gets it right first.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

Social commerce tops marketing trends for 2016

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With 2016 now just weeks away, marketers are turning their attention to new year planning with a new study revealing the biggest trends and anxieties marketers will face in the coming year – with social commerce topping the list.

The study of 100 UK marketers by digital marketing agency Greenlight, suggests that more than half of marketers (52%) believe that social commerce will be the most rapidly growing trend in 2016. This is closely followed by location-based marketing technology for 49% of respondents, and predictive targeting for 43% of those surveyed. The growth of wearable technology was backed by 39% of respondents.

Personalisation is likely to be a key driver in 2016, with 42% currently using location targeting to personalise their marketing and a third targeting by age group and another third by intent – such as purchase history. However, the survey also showed opportunity for improvement with more than a quarter (27%) currently not targeting by location, age group, intent, socio-economic group, religion, or sexual orientation.

Concern was revealed about the dominance of tech titans such as Yahoo! and Apple with 57% worried about their use of data, 32% concerned about becoming over reliant on their services, and 25% concerned about the cost.

However, the marketers surveyed also said such companies supported their online retail strategy. 86% of marketers said that Google helped them deliver on their aims whilst 71% considered Facebook a friend to online retail. 69% said the same of Twitter.

As marketers look to what skills they need for 2016 respondents identified a number of skills priorities. 59% said data analysis, 52% better content optimisation skills, 45% a better alignment with the sales team, 42% greater financial modelling and budgeting, 40% improved SEM and SEO competence, and the ability to code for 23%.

Andreas Pouros, COO and co-founder at Greenlight, said marketers had to consider what they were after. “Before investing consider your next move carefully. Question whether new tools and services will really impact your business and how much value investment in these areas will deliver. Marketers also need to make sure they have the skills to handle new technologies,” he said.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

Understanding online behaviour key to making the most of digital marketing investment

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When trying to understand where to put digital marketing investment and budget, it is crucial to understand which route to market is the most effective for your customer base since you don’t want to be wasting investment on a path your customers don’t often tread.

A new study by TextMaster and Similar Web suggests that when broken down by country direct traffic dominates over other methods of accessing brands such as search, referral or social with direct traffic the highest for German customers.

And yet for online dominant industries such as fashion, mobile apps and news and entertainment it is search traffic that provides the biggest generator of visits over direct hits. The research shows that for apps search traffic generates nearly half of all visits (46%). In fashion a third of visits come through search traffic and for news and entertainment 29%. Paid search generates the most amount of traffic for fashion companies at 14% whilst for news and entertainment the amount of traffic is minimal at only 0.43%.

Broken down by country the number of internet users using search engines to find fashion websites was highest in both the UK and France at 42% and 39% respectively.

The success of display ads meanwhile differs according to both industry and country with the method the most effective for driving traffic in Italy. For the fashion industry display ads generate 7.36% of traffic compared to only 1.23% for entertainment.

The study also showed the role of referral traffic with the method twice as important in the US at 30% than in the UK which hit only 16%.

Despite social increasingly being adopted by the fashion industry the research found that whilst social networks generated 19% of traffic for the news and entertainment industry for fashion it was minimal at 5%. However across industries it was Facebook that topped the chart as the top social network as driving most traffic.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

7 Mental Shifts That Allowed to Become a Young Millionaire

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1. Age is just a number.

Embrace your youth wholeheartedly. If you spin your age as an asset, which can be done in a variety of ways, it can be an extremely powerful differentiator. The moment you begin to give yourself an excuse for not being successful is the moment of almost certain failure.

If you believe you can really make it then you will make it. Besides, there is nothing people want to see more than a hard-working, intelligent and dedicated young professional who succeeds. Create a snowball of momentum that makes people want to be a part of your life.

 

2. Reinvest in yourself.

The best safest investment made is in future is Reading. Read at least 30 minutes a day, listen to relevant podcasts while driving and seek out mentors vigorously. You don’t just need to be a master in your field, you need to be a well-rounded genius capable of talking about any subject whether it is financial, political or sports related. Consume knowledge like air and put your pursuit of learning above all else.

It is critically important to spoil yourself to a healthy extreme in order to reward your hard work and avoid burnout. Consider splurging on memorable experiences and luxuries that will enhance your lifestyle. I get a weekly massage like clockwork, and it is one of the best productivity hacks I employ.

 

3. Avoid decision fatigue.

Attention is a finite daily resource and can be a bottleneck on productivity. No matter the mental stamina developed over time, there is always going to be a threshold where you break down and your remaining efforts for the day become suboptimal. Conserve your mental power by making easily reversible decisions as quickly as possible and aggressively planning recurring actions so you can execute simple tasks on autopilot.

 

4. Build a resilient mind.

The biggest differentiator between mediocrity and meteoric success is the ability to work productively for hours at a time. These long stretches are when important work is almost exclusively completed. Focus is paramount and, without intentionally developing mental stamina, you won’t be able to effectively compete with those who have systematically built up their endurance over decades in the business world.

Fast track your skills by being mindful of distractions and recognizing when you begin to wander out of focus. Perform a thorough analysis of your daily activities each night and aggressively seek opportunities for improvement.

 

5. Think big. Be big.

The science behind goal setting and its remarkable ability to accelerate success is infallible. If you don’t already have your one-, five- and 10-year goals written out and visible to you on a daily basis, do so right now. I read mine the second I wake up every single morning. Now ask yourself, what would have to happen to accomplish your 10-year goals in just one year?

