Six Ways to Find the Time You Need to Achieve Your Dream
“Modern man thinks he loses something — time — when he does not do things quickly; yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains — except kill it.” – Erich Fromm (The Art of Loving, 1956) “How many of you get up at 5:30?” I…
Make Sure You Recognize The Buttons
If you want to get a lot accomplished, you need to be able to motivate all sorts of people to work harder and smarter than they would otherwise. To do that, you need to figure out what motivates them. Granted, we are all complex creatures. None of us is…
How To Make Your Team Work
A business is not a team; to make your business work, however, you will have to create teams. Successful coaches — from Pat Riley to Mike Shanahan — agree on certain principles when it comes to teamwork: 1. The team’s goal is everyone’s ultimate goal. 2. The team is more important than…
What To Do When You Can’t Do What You Want To Do
A new client that agreed to sign up with you suddenly cancels. A promised promotion evaporates. The deadline your plumber swore to passes without anything’s having being done. When something you are counting on doesn’t happen, it can be such a drag. But it doesn’t have to be. The trick…
Interesting Trend in the Advertising World
Dear Early to Rise Reader, Last Monday, The USA Today reported on an interesting trend in the advertising world. Many of the world’s biggest and most successful companies, the paper reported, are now turning to direct-marketing (which they call the “ugly step-child” of the advertising world), instead of traditional, glitzy,…
A Basic Success Secret That Many Self-Help Gurus Just Don’t Get
In a recent e-mail article titled “Attitude is a very important word,” Earl Nightingale says that “of all the words in all the languages of the world … ‘attitude’ is the most important.” “More than any other single thing,” he says, “your attitude will determine … what happens to you.”…
Peripatetic Managing: Does It Really Work?
Do you walk around the office? Some management experts think doing so is a critically important business skill. Others warn against it. In “Seven Habits of Highly Successful Executives,” Steven Covey makes suggestions for limiting and avoiding casual chats around the office. In Covey’s view, these are unnecessary and often…
Get Those Monkeys Off Your Back!
Yesterday, we talked about the problem with “monkeys”: If you are not careful, colleagues and subordinates will try get the monkeys perched on their backs to leap onto yours. Be alert for this kind of “reverse delegation.” The smart manager, William Oncken, author of “Monkey Business,” argues, makes sure he…
So You Want To Be A Leader?
To be a natural leader, Gary North tells us, you must serve. As an example of what he means, he refers to a book titled “Dedication and Leadership,” by Douglas Hyde. Originally published in 1956, it contains a chapter that recounts how Hyde taught an overweight, stuttering man named Jim…
Are You Sick Of Your Job? It Shows!
Almost everybody, no matter how smart, ambitious, energetic, etc., grows tired of his or her job at some point. Usually, the feeling passes after a while. Sometimes, it lingers. It’s not much fun to work when you lack passion — and in case you are in any doubt, it’s not…
Taking The 20-Something Factor into Consideration
Every once in a while, some bright young kid I’m mentoring does something really stupid or really shiftless — something so wrong that it causes me to wonder if I’ve made a mistake committing my time to him. This happened yesterday. PSG temporarily closed a profitable operation so he could…
How Well Are You Spending Your Time?
Tempus fugit — and the sands of time keep falling. Faster and faster as you age. What you fail to do today, you may never have the chance to do again. How well are you living your life? How much are you putting off? Take a minute today to give…