The road to hell may or may not be paved with good intentions, but the road to failure surely is. Take a good look at the people you work with, and you’ll find lots of Good Starters — individuals who want to succeed, and have promising ideas for how to make that happen. They begin each new pursuit with enthusiasm, or at the very least, a commitment to getting the job done.
And then something happens. Somewhere along the way, they lose steam. They get bogged down with other projects. They start procrastinating and miss deadlines. Their projects take forever to finish, if they get finished at all.
Does all this sound familiar? Maybe a little too familiar? If you are guilty of being a Good Starter, but a lousy finisher — at work or in your personal life — you have a very common problem. After all, David Allen’s Getting Things Done wouldn’t be a huge bestseller if people could easily figure out how to get things done on their own.
More than anything else, becoming a Great Finisher is about staying motivated from a project’s beginning to its end. Recent research has uncovered the reason why that can be so difficult, and a simple and effective strategy you can use to keep motivation high.
In their studies, University of Chicago psychologists Minjung Koo and Ayelet Fishbach examined how people pursuing goals were affected by focusing on either how far they had already come (to-date thinking) or what was left to be accomplished (to-go thinking). People routinely use both kinds of thinking to motivate themselves. A marathon runner may choose to think about the miles already traveled or the ones that lie ahead. A dieter who wants to lose 30 pounds may try to fight temptation by reminding themselves of the 20 pounds already lost, or the 10 left to go.
Intuitively, both approaches have their appeal. But too much to-date thinking, focusing on what you’ve accomplished so far, will actually undermine your motivation to finish rather than sustain it.
Koo and Fishbach’s studies consistently show that when we are pursuing a goal and consider how far we’ve already come, we feel a premature sense of accomplishment and begin to slack off. For instance, in one study, college students studying for an exam in an important course were significantly more motivated to study after being told that they had 52% of the material left to cover, compared to being told that they had already completed 48%.
When we focus on progress made, we’re also more likely to try to achieve a sense of “balance” by making progress on other important goals. This is classic Good Starter behavior — lots of pots on the stove, but nothing is ever ready to eat.
If, instead, we focus on how far we have left to go (to-go thinking), motivation is not only sustained, it’s heightened. Fundamentally, this has to do with the way our brains are wired. To-go thinking helps us tune in to the presence of a discrepancy between where we are now and where we want to be. When the human brain detects a discrepancy, it reacts by throwing resources at it: attention, effort, deeper processing of information, and willpower.
In fact, it’s the discrepancy that signals that an action is needed — to-date thinking masks that signal. You might feel good about the ground you’ve covered, but you probably won’t cover much more.
Great Finishers force themselves to stay focused on the goal, and never congratulate themselves on a job half-done. Great managers create Great Finishers by reminding their employees to keep their eyes on the prize, and are careful to avoid giving effusive praise or rewards for hitting milestones “along the way.” Encouragement is important, but to keep your team motivated, save the accolades for a job well — and completely — done.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Nine Ways to use LinkedIn to Advance your Career
A new member joins LinkedIn every second. Since I first started writing about how to use LinkedIn as a job search tool, the professional social networking site has grown in reach and strength. According to spokeswoman Krista Canfield, LinkedIn now has more than 100 million users, with a new member joining every second. Its job postings have bulged to more than 62,000. When the company went public May 19, its shares surged above $100 before sliding below $70, but just today, a story in The New York Times reports that its lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $88, saying LinkedIn could become a “standard utility for HR recruiters.” I’m now convinced that an active LinkedIn profile is essential for almost anyone who wants to cultivate a career. Even if you are satisfied in your job, LinkedIn can bring you unexpected opportunities. Canfield herself says she was sending a LinkedIn message to an old public relations client, asking for advice about travel to London and Paris, when the contact responded with the tip that LinkedIn was hiring. Canfield wound up getting the job. That’s the way traditional networking operates, but since it’s digital and nearly instantaneous, LinkedIn can be startlingly efficient.1. Include more than your current job
If you are setting up your profile quickly and only want to include the bare bones, be sure to list as many of your past positions as possible. If you’ve been in your job only a few months, and that’s all you include, you will look like you are just starting your career. Canfield says that recruiters routinely search according to years of experience.
