The Many Who Failed 5,126 times by Melvin Wong

The Man Who Failed 5,126 TimesBy Melvin Wong – April 12, 2012 0 CommentsShareretweetMany imagine the road to success to be one straight line. In the lives of many successful people, there have been twists, turns and even numerous set backs before one achieves their goals. James Dyson of Dyson vacuums took exactly 5126 tries before getting his first successful model in-to stores. There is much to be learned from James Dyson. A story of persistence, dedication, and commitment is ingrained in each of his vacuums sold worldwide. Interestingly, there are many stories of successful people who had overcome many numerous hurdles. Think Steve Jobs.

In a book written by Stephen Covey titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey breaks down character traits of the successful and recognizes seven common traits amongst them. The habits are then further broken down into three categories: Interdependence or Self-Mastery, Interdependence, and Self-renewal.The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence•
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Synopsis: Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life’s principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Synopsis: Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
Synopsis: Plan, prioritize, and execute your week’s tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.InterdependenceThe next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e., working with others):

Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Synopsis: Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Synopsis: Use empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.• Habit 6: Synergize
Synopsis: Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership.The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation:

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Synopsis: Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle.Covey’s book was first published in 1989 and has sold more than 25 million copies since publication. It is also listed as one of “The 25 most influential business management books” by TIMES magazine. It is still readily available in most book stores as well for those who want a more in depth look to Covey’s observations. Here’s to a better you!

Tags: 7 Habits of highly Effective people, how to perservere, Stephen Covey

I just read this article in my local newspaper from Joanne Kates, an expert educator in the area of conflict mediation, self-esteem and anti-bullying. I love her work and have a lot of respect for her.

Her latest article is about job interviews. While this is a normal process in your job search, the fascinating part is a survey that revealed parents are job hunting for their kids. In fact, Michigan State University research found four percent of parents show up for their child’s job interview.

THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. Businesses need to respond with a message of NO – If your child cannot show up for their own interview then he or she does not really want this job or position.

I am astounded.

Michigan State University recently surveyed more than 700 employers seeking to hire recent college graduates. Almost one third of the employers said parents had submitted resumes on their child’s behalf, some without informing the child. One-quarter heard from parents urging the employer to hire their son or daughter. Four per cent of respondents reported that a parent actually showed up for the candidate’s interview.

The pendulum has swung too far. We are enabling our children to lean too much on us. They need to learn, not lean.

I find it also incredible that it is the same baby boomer that complains about “young kids today being so lazy” as the one enabling their children. THIS MUST STOP at all levels.

Parents need to learn to “launch” their kids – show our kids they have wings and now is the time to spread those wings; learn to fly and yes even fall down!

Businesses, need to open their doors to mentoring – true mentoring and guide these young children. Most importantly allow them to fail and learn. If not in their younger years, then when? Parents need to step back. The irony is that it is not often the children asking to be “saved” but the parents choosing to “ride in on their chargers and do it for them”.

We all need to play our part in swinging the pendulum back so our kids can be the great leaders they are destined for – personally and professionally. Let them do it for themselves.

Tags: educators, expert educator, hiring kids today, how to fail and learn, how to teach kids to launch themselves, intervieing children today, Joanne Kates, launching kids, parents interferring with the interview process

This article is one I found in Best Health magazine and lists 7 ways to make your blog successful.

This article states as of Jan. 2012 there were more than 181 million blogs, with some 84,000 new ones appearing every day. Therefore, if your primary motive for blogging is to make money just know the competition is tough and its hard to do. BUT it can be done.

If you want to stand out you need to be ‘crazy’ about your subject matter and you should enjoy engaging others online.

Here are your 7 tips:

1. JUST DO IT – It’s free to open an account and start a blog. You can look to such sites as wordpress.com and bloggers.com.

2. BE YOURSELF – People will be drawn to your site because they see you in your website – that you are authentic. People will be able to tell if you are trying to copy someone elses style.

3. POST CONSISTENTLY – There is no cut and dry rule on how many times to post in a day, week or month. They key is being consistent when you are starting out. I post 1 time a week with 2 or 3 different posts at a time. Don’t post 3 times per week and then not again for another month. People will get frustrated or loose interest.

4. TRACK YOUR STATS – If you are considering taking paid advertising you will provide readership numbers. There are numerous free services you can install on your site that tell you everything from how many unique visitors, how many pages are read, countries people visit from and so on. Some of the popular traffic counters include Google analytics, Alexa and StatCounter.

5. SUSS OUT LOGICAL AD BASE – If you blog focuses on local activities, you might want to approach local advertisers. You can create a package for example a welcome post and a contest giveaway once per ad term. For bloggers writing for a niche market may choose to approach specialized businesses that want to target their audience.

6. PROMOTE YOURSELF- Most people are on Facebook everyday but not necessarily your site so when you post your blog you can also post a note on your fan page. This will remind people to go to your site and read your blog – they can also bookmark it. Facebook is a very effective tool. Twitter is another place you can post your blogs. It also allows you to carry on a dialogue with readers, generate entusiasm and upcoming posts.

