Business Life Success

Focus your efforts (a “know what you want” influence tool how-to)

2012-01-09T00:07:00.000Z

This post provides guidance on how to apply the "Focus your efforts" influence tool from the "Know What You Want" chapter of the book Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance (read more here), including specific steps, examples and templates. All content in this post has been created by me, using the title of this influence tool as a starting point only (the book provides anecdotes and context, not detailed how-to steps as outlined here).

What?

Spend more time on doing things that directly support your goals and avoid spending time on anything that is a waste of time or that is useful but does not directly help you to achieve your outcomes. Pick specific things that you want to get done and spend time and energy on getting them done quickly and to a high level of quality.

Why?

The areas that we focus on will be a success. The more focused you are, the quicker you will achieve your goals in that area of focus and the better the outcome will be. You will achieve more and feel a greater sense of satisfaction on completing something well than you will if you make general progress across a number of areas. If you do not focus on anything, lots of things may move forwards but it will take longer to complete any one thing and the quality of each thing you do complete may suffer due to a lack of time and attention.

How?

First you need to be really clear and specific about what you want to achieve. Then you need to work out what tasks you need to do to take you towards that outcome. Once you know what these tasks are, pick just one of them at a time and make sure that you get them done first, to the highest level of quality that you are capable of.

This does not mean that you should drop everything else. Everyone has lots of things going on in their lives at any one time so it is rarely possible to drop everything to focus on just one thing, and sometimes urgent tasks crop up that we must deal with immediately, regardless of whether we want to or not. Therefore, another key thing to do is to look at the tasks you are currently doing or planning to do and to prioritise them based on the extent to which they help you towards achieving your outcomes.

An example

If you try to do too much at once, you will either fail to do some of your tasks or will get them done to a lower level of quality. For example, try brushing your teeth and brushing your hair and washing your hands at the same time. You can try, but it probably won't end well.

Also, even if you can do more than one thing at once, sometimes you need to do one thing before you can do another. For example, you wouldn't want to get dressed at the same time as having a shower – you'd have the shower first or you're going to end up with very wet clothes.

Applying this to something a bit more realistic, think about trying to build a cupboard whilst watching TV. I can guarantee that it will take you a lot longer to build it and you will most likely make a fair few more mistakes because you're distracted.

This principle of focusing on a particular thing to get it done applies to everything in your life and at work. Make sure that you focus on your priorities and you will get them done quicker and to a higher level of quality than if you split your time across activities.

An exercise

Make a list of all of the things that you are splitting your time on at the moment.
Go through each thing and mark whether they are important and/or urgent.
Answer the following questions:
- Do you really need to do it at all?
- Do you need to do it today?
- Can you leave it until next week?
- Are there any other things on this list that are dependent on you doing this first?
Go through the list again and put the items in order of when you will do them (things that are important AND urgent AND need to be done today AND that other activities are dependent on take highest priority)
Ensure that when you start working through the list, you focus on one thing at a time and don't split your time across multiple things at once.

Know Your Map influence tools quick start (index of how-to posts)

2012-01-03T11:49:00.000Z

The “Know Your Map” influence tools are all about ensuring that you know where you are going and how to get there (read more about Student to CEO Influence Tools here).

An overview of the "Know Your Map" influence tools is provided here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2011/11/know-your-map-influence-tools.html

The four "Know Your Map" influence tool how-to posts can be found by following the links below:

Quick access to the templates for these can be found by following the links below:

Accept full responsibility for your achievements (a “know your map” influence tool how-to)

2011-12-29T09:29:00.001Z

This post provides guidance on how to apply the "Accept full responsibility for your achievements" influence tool from the "Know Your Map" chapter of the book Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance (read more here), including specific steps, examples and templates. All content in this post has been created by me, using the title of this influence tool as a starting point only (the book provides anecdotes and context, not detailed how-to steps as outlined here).

What?

Ensure that you understand how you contributed to every achievement in your life. Know that you are in full control: every time you have achieved anything, it is because of actions that you took, regardless of who provided the opportunity or gave you a little nudge in the right direction in the first place. It was you that took the action to make it happen and it will be down to you every time you make an achievement in the future.

Why?

If you are to be successful, you must believe that you have the power to make your life a success. Your achievements did not just happen by accident, it was not just luck.