2. Add a photo
Canfield says LinkedIn has found that profiles with photos are seven times more likely to be viewed. Also, if you’re reaching out to old contacts, they may be more likely to remember your face than your name. If you’ve married and changed your name, a photo can clear up the confusion.
3. Connect to at least 50 people
LinkedIn has settled on 50 as the “magic number” that will increase your networking chances. Career coach Hellmann recommends 70 connections.
4. Connect with people you know.
Career coach Hellmann advises a do-unto-others rule when deciding whether to connect with other LinkedIn users. “If they’re total strangers, they’re not going to help you and you’re not going to help them,” he observes. Would you be willing to correspond with this person, and/or send an email on the contact’s behalf? Then you should connect. One caveat: Some people use LinkedIn to promote products, in which case they want a sprawling network, including strangers. But if you’re using LinkedIn as a job search tool, make sure you know your contacts well enough to want to network with them.
5. Personalize your communications
This is a pet peeve of mine. When you send a request to connect with someone, always take a moment to alter the default message, even if just to say something like, “Hey Jack, Let’s connect.” Think of how you feel when you receive a form letter. I feel alienated, and less inclined to respond.
6. Use the job postings
I frequently caution that job seekers should limit their time perusing online ads, but LinkedIn’s listings are worth reviewing. Click on a job and you will instantly see the contacts in your network who are connected to the company. In addition, coach Hellmann says he’s found that far fewer of them are false leads or listings by recruiters for positions that have already been filled. LinkedIn charges $295 for a 30-day posting.
7. Use the site’s “skills” link to help you find key words to include in your profile.
This is a new feature. Go to this link and brainstorm about your skills, typing them into the search box. On the left hand side of the page, you will get a list of related skills, each highlighted in blue. For those of us stumped about how to describe our talents in the form of crisp, web-search-friendly terms, this can help. Take the relevant phrases and words and plug them into the “Skills” section of your profile. Both Hellmann and Canfield say that hiring managers and recruiters frequently search for key words. Example: I plugged in “headline writing,” and I got “line editing and “news judgment,” both terms that hadn’t crossed my mind. The page also shows a bar graph that indicates how much a particular skill is growing. (Sadly, both headline writing and news judgment show only 1% hiring growth.) Hellmann also recommends scanning job ads in your field and noting the key words used.
8. For students: new jobs portal
Another new LinkedIn feature: a job portal designed for students and recent graduates. Companies do not pay to list these entry level jobs. Since it’s new, the listings are limited, but given how easy it is to use, it’s worth taking a look here for entry level jobs.
9. Try LinkedIn Today
LinkedIn is beefing up its editorial feature, which includes stories shared by contacts in your network. It now appears near the top of the “home” tab when you sign into LinkedIn. I’m agnostic about its utility, given all the other ways to search for industry news, but would say it’s worth a glance once a day.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Nine things successful people do differently
Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.
1. Get specific.
When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. “Lose 5 pounds” is a better goal than “lose some weight,” because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you’ll “eat less” or “sleep more” is too vague — be clear and precise. “I’ll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights” leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you’ve actually done it.
2. Seize the moment to act on your goals.
Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.
To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll work out for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go.
Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.
4. Be a realistic optimist.
When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.
5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good.
Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won’t improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.
Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
6. Have grit.
Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don’t have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking …. well, there’s no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.
7. Build your willpower muscle.
Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don’t. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur (“If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.”) It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that’s the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.
8. Don’t tempt fate.
No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don’t try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don’t put yourself in harm’s way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do.
Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., “Don’t think about white bears!”) has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.
