February 2008

MARK'S DAILY THOUGHTS: February 2008

2008-02-01 - Forgive Others to Clear your Mind for Success
Some people tend to never forgive others who have done them wrong. These people are usually keeping all their issues with others in their minds, and this prevents them from focusing on the future (as they are always thinking of the past). The better way is to forgive others, and clear the mind to think more of the future and for success.

2008-02-02 - Good Enough Seldom Is
Go into any organisation and if you hear the words "Good Enough", you'll see an organisation with future troubles. Customer expectations are always increasing, so accepting "Good Enough" is never good enough. We should all be striving for the best, constantly improving, and always asking ourselves; "How can we do this better the next time?".

2008-02-03 - Happens "In" Me versus Happens "To" Me
There are many people who view their quality of life as to how the world treats them. The most successful and happiest people look at the quality of their life in a totally different way. For them, life is what happens inside them first and they choose how to treat the world. Remember, our world is created first by what happens in "us", as we then determine our own happiness.

2008-02-04 - Don't Worry about What You Can't Influence
Too many people use up all their energy worrying about things they can't influence. They are really spending more time worrying about how to change others, and don't invest time developing themselves. If you ever find yourself worrying about things you can't influence, just focus on what is within your influence - You (as you at your best is the best influence on others).

2008-02-05 - You Achieve Success When You Deliver
Success is something everybody wants. There's plenty of advice on success that says you need a great attitude and that what you accomplish begins in your thoughts first. These are extremely important. However, no success happens unless you deliver. The commitment to deliver can be your most powerful trait.

2008-02-06 - Failure at least Indicates Action
There are too many people who are playing it safe. They are trying to avoid failure, and thus are not focused on the success they could achieve. Look at it another way. Failure at least indicates action, and we take away the best learnings from failed action. A failure often takes us closer to our goals than not taking any action at all.

2008-02-07 - So Smart They Stop Listening
A big problem with very intelligent leaders is that they assume they know than they really do. In conversations and meetings, they think they already know what's being talked about and then stop listening. If you are a leader, don't fall into this trap, as listening is the path to even greater success as a leader.

2008-02-08 - Treat Everyone as Individuals
They say that the best way to fail as a leader is to treat all your people in the very same way. Everyone has a different personality and is motivated in different ways. The very best leaders understand this, and treat their people as individuals. They adapt their approach uniquely to each person in their team.

2008-02-09 - Make Preparation Part of the Passion
You see a trait in all successful people that you never see happening, but you always see the results from it. It is their preparation. People who do the preparation, make it part of their passion, and do the preparation with the same drive as for what they are preparing for. Make preparation part of your passion.

2008-02-10 - Self-Esteem - Holding on to Who You Are
People with high self-esteem have one clear advantage over others. Their self-esteem helps them to stay true to their values, as they know who and what they are and stay true to it. This is different than ego. It is understanding who you are so strongly, that your behaviours in all situations stay true to your values.

2008-02-11 - Help People Know What's Possible
One of the best things for a leader to continue to do is to communicate to their people what's possible. Too often the people just need that extra encouragement to "try" and you would be amazed at what they can accomplish. Help your people know what's possible.

2008-02-12 - We Have Control on How Others Treat Us
Your often hear people say, "I wish he/she would not treat me that way," They think that they have no control over how people treat them. In fact, it is mostly just the opposite. How people treat us is in response to how we act. The best way to change others is to change ourselves first.

2008-02-13 - Serving Others is the Path to Wealth
No one achieves great success on their own, and all successful business people understand this well. They know that serving customers well creates repeat sales. However, they also know that serving their people and helping them grow will help their businesses grow as well. Serving others is the path to great wealth.

2008-02-14 - Expect the Best to Get the Best
We tend to achieve only to our expectations. If we don't really believe that we can achieve something, then we will not take the necessary actions to achieve it. We always need to expect the best, to do our best and then we will get the best. Keep your expectations high.