Even if you were fortunate to have a particular opportunity, it is highly likely that you played some part in creating that opportunity, even if you didn’t mean to or did not realise it at the time: for example, it could have been a brief conversation that you had, which you thought was completely unrelated but led someone to suggest you as a person to help with something.

Likewise, if you had not taken action once the opportunity had arose, you would not have converted that opportunity into the achievement that it became.

Know that you are responsible for your achievements, you are in control and you are the person that will accomplish all of your future achievements as well.

How?

Every time you achieve anything, make sure that you give yourself a silent pat on the back to congratulate yourself on the achievement and think about what you did to get there. This is not the same thing as being cocky or boasting – it is a positive attitude that helps you to grow in confidence and to keep building successes on successes. By reflecting on each success you can also look for patterns and key actions that you may repeat in the future that will lead to further achievements. It will also help you to identify things that you might want to avoid doing or improve on when working on similar opportunities.

An example

There have been many times in my life when I have been called “lucky” , but when I have looked back over the events that led to my “luck”, I can identify various things that I have done to lead there. Some of the things that I have done may have been extremely small – such as conversations that I had in passing that turned out to be more significant than I thought, or minor changes that I made to my LinkedIn profile or online CV that led to a significant new opportunity.

Many of the new jobs that I have landed and successful deliveries that I have been responsible for have been due to not only the focused efforts on those opportunities themselves, but also due to my consistent behaviour from day to day, to the way that I have dealt with situations and responded to questions and to proactive action that I have taken on even minor tasks that have led to far greater things than I could have imagined.

The important point with this influence tool is to recognise that these opportunities and successes were not just down to luck. They may not have been fully intentional, but were influenced by me and were due to my actions.

The same is true for you. You are in control of the way that you behave and respond to events in your life. Do not allow people to tell you that you were “lucky” for you successes – take credit for them, use them to build your confidence and give you the motivation to continue to work and live in line with your values, to the utmost of your ability. Believe in your own successes and not only will you be happier, but you will find that it leads for more and more successes in everything you do.

An exercise

Think of a great thing that happened in your life that you were involved in but at the time you did not think that you played any real part in making it happen.
Now go back to how the opportunity arose. Who was involved? How did they come up with the idea? Why did they ask you to be involved in the way that you were? Did anyone ask you at all or did you just volunteer or take action without being asked?
Really try to think about everything that could have led you to that point.
Then think about what you did to help translate the opportunity into an achievement. What did you do? Who did you talk to? How did people react to the success? Who got credit for it? (Again, this is not about you taking credit for other people’s achievements, it is about recognising what part you played and realising that you were responsible for at least part of its success).
Now think forwards. What opportunities are you currently aware of or are currently working on. Now that you know how influential you are, what might you do differently today, in the next few days, weeks and months to accelerate or improve your personal achievements and to play an even more significant part in the achievements of others?

Model success from the top (a “know your map” influence tool how-to)

2011-12-23T12:07:00.001Z

This post provides guidance on how to apply the "Model success from the top" influence tool from the "Know Your Map" chapter of the book Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance (read more here), including specific steps, examples and templates. All content in this post has been created by me, using the title of this influence tool as a starting point only (the book provides anecdotes and context, not detailed how-to steps as outlined here).

What?

Study how other successful, high achieving individuals reached their goals and apply whatever was successful about their approach to yours. Look for people who are at the top of their game in an industry, sector or discipline that you are targeting and seek to learn what worked and what did not work for them, so that you can emulate their successes and avoid the pitfalls that they fell into.

Why?

You can save a lot of time and effort by learning from other highly successful individuals. In some cases they may have taken some specific actions that you can copy directly; in others they may have just had a particular attitude or set of behaviours that made the difference. Whatever it is that made them successful, why not see if the same thing can make you successful too?

How?

Modelling success from the top does not have to involve a formal “study” of anyone – it can just be achieved by keeping your eyes and ears open when working with great people and making sure you learn from them.

However, if you are to dedicate some time and effort to learning from the best in a more formal way, there are several key ways to do this:

Study a famous highly successful person through research;
Study a famous highly successful person by directly reaching out to them; or
Study someone that you already know, who is highly successful in a relevant area of their lives or career.