If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like “If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down.” By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.
It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don’t need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It’s never what you are, but what you do.
1. Get specific.
When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. “Lose 5 pounds” is a better goal than “lose some weight,” because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you’ll “eat less” or “sleep more” is too vague — be clear and precise. “I’ll be in bed by 10pm on weeknights” leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you’ve actually done it.
2. Seize the moment to act on your goals.
Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.
To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll work out for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.
3. Know exactly how far you have left to go.
Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behavior or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.
4. Be a realistic optimist.
When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.
5. Focus on getting better, rather than being good.
Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality, and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won’t improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.
Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
6. Have grit.
Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher college GPAs. Grit predicts which cadets will stick out their first grueling year at West Point. In fact, grit even predicts which round contestants will make it to at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don’t have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking …. well, there’s no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.
7. Build your willpower muscle.
Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.
To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don’t. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur (“If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.”) It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that’s the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.
8. Don’t tempt fate.
No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don’t try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don’t put yourself in harm’s way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.
9. Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do.
Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., “Don’t think about white bears!”) has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behavior — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.
If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like “If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down.” By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.
It is my hope that, after reading about the nine things successful people do differently, you have gained some insight into all the things you have been doing right all along. Even more important, I hope are able to identify the mistakes that have derailed you, and use that knowledge to your advantage from now on. Remember, you don’t need to become a different person to become a more successful one. It’s never what you are, but what you do.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
3 Ways That You Can Make A Real Difference
[caption id="attachment_259" align="alignleft" width="259" caption="You Make The Difference"]
[/caption]‘You’re significant, you’re meaningful, you matter, and you can make a difference.’ Carlos Santana
Never underestimate the power of being you. You are someone of incredible value.
You see things that others fail to see. You understand things that others fail to comprehend. You have a view of the world that is visible only to you. You have a voice that speaks truths and asks questions that arouse discussion that leads to the attainment of greater knowledge.
You are of incredible value – and here are just three things you need to know that are the currency that adds up to such a precious life.
1. Know That You’re Significant
You are not irrelevant. You are not irrational. You are not insignificant. You were born with a mission. And it is your commission to discover that mission and to fulfill that mission.
You were never formed to simply take up space and suck up the oxygen that could have been used by someone else with greater talent than yourself. Who said anything about talent? If you look at others and compare yourself with those around you, you will always come up short.
You are significant. Your actions are of vital significance. Your words are of essential significance. You being you is significant. You are significant, and without you bringing that significance to bear on our world we would be left holding insignificance in our hands. Our lives are transformed significantly by those who accept and embrace their significance, and believe and act as a significant one.
2. Know That You’re Meaningful
To be meaningful is to have a meaning or a purpose. It is to live a meaningful life. For a life lived with purpose will be lived on purpose. It has direction. It has focus. It has attached to it actionable steps that will lead towards an end, a dream, or a goal. It does not meander aimlessly. It does not wake up in wonder – wondering what to do next. It is a life lived under the direction of a compass that guides its path – no matter the terrain, no matter the weather, no matter the impossibilities of the forces that resist its progress forward.
A meaningful life pursues purpose with every footstep taken, every word uttered, every plan made, and every detour explored. For each meaningful thought is another brick added to the foundations of a life destined to be the sound architectural construction that it was destined to become.
3. Know That You Matter
To be needed is one of the most powerful concepts to drive away self-centerdness. And to know that your contribution, your involvement, your leadership, and your being is of vital importance, drives deep the pylons of ‘you can make a real difference’ into the fiber of your being.
Scientifically, matter is what makes our world a reality. Spiritually, matter is the unseen part of you that impacts the physical world that we live in.
For centuries mankind has debated as to the consistency of matter – but all arguments aside – no matter what others think or say – you matter – and it is because of that undeniable fact that you can make a real difference to your life, your families lives, and to the world that benefits greatly from your presence in it.
You, yes you, can make a real difference. So go and make a difference.