The inherent power in maintaining consistency with your acknowledged goals can work both positively and negatively, and is cause for concern if you anchor yourself to a slower timeline of achievement. Be mindful and diligent in charting an optimal path that pushes you to your limit.

 

6. Be methodical.

Plan your work and then work your plan. Perhaps my biggest breakthrough was large-scale automation of my marketing systems. I created a process that allowed me to quintuple my marketing output while increasing my conversion rate considerably.

The simplest way to put your own content plan in motion is to create a multi-step campaign that touches a prospect through a variety of different mediums every week for at least a month. Follow a logical order and craft your content in a persistent way, while never becoming annoying.

Not in a sales role? You can take a similar approach to any analytical, creative or administrative position by developing rigid organizational systems that help improve your efficiency when faced with repetitive tasks.

 

7. Believe in yourself.

Someone has to make it, and nothing is stopping you from being the person who accomplishes your wildest dreams. Nearly every person who has ever failed has had an excuse. Successful people have stories of the challenges that they overcame with creative solutions. The moment you confidently feel that there is nothing you can’t learn or develop to solve the most complex of problems is the moment of guaranteed greatness.

If you still aren’t sure how to begin, start with a promise to work towards the achievement of consistent excellence each moment of every day. This is the basic building block and mentality with which I am building my career.

Keep it simple and remember that success is not an entitlement. If you really want to excel, you have to get out there and earn it every day for the rest of your life.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

5 Pointers for Getting More from Your Team

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How to effectively communicate your expectations as a leader

Managers are taught that holding employees accountable is the key to getting results, yet they often fail to clearly communicate their expectations. Rather than getting frustrated, try these steps:

1. Know what you want first. We may assume others are being thoughtless or selfish when they don’t satisfy our needs, but we haven’t clarified in our own minds what we want. Get clear on this first.

2. Clearly communicate expectations and ensure understanding. Ask the person to summarize or re-explain. This helps make sure you’re on the same page.

3. Define your desired outcome. What do you want the end product or behavior to look like? Rather than telling an employee, “I need this ASAP,” say, “I need this by 10 a.m.”

4. Explain what you do want rather than what you don’t. Rather than saying, “Stop emailing me about urgent issues,” try, “When an issue is urgent, I would really appreciate it if you could call me or stop by my desk.”

5. Reward the positive and coach the negative. If your expectations are met, make sure to show appreciation. If not, before assuming the person intentionally disappointed you, clearly communicate what you wanted.

Resources: success.co

3 Ways to Increase Employee Vitality as You Grow

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If you’re in charge of a company with an expanding client base and quick financial growth, it can be easy to forget one key factor of your company’s success — your employees.

No matter how big your brand becomes, your company is nothing without the people who make it run. While it’s easy to think of your business as something that belongs only to you, it’s important to treat your employees as vital contributors to its health.

Keeping employees invested and engaged during your growing pains takes effort, but what’s worse is allowing them to get left behind. Gathered from my own experience growing a business, here are three tips to keep your team happy and united:

1. Set expectations early.

Setting expectations early on — for workloads, company culture, benefits, etc. — helps employees remain happy over time. If your team knows what they are agreeing to, they are more likely to remain involved during periods of growth.

One way to establish expectations is through a robust orientation schedule. At the onset of employment, new hires should meet with peers across all departments as well as the leadership team. Encourage team to not only share what their role is in the company and how they will interact with the new employee, but also to share some personal insights such as family, hobbies, etc. When employees can understand other roles and how their own positions interact across the company, they can feel confident in their contribution and status.

 

2. Communicate often.

How often and how well you communicate with your employees is tough and often overlooked. Whereas profits and sales are quantifiable, talking with your team is not. The communicate on a regular and consistent basis able to understand them more in term of their feeling and work task. There are also ways to incorporate communication into events that stimulate engagement. Plan a happy hour for an upcoming holiday, or do something more unique, like celebrating Monday instead of Friday. For example, our team tends to host impromptu celebrations ranging from barbecues to work-hours parties such as our event to unveil a new logo. Although these get-togethers seem simple, they create avenues for communication where your team can enjoy the benefits of their hard work.

 

3. Get to know your employees personally.

As your brand continues to expand, it can become stressful to sacrifice valuable work hours to spend time with your employees. However, during periods of growth, knowing your team personally is important. Employees who feel a direct and genuine connection to upper management will feel a stronger relationship and accountability to their company, too.

Finding the time to build personal relationships starts with setting the time aside. Rather than just saying you will meet with employees, budget real time into your calendar and then stick to it. There are many fun ways to schedule this time. For instance, I like to host monthly feedback lunches. Not only do these lunches give me the chance to learn more about my team in a casual setting — we all share a fun fact about ourselves — but they are also a great opportunity for unfiltered company feedback.

Not only does consistently interacting with your employees build relationships, but it also weeds out the weaker connections. When you create a culture where everybody works together toward the same goal, it’s likely a mutual feeling when it’s not the right fit. By setting expectations early on, it’s relatively easy to tell when an employee’s values and objectives are not aligned with the company’s. Separation becomes natural, and when employees do leave, it’s typically for the right reason — or another sensible opportunity — not because they feel left behind.

There’s never a wrong time to start engaging employees and building out the practices to do so. While you might not be in a state of growth right now, you can only hope that one is just around the corner.

Sources: Entrepreneur.co