Whichever of the above you choose, there are several basic steps that you need to go through to do this:

Identify the person or persons that you intend to study. They must be successful in a way that is directly relevant to you;
Define a structure for studying their success e.g. categories of behaviour, capabilities or outcomes to look at how they performed in each. Ideally this structure should be aligned to the categories that you have used to define your own objectives;
Plan your research: how are you going to do it e.g. what books, websites or other sources are you going to target, how are you going to get in contact with them, how will you document and analyse the information you gather?
Conduct the review in line with your plan;
Analyse the results and work out how your findings can be applied to your own life;
Apply the lessons that you have learned!

There are a few other alternative approaches in addition to this:

Read lots of biographies and autobiographies of people who you want to learn from and make sure you continuously look for ways to apply their ideas and approaches to your own life;
Read lot of self help books that contain case studies and anecdotal examples from other successful people;
Find a successful person to be your mentor (a longer term relationship than this one-off exercise).

An example

You will find examples of where you have done this in everyday life, because we model our behaviour on the behaviour of others often without even realising that we're doing it. This can be in relation to everything from your accent, picked up from your parents and friends, to the way that you deal with setbacks in your life.

The key difference that this “influence tool” advocates is that you take control over who you are influenced by and how, including what it is about others that you allow yourself to be influenced by and what you will not allow.

An example from my work life is a programme manager that I worked for several years ago who I still use as a model for how programmes should be run. Not only did he implement a range of programme management tools that are widely recognised as “best practice”, but he did so in a pragmatic way that demonstrated how they should be used for maximum effect. He focused on getting the best out of the people that were working for him, on coordination and alignment of activities, on clarity of status and communication. It was a great experience to work for him and on every project that I have been on since, I think back to what he did and what he would have done to make sure that I deliver to the best of my ability.

Also, in my experience the most valuable behavioural lesson that I have taken away from successful people is the very high standards of integrity and quality that these highly successful live by. I have seen that a person's attitude and principles and the way in which they consistently live their lives in line with these values is often the most important factor in their success.

An exercise

As a really simple way to get started, try filling in the table below.

You can add as many rows as you wish, for all of the people that you feel that you can learn from. The columns in the table cover:

WHO
This column is for the name of the person you will model your success on. These people can be world leading superstars but don't need to be: they can be anyone who has any behavioural trait or success that you want to learn from and model, no matter how humble their backgrounds.
LESSONSThis column is for a list of the lessons that you will take from the life and achievements of the person that you have chosen to model your success on. When filling in the lessons column, try to be as specific as possible about what it was that they did to achieve their successes. Don't focus on environmental things that were outside of their control such as their upbringing – instead look at what decisions they made, how they dealt with setbacks and mistakes, what specific actions they took that you could copy, how they behaved from day to day that worked well for them. If you chose them due to one particular success in their life, focus on things that led to that success.
ACTIONSThis column is for capturing a list of things you will do to take action on the lessons learned by the individual you are learning from. You can list as many actions here as you like - just make sure that your actions are as specific as possible: ideally include in your list things that you can do today; things you can change about your behaviour from this moment forwards; specific people you will talk to, things you will do and deliver. The more specific and immediate your actions are, the more likely you will be able to implement them and the quicker you will see the positive effects of making those changes.

WHO Successful Person	LESSONS What made them successful?	ACTIONS What can you do to apply their lessons to your life?

Download Model Success From The Top template here (RTF format file)

Know where you are right now in relation to your goals (a “know your map” influence tool how-to)

2011-12-19T12:35:00.003Z

This post provides guidance on how to apply the "Know where you are right now in relation to your goals" influence tool from the "Know Your Map" chapter of the book Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance (read more here), including specific steps, examples and templates. All content in this post has been created by me, using the title of this influence tool as a starting point only (the book provides anecdotes and context, not detailed how-to steps as outlined here).

What?

Clearly define where you are now in relation to the outcomes and goals that you have set yourself and in comparison with what success “looks like” to you. Understand your location and the direction that you are facing before you set out on your journey. If you are pointing in the right direction, at least you know that every step you take, no matter how small, is taking you closer to where you want to be.

Why?

If you do not know where you are now, how do you know if you are heading in the right direction to achieve your goals? You need to know your current situation in relation to your outcomes to be able to create a plan that you can execute to move towards the achievement of your goals.

It is important that you review your position to establish where you are again on a regular basis, because as you progress you will encounter new opportunities and challenges , which will result in the need for changes to your approach.

Therefore, know where you are is important to be used when:

Planning
Tracking progress
Adjusting your approach to take advantage of opportunities, overcome challenges and re-align yourself with where you really want to get to

How?