[/caption]‘You’re significant, you’re meaningful, you matter, and you can make a difference.’ Carlos SantanaNever underestimate the power of being you. You are someone of incredible value.
You see things that others fail to see. You understand things that others fail to comprehend. You have a view of the world that is visible only to you. You have a voice that speaks truths and asks questions that arouse discussion that leads to the attainment of greater knowledge.
You are of incredible value – and here are just three things you need to know that are the currency that adds up to such a precious life.
1. Know That You’re Significant
You are not irrelevant. You are not irrational. You are not insignificant. You were born with a mission. And it is your commission to discover that mission and to fulfill that mission.
You were never formed to simply take up space and suck up the oxygen that could have been used by someone else with greater talent than yourself. Who said anything about talent? If you look at others and compare yourself with those around you, you will always come up short.
You are significant. Your actions are of vital significance. Your words are of essential significance. You being you is significant. You are significant, and without you bringing that significance to bear on our world we would be left holding insignificance in our hands. Our lives are transformed significantly by those who accept and embrace their significance, and believe and act as a significant one.
2. Know That You’re Meaningful
To be meaningful is to have a meaning or a purpose. It is to live a meaningful life. For a life lived with purpose will be lived on purpose. It has direction. It has focus. It has attached to it actionable steps that will lead towards an end, a dream, or a goal. It does not meander aimlessly. It does not wake up in wonder – wondering what to do next. It is a life lived under the direction of a compass that guides its path – no matter the terrain, no matter the weather, no matter the impossibilities of the forces that resist its progress forward.
A meaningful life pursues purpose with every footstep taken, every word uttered, every plan made, and every detour explored. For each meaningful thought is another brick added to the foundations of a life destined to be the sound architectural construction that it was destined to become.
3. Know That You Matter
To be needed is one of the most powerful concepts to drive away self-centerdness. And to know that your contribution, your involvement, your leadership, and your being is of vital importance, drives deep the pylons of ‘you can make a real difference’ into the fiber of your being.
Scientifically, matter is what makes our world a reality. Spiritually, matter is the unseen part of you that impacts the physical world that we live in.
For centuries mankind has debated as to the consistency of matter – but all arguments aside – no matter what others think or say – you matter – and it is because of that undeniable fact that you can make a real difference to your life, your families lives, and to the world that benefits greatly from your presence in it.
You, yes you, can make a real difference. So go and make a difference.
The Top Most Inspirational Quotes About Life
Inspirational quotes are the oxygen that has breathed fresh invigoration into my life throughout the years. When facing personal challenges, a quote has often popped into my head and inspired me to press on. When I’ve needed to encourage someone else, often a quote will raise its head up and I find myself sharing it with them.
Quotes appear on Twitter with a vengeance, and are often the most liked and shared expressions found on a range of social media.
People love quotes. Why? They inspire. They motivate. They ignite. They put the gas in our empty tank.
Because they are bite-sized, they are easily digestible, and of course the greatest value is that they are memorable.
So allow me to share with you, in my opinion, the top most inspirational quotes ever uttered.
Quotes appear on Twitter with a vengeance, and are often the most liked and shared expressions found on a range of social media.
People love quotes. Why? They inspire. They motivate. They ignite. They put the gas in our empty tank.
Because they are bite-sized, they are easily digestible, and of course the greatest value is that they are memorable.
So allow me to share with you, in my opinion, the top most inspirational quotes ever uttered.
1. ‘Insist On Yourself: Never Imitate.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. ‘What ever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.’ Napoleon Hill
3. ‘Change your thoughts and you change your world.’ Norman Vincent Peale
4. ‘Tough times never last, but tough people do.’ Robert H. Schuller
5. ‘The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness.’ Thomas Edison
6. ‘Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.’ Mark Twain
7. ‘Well done is better than well said.’ Benjamin Franklin
8. ‘The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.’ Vince Lombardi
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