2008-02-15 - There's a Lesson with Every Challenge
Successful people look at challenges always as opportunities. They know that hidden in every challenge is the opportunity to learn a lesson that will help them achieve even greater success in the future. Always look at challenges as opportunities to learn.

2008-02-16 - OutPrepare to OutPerform
The most successful people are not always the most intelligent or gifted. However, they often outperform others of greater abilities because they outprepare them. Preparation in everything you do will always take you ahead of those who don't prepare, and you would be surprised how many people don't! OutPrepare to OutPerform.

2008-02-17 - Success Starts with the Hiring Process
Success in all companies either starts or ends in the hiring process. If you go into any company and look at the hiring process, you probably could predict the long-term success of the company. Only great people can create great long-term success, and it all starts with the hiring process.

2008-02-18 - Persuasive versus Informative
When trying to influence others, there are far too many people who think that they need to share as much information as possible. Now, information helps, but we are all persuaded more on an emotional level than an intellectual level. To be more successful in influencing others, be persuasive on an emotional level versus just being informative.

2008-02-19 - Adapting the Use of the Fundamentals
All great businesses do the fundamentals very well and are great at using them in new and different ways to create even more value for their customers. You can apply this same approach. Adapt and use your fundamentals (your strengths) in new and innovative ways to create even greater success in your life.

2008-02-20 - Stick to your Own Game
There are a great number of people who try to copy others in such detail that they change who they are. We all need to observe and use as learnings the good behaviours and ideas of others. However, we need to incorporate them into our lives in such a way that we stay consistent with our personality and values. Stick to your own game, along with a little help from others.

2008-02-21 - Gaining Perspective
There's two ways to gain perspective. One is to take your mind away from everything by doing something different (examples are going for a walk, exercising, dinner out with friends, etc). Another way is to invest time in your own self-development. This way you grow yourself past your current day-to-day challenges and look back at them in a different way. Use both ways to keep a great perspective on whatever life hits you with.

2008-02-22 - Your Power is in Today
Everyone's power is in what they do today. The past is something that cannot be changed, only to take the learnings from. The future is only impacted by what we do today. Therefore, focus yourself on accomplishing everything you can today, as it has the power to create the future you want.

2008-02-23 - Calm is what Manages Change
Look at any major change programme in a company and you will always see problems that arise, and often big ones at that. What separates the successful and unsuccessful ones is often based on how calm the leaders and their teams remain as they work through the problems. You could say that calm is what manages change.

2008-02-24 - Disciplined to be Flexible
Sounds a little strange, but so very true. We need to be more disciplined in the way we think, live and work in order to be more flexible. People who are focused and drive that focus with discipline can react much more quickly when opportunities present themselves than others. Their discipline enables them to be more flexible.

2008-02-25 - Your Relationships Drive your Success
We all focus on getting things done and the "Do". However, our success is often more driven by the "Who". No one is successful on his or her own, and it is the key relationships that we have developed that help us achieve our success. Before thinking "Do", always think "Who" could help. Also, think about helping others, as they will always in return help you.

2008-02-26 - Keeping the Teamwork in a Crisis
You know you have real teamwork when you see your people working well together during a crisis. What's making it work is each individual team member is keeping their commitments and helping one another to keep the team's commitments as well. Teamwork is always a combination of individual and team commitment.

2008-02-27 - You Pay for Everything with your Time
All of what you do is really paid for with your time. Everyone has the same amount of time. However, it is mainly the people who put a value on it, that are the ones that make the most of it. Time is never free, so what is the value you place on your time?

2008-02-28 - Love the Challenges
The challenges we face in life are always opportunities in disguise. Think back on all the previous challenges you faced and you will see two key benefits. One, you grew during those times as you needed to grow to meet those challenges. Second, other opportunities came your way as others noticed how successfully you dealt with those challenges.

2008-02-29 - Courage to Face Uncertainty
Entrepreneurs have a trait missing in many other people. They have the courage to face uncertainty. Also, this is a trait found in all successful people. They have the courage to try something new, to take risks and to be a little uncomfortable. How about you?

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