Knowing where you are in relation to your goals implies that you first need some goals! (See influence tool 1: know your outcome for guidance on how to establish your goals).

However, if you do not have any concrete goals, you could list areas of your life that you wish to improve and start by just assessing where you think you are in those areas. This can actually help you to identify further goals for you to work towards, based on an understanding of what you wish to improve.

The biggest benefit of identifying where you are now in relation to the areas of your life that need improvement or against specific goals that you have set yourself is that it helps you prioritise your efforts based on areas of greatest weakness, or based on areas that would be easiest or hardest to fix, and gives you an idea of how far you have got to go to get to where you want to get to, which will help in developing a plan to get there (your route map).

One of the simplest ways to assess where you are in relation to your goals, is to list your goals (or areas of your life that you want to improve), then give the areas a “score” based on your gut feeling in terms of where you are e.g. 5 for great and 1 for terrible. Then write a set of comments explaining why you have given yourself that score for that goal.

Whilst this influence tool is all about knowing where you are in relation to your goal, just assessing your position without taking action will not take you very far – so it is also always a good idea to jot down your thoughts on what you can do to improve things and take things forwards for each area as well, ideally as a set of specific action points.

You will be amazed by how far just knowing where you are will take you. For example, are you even pointing in the right direction? Just knowing that you need to turn around can have a profound effect on your success in business and life – so even if you don't write down any action points, just assessing your current position will take you further forwards than you probably realise.

Below is a simple table that can be used to assess where you are in relation to your goals:

Goal or category	Current rating	Rationale for current rating	Actions
Finances
Relationships
Belongings
Others

Download Know Where You Are template here (RTF format file)

In the table above, I have included “categories” similar to those suggested for the “know your outcome” influence tool. You can replace these with specific goals that you have set yourself to really focus on areas of high priority. It could also be useful to have one version of this that is a high level view of where you area against each category of goals and a more detailed one for each of your goals.

An example

Let's start with an analogy.

Imagine you are travelling to meet someone in a town that you have never been to before. You have just got off a train and all you know is that the place that you are meeting them is in this town.

So – you know you are in the right town. But how far is this location from the train station? Which direction is it in from here?

Just knowing where you are and where you are trying to get to is not enough – you need to know where you are in relation to your destination: e.g. which direction it is in, how far away it is, can you walk it or do you need to get a taxi? Only then can you work out your plan for getting there and how long it's going to take.

The same applies to your own self development. Just having goals is not enough, and even an assessment of where you are now without knowing where you are trying to get to is not enough. However, the minute you start looking at where you are in relation to where you are trying to get to, you will find that you are able to look at what you need to do to achieve your goals. It will become a lot easier to develop a real, actionable plan to be successful in achieving whatever it is that you are trying to achieve.

An exercise

Print out two copies of the “Where You Are” template.
Fill in the first template for the categories of your life that you set your goals around (refer to the “know your outcome” influence tool for more info).
Fill in the second template for any specific goals that you have set yourself.
For each row, make sure that you have a clear description of why you think you are where you are and at least one thing you will do to move towards your goal or improve in that area of your life.

Know your outcome (a “know your map” influence tool how-to)

2011-12-15T09:32:00.004Z

This post provides guidance on how to apply the "Know your outcome" influence tool from the "Know Your Map" chapter of the book Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance (read more here), including specific steps, examples and templates. All content in this post has been created by me, using the title of this influence tool as a starting point only (the book provides anecdotes and context, not detailed how-to steps as outlined here).

What?

Clearly define where you want to get to and what success “looks like” to you. Be as specific as you can; describe why you want to get there, how it will feel when you get there and how you will measure your success.

Why?

If you do not know the outcome that you want to achieve, you cannot create a plan to achieve it and will not be able to assess whether you have made it there or not.

Therefore, your outcomes are important to be used when:

Planning
Tracking progress
Measuring success once an outcome has been achieved

How?

There are various tools available for setting goals and objectives.

It is usually advisable to set some boundaries such as:

the timescale for which you are establishing your outcomes (e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years);
the “categories” of your life for which you are defining your outcomes (e.g. your career, your relationships, your belongings, your health, your finances etc); and
the “success criteria” you will use to describe the outcome (e.g. numbers, ££, feelings, deliverables etc.)