7. PUSH YOURSELF TO THE NEXT LEVEL – Create the opportunity to share your blog. It is scary at first to get out there and speak but keep in mind this is your passion. It raises your profile of both herself and her blog and thus business.

Enjoy the ride!

Tags: blogging, facebook, how to create your blog, twitter, ways to make your blog successful

I put this in the corporate tips and tools section because the pharmaceutical industry is a business. Do not be fooled. As a business it is in your best interest to be honest and transparent with your customers and clients. The sad part is that the “clients/customers” of the pharmaceutical industry really believe that they are taking their prescribed medicine to help them get better and find a cure.

To me, if you want your health and wellness, you MUST heal. From healing comes the cure and it is different for each person; no two people are alike.

Some people may not like this video and that’s ok. Some people may not agree with this video and that’s ok.

I am NOT telling you DO NOT take your pills or medicine. Please do. I am just saying that getting to the root of your issues means acknowledge the issue(s), embrace the emotion that comes from this issue(s) and then find forgiveness if need be …. then let it go.

Hopefully you and your physician can work together to find the best balance for you with regard to your medicine. There are some people, with the assistance of their physician, have been able to reduce and even eliminate medication. Then there are some people that will require a certain medicine for the rest of their lives but with the help of their physician have been able to minimize the amount/levels.

I present this video and give no advice except to provide you with one woman’s view of the pharmaceutical industry:

Confessions of a pharmaceutical executive

One thing I can say for sure is that in this day and age, transparency is key and because of social media people are questioning and sharing more information than ever. No business or practice is impervious.

Tags: how to heal and cure ourselves, is the pharmaceutical industry a business?, the pharmaceutical industry

Rightsizing your passion

Excitement about goals is often diminished by our fear of failure or the drudgery of work.

If you’re short on passion, it might be because your goals are too small or the fear is too big.

Do a job for a long time and achieve what you set out to achieve, and suddenly, the dream job becomes a trudge instead. The job hasn’t changed–your dreams have.

Mostly, though, it’s about our fear. Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety.

While you can work hard to dream smaller dreams, I think it’s better to embrace the fear and find bigger goals instead.

Tags: finding your passion, goal setting, overcoming fear, pushing the limit, Seth Godin

Take a look at this inspiring movie:

The Essence of Leadership

Tags: how to be a leader, leadership, simple truths

Rightsizing your passion

Excitement about goals is often diminished by our fear of failure or the drudgery of work.

If you’re short on passion, it might be because your goals are too small or the fear is too big.

Do a job for a long time and achieve what you set out to achieve, and suddenly, the dream job becomes a trudge instead. The job hasn’t changed–your dreams have.

Mostly, though, it’s about our fear. Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety.

While you can work hard to dream smaller dreams, I think it’s better to embrace the fear and find bigger goals instead.

Email this • Sub

Meeting vs. making

As I was scurrying to meet someone coming in on the 11 am train, I realized that there’s a huge difference between meeting a train and making one.

If you’re rushing to make a train, you have to be there before the last moment. Five seconds too late is too late. The cost of error is absolute.

If you’re hurrying to meet a train, though, there’s a soft deadline. Five seconds is no big deal. Thirty seconds might be annoying, particularly for someone returning from a long journey. And five minutes is really rude.

Too often, we treat our obligations as meet, not make. We impose a sliding scale, a soft penalty, and we not only show up just a bit late, we show up a bit behind on quality or preparation.

Making is a discipline. Meeting opens the door for excuses.

It is amazing how this is finally coming to the forefront.

I found this article in the National Post. It discusses the fact that your employees are not driven solely by the dollar and compensation. We are in a very competitive global market and to remain at the forefront you need a highly motivated and productive workforce.

Senior leaders can no longer rely on employees to work longer hours and accept compensation cuts without risking labour unrest, high turnover and reduced performance. Senior leaders need to begin to think creatively about ways to foster higher levels of employee engagement and commitment.

The ultra competitive market that has existed for decades was externally driven – as an employee you were pitted against your fellow employee and it was survival of the fittest. This has not brought the level of productivity that senior leaders thought it would – what it led to was burnout, manipulation and greed. It is known that socially people tend to compare themselves on their own accord. People compare themselves with their peers and this incites employees to work harder in order to be recognized or to maintain prestige.

What I do not like about this article is the message that it is giving to human resources and those in a position to hire. It concludes by encouraging companies to be more cognizant of peer comparison especially when designing compensation and measurement plans. “In order to motivate employees, firms may want to consider more uniform and standardized salary scales, combined with ancillary incentive programs and contests that exploit the positive effects of social comparison”.

Any company considering “exploiting” their staff, to me, is not worth working for. Engaging people to be their best and to pay for what value they bring back to the company is a much more valuable way to encourage people. This alone will entice people to do more and better work without the need to bring down their fellow workers.

Tags: compensation plans for employees, engageing and encouraging your employees, how to engage your market, how to survive in a competitive market

Next Page →