Once you have your boundaries, simply spend some time thinking about what you want to achieve in each of these areas and write down your thoughts.

A simple table such as the one below can be used as a template for capturing your outcomes.

Timeframe:
Category	Outcome – where do I want to get to?	How will you know when you get there? (What does success look and feel like?)
Finances
Relationships
Career
Others

Download Know Your Outcome template here (RTF format file)

A real example

Anything that you do, whether you know it or not, you will have been thought of in your head beforehand – even if your outcome was as simple as making a cup of tea, with milk and no sugar – you will have in your mind an idea of how you wanted that cup of tea to turn out before you even started to make it.

Think of anything you’ve ever achieved. Did any of it happen by accident, really?

If you didn’t define your outcome, who did? Did you parents have something in mind for you? Or your teachers? Did you have an outcome that you were aiming for without ever really realising it?

Even if you are not consciously aware of it, anything and everything that you have ever done, has been done with a purpose that you have subconsciously “signed up” to. By setting your own outcomes, you are taking control of your own destiny, instead of allowing those around you, your circumstances and environment, set them for you.

An exercise

Print out three copies of the “Outcomes” template.
On the first template, write the timescale “1 year”.
List the key “categories” of outcome that you want to use.
For each category, write a description of where you would like to be in that timeframe.
For each outcome, write a description of how you will know when you have achieved your outcome.
For each outcome, write one action that you could take immediately to make progress towards that outcome.
Repeat for 3 and 5 years on the following templates.

8 Influence Tool Categories (from Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance)

2011-12-11T11:55:00.001Z

The 99 Influence Tools in the book "Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance" are grouped into the following 8 chapters. Below are links to posts summarising my view on the contents of each of these chapters and the key take-away points, for quick reference:

“Do It In Service” Influence Tools

2011-12-10T11:10:00.001Z

The “Do It In Service” influence tools are all about ensuring that everything you do is for a good cause and that you focus on the value that you are delivering for others (read more about Student to CE O Influence Tools here).

In the words of Chinese Taoist Philosopher Lao Tzu, “A leader is one who serves”. This applies to everything in your life. Whether you are working for someone, or have people working for you, your success lies in helping those around you to succeed. As a leader, this means shielding your team from issues, removing obstacles and enabling them to do their jobs to the utmost of their ability. When working for others, it is all about fulfilling your responsibilities and exceeding expectations to deliver to the needs of those that you are working for.

When you do something for someone, you are helping them. They will appreciate it and it will make you feel good to have helped them. You should not do things to expect anything back: just knowing that you have helped should be enough. However, the great thing about doing things for others is that it creates a feeling of goodwill, it builds good relationships and more often than not, in the future, those people will repay the favour. Not only that, but the more value you deliver to others, the more your reputation will grow in the eyes of others. It will open up new opportunities to help others and lead to more and more success.

“Doing it in service” is in many ways one of the easiest things to do but also one of the most powerful. Whatever you do, think about how you are doing it to help others and make sure you keep this in mind to ensure that you deliver more value and success every day.

“The Skill Of All Skills To Climb To The Top” Influence Tools

2011-12-08T12:56:00.001Z

The “Skill Of All Skills To Climb To The Top” influence tools cover more advanced concepts about the way that people perceive you and respond to things that you do. They are about building relationships that deliver mutual value and success to you and those that you interact with (read more about Student to CE O Influence Tools here).

These influence tools cover concepts such as:

Do lots of things that help other people: do not expect anything in return, but know that if you do something for someone, they will feel implicitly that they should do something for you in return and the more that you help people the more they will be there for you when you need them;
Take an interest in others and show it: focus on them, ask questions and listen rather than talking about yourself, find out about them and use this to help engage with them more effectively;
Bring all of these things together: building on all of the previous influence tools, you must consistently deliver when you say you are going to do something, keep positive when talking to and about people, use the intelligence that you gather by finding out about people to add more value than anyone else.

“Dare To Be Different” Influence Tools

2011-12-05T11:36:00.001Z

The “Dare To Be Different” influence tools are all about what you can do to stand out from the crowd, what you should do to ensure that you do not make the mistakes that many people make and instead take the less trodden path of success (read more about Student to CE O Influence Tools here).

Key themes include:

Be different: learn from other people's mistakes, don't keep doing the same thing if it isn't working for anyone else, take a different approach and keep adapting until you find one that works (and the order in which you do things makes as big a difference to your success as the things that you do);
Focus on relationships: build and maintain great relationships, develop a powerful support network but avoid stepping on other people's toes if they have helped you out;
Think big: don't be a cog in the machine, design and run the machine! Utilise the people around you in constructive and mutually beneficial ways to get more done than you can on your own;
Build your personal brand: your reputation is one of your most valuable assets. It is what people think of you and directly affects every interaction you have with everyone in your life. Make sure that accountability and reliability are part of your reputation, then nurture and protect it at all costs;
Focus on results: quantifiable, tangible results are far more important and impressive than academic grades. What have you actually done? Can your successes be converted into financial value? Make sure that you document your successes throughout your career – both as evidence to use when opening opportunities and for your own personal development and reflection.

“Believe You Can Do It” Influence Tools

2011-12-03T14:36:00.002Z

The “Believe You Can Do It” influence tools are all about your beliefs, values and attitude towards opportunities and challenges. They are also about how you behave and deal with situations and experiences (read more about Student to CE O Influence Tools here).

You need to believe in yourself and your own abilities to be successful. You also need to have psychological control and to consistently take action in a way that is empowering to yourself.

Key themes include:

Believe in yourself
Avoid and ignore negative psychological influences
Act in a way that is authentic, responsible and decisive
Continuously review progress and remind yourself of where you are going and why

“Be Passionate” Influence Tool

2011-11-30T16:39:00.002Z

The “Be Passionate” influence tool has one short and simple message: whatever you do, throw yourself into it and do it with enthusiasm and energy (read more about Student to CE O Influence Tools here).

Doing anything with passion will increase your levels of success, because you will care more about it, spend more time on it and will have the drive to make it happen.

You will know if you are passionate about something because being passionate is an emotional thing: you will feel emotionally connected, will be interested, excited and enthused. When you get up in the morning you will want to get working on it; you will want to talk about it and will be proud of it.

Finding and living your passion is also satisfying and fulfilling. What would you rather be working on: something that you find a boring chore or something that you are passionate about and love to do?

"Be Willing To Do It" Influence Tools

2011-11-25T08:50:00.004Z

The “Be Willing To Do It” influence tools are all about taking massive action towards your outcomes, building on the “Know What You Want” influence tools to maintain energy and drive, overcoming any challenges that come your way and doing things that others don’t do, to become the “top 1%” of achievers and void the pitfalls of “the 99%” (read more about Student to CEO Influence Tools here).

The areas these influence tools cover are similar to the “Know What You Want” influence tools, but are even more action-oriented and include some very specific pieces of advice in relation to how to deal with situations and how to act. The key themes covered include:

How to deal with criticism, overcome challenges and stay committed
How to set expectations, hold yourself accountable and drive action
How to do more than anyone else and stand out from the crowd
How to continuously grow, learn and develop
How to develop an attitude that is empowering and successful whilst turning negatives to your advantage

"Know What You Want" Influence Tools

2011-11-22T13:35:00.001Z

The “Know What You Want” influence tools are all about being highly focused on achieving your outcomes (read more about Student to CEO Influence Tools here).

These influence tools only work if you already have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and the more specific you are in the definition of your goals, the more effective these tools will be.

The key themes covered by these success tools include:

Focus: if you are focused, both in terms of being very clear about the outcomes you are striving for and in carefully using your time to ensure everything you do takes you closer to those specific outcomes rather than spending time on things that do not, you will be massively more successful than if you spread your efforts over too wide and area that may or may not align to where you want to get to;
Delivery of value: whatever you do, always aim to deliver value in excess of what you are being paid and track your results and successes, because it is the tangible results that you deliver that people benefit from and care about, not the qualifications you have obtained or the tasks you have carried out. If you have done a lot of work but you cannot say what benefit that work has delivered, what was the value of you doing the work in the first place?
Continuous learning: no matter where you are in your career, it is critical that you continuously build your understanding and experience in line with the outcomes that you are striving to achieve. Look for opportunities to learn from everything you do – from the day-to-day activities you perform to specific training courses and books;
Perseverance: you will encounter challenges, you will make mistakes and you will fail. The important thing is how you deal with this failure: if you pick yourself up, learn from it and carry on, you will be a success. The more challenges you overcome, the stronger and more successful you will be – even if in the short term it doesn’t feel like it. Often the most successful people overcame the biggest challenges before they made it to where they are today.

“Know Your Map” Influence Tools

2011-11-21T23:50:00.004Z

The “Know Your Map” influence tools are all about ensuring that you know where you are going and how to get there (read more about Student to CEO Influence Tools here).

The analogy of a “map” is a fairly classic one that most people will be familiar with, but the great thing about this analogy, as reflected by the corresponding influence tools, is that it raises a few important points:

Make sure it’s the right map: if you are in London, a map of Paris won’t help you much. In the same way, the “map” that you use for your own personal development needs to be your own, not somebody else’s, because you need to make sure you can find your own way based on where you are and where you want to go;
Make sure you know where you want to get to: if you don’t know where you are going, you will not be able to work out how you are going to get there. Not only that, but you will not know if you are in the wrong place and you will not have a way of knowing for sure that you have reached the destination that you wanted to reach;
Make sure you know where you are now: if you don’t know where you are now, it will be very difficult to work out how to get to where you want to get to, because you won’t know how far you have got to go and what obstacles you need to overcome to get there;
Make sure it’s a good map: maps can vary in quality, in terms of how clear they are, the level of detail they provide and their accuracy. Taking the time to create a good map will save a lot of time in the long run;
Make sure you take the optimum route: once you know where you want to get to and where you are in relation to that location, there are many possible journeys that you could take to get there. Taking a look at others who have been successful in taking a similar path could help a lot in ensuring your own success. Likewise, steering clear of pitfalls that others have fallen into will save you time and help avoid failure.

Using the "Influence Tools" from Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance

2011-11-18T16:44:00.001Z

I recently purchased "Student to CEO: 97 Ways To Influence Your Way To The Top In Banking & Finance".

I've provided my views on the book below (the summary: it's pretty average but definitely good enough to be worth a glance through - the best bits are the "bite-sized" "influence tool" boxouts and there are some useful financial services-specific examples throughout).

But that's not the purpose of this blog post.

Using Influence Tools

The purpose of this blog post, and the reason I'm highlighting the book here is that it provides 99 (yes, more than the advertised 97) "influence tools" as box-outs throughout the book, which I have decided to use as prompts to write about.

I don't entirely agree with every single prompt, I'm not convinced that the order in which they appear is at all times the most logical, and I might skip some of them because they are too specifically focused on the contents of the book so don't make much sense out of context, but most of them are great common sense and they do provide nice, concise points to write about.

As you can tell from my comments above, I'm not overflowing with praise for the book, but the very fact that it got me writing this is a positive thing and there are a few points that he makes that provide a slightly different perspective on things. Please read the below for more info, and if you are interested in buying a copy, you can get it on Amazon.co.UK here, and Amazon.COM here.

About the book

Whilst this book tries to put a clear emphasis on "banking and finance", it turns out that it's actually a pretty standard self-help book, which takes the usual approach of using the author's experiences as a story to knit together a string of personal development advice.

Its key differentiator is the "Banking and Finance" focus, and this is the main reason that I bought it, because it is an industry that is fairly new to me but that I am currently working in and I have recently accepted a senior role for a global bank, which I will be starting in the New Year.

The anecdotes and stories based on the author's experience are all Banking and Finance related (as you would expect), and the famous people, example scenarios and case studies that he presents are also Banking and Finance related. However, the majority of the advice is pretty generic. That's not a bad thing at all, as it is all pretty sound advice - but the author seems to have tried to compensate for this by writing the phrase "Banking and Finance" every other sentence. Yes, we know this is a book about Banking and Finance but telling us that Banking and Finance is what it's about because it's a Banking and Finance book can become a bit irritating because in a Banking and Finance book you already know it's about Banking and Finance because it says Banking and Finance on the cover and you've already said that your'e writing it for people who want to get ahead in Banking and Finance over 20 times in the intro. You get the idea here...

The other slightly odd thing about this book is that although it has 97 (well actually 99) "influence tool" prompts, the main text of the books doesn't directly reference them. Or at least, it doesn't reference them consistently. They are generally relevant to whatever has been written on the pages that they are included on, but they just seem to be dropped in there. This means that many of them aren't even really explained. In most self-help books that use this kind of concept, the "tips" are either used as headings then explained with supporting anecdotes and exercises, or are clearly and directly relevant to the section that they are included in. If this had been the case in this book, it could have significantly improved the flow of the writing and would have provided more specific take-away points.

Of course, this book is also a marketing tool to get you to go to the author's presentations and buy his services. Unfortunately this also comes across quite clearly at times.

However, despite these points, it's not all bad. There is some real content here and the points made are largely common sense and useful. From the wide range of self-help books that are out there, this wouldn't be the first one that I'd recommend, but if someone asked me whether it was worth a read, I would still say yes.

New Year Tidy Up

2011-01-07T20:42:00.003Z

Happy New Year.

I've started the year with a quick tidy-up:

Deleted two old blogs that I created a few years back but never really used
Posted a couple of old articles that I wrote in 2006, as on a re-read they looked like they could still be of some value to someone
Deleted 17 "daily reflections" posts that didn't really have anything of value to the readers in them
Deleted a further 2 posts that on re-reading were very specific to the time and not particularly informative
Re-tagged all "daily rubbish" posts as "daily misc": there's something not quite right about the perception created by having a tag dedicated to "rubbish", so I thought a new name with a more neutral feel would be a good idea

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year break and here's looking forward to a great 2011.

Validation vs. Verification

2011-01-06T18:44:00.000Z

Another article from 2006:

These two terms keep cropping up as a source of confusion at the moment, so here's my attempt at clarifying the situation.

The traditional definition

I can kind of see why people have trouble with these two terms, when you consider how often I've heard these as definitions:

Verification = "Making sure we build it right";
Validation = "Making sure we built the right thing".

Yes they are different, but if you're trying to explain this to people who were confused before, I can't see this helping much.

The simple non-definition

Here's the way I remember the difference:

Verification - think "system test";
Validation - think "User Acceptance Test" (UAT).

Note: these are not definitions, they are examples of types of verification and validation.

In other words...

Verification covers all the checks you do along the way to make sure you're building whatever you're building right e.g. peer reviews, unit tests, load tests etc. etc.

Validation is all the stuff to make sure you're meeting the requirements. So again, this could well be unit testing if it's testing directly against a particular requirement - but it's the stuff that makes sure you're making what the end user needs, as specified by the requirements.

A non-technical example

I find that looking at these things from more than one angle helps.

You can perform verification and validation on anything that you produce. And what you produce doesn't have to be "techie"; whatever you're working on, the same principles apply.

For example, say you're writing a document.

Verification looks at formatting, spelling, and the reviews by colleagues to make sure you're doing it right.

Validation is checking that you're actually answering the questions that need to be answered, and making sure that the person(s) you're writing for are happy enough with it to sign it off.

Yet another perspective

Ok, here's another one.

Verification is all about making sure whatever you're producing is high quality: it follows the standards you should be following, it is error free etc.

Validation is all about sign-off. You want to make sure the audience is happy with what you're doing, and if it's a client you're doing it for you want them to be happy enough to sign it off as complete.

Yes, there can be overlap

Of course, one of the main causes of confusion is that sometimes these activities are performed together. How and when validation and verification are performed is down to your organisation's processes (or your project's processes, or whatever) - the key is that they both happen, and that they're made to work for you.

Relationships between CMMI Specific Process Areas and Generic Goals

2011-01-06T18:42:00.003Z

This is an article I wrote back in 2006, reposted here because it still has some points that someone might find useful...

One of the most common areas of confusion when looking at the CMMI is the relationship between the "Process Areas" and the "Generic Goals and Practices".

At a glance, people seem to think that in order to increase the "maturity level" (not to be confused with capability level) of your organisation, you concentrate on the process areas and specific practices for whatever maturity level you're aiming for - and that by focussing on those areas you will achieve the ML badge you've been striving for.

If when you read the specific process areas you apply all generic practices for them as well as the specific ones, you may well be on the right track. But do you understand why?
If you just focus on improving the engineering side of things, I can assure you that you are completely missing the point.

And so begins my attempt to explain why, without the use of diagrams or technical jargon...

Process Areas vs. Generic Goals

Process Areas are basically lists of the key things you need to do to make sure you do a specific thing properly, grouped under a title that describes the specific thing you're doing;
Generic Goals are the key things that you should really be doing whenever you doanything.

These structured lists of things were drawn up based on "industry best practice", so you're likely to find pretty much the same kinds of things in most half-decent management and engineering or development methodologies.

Process Area Example

One thing you'll notice is that some of the points (or "Specific Practices") that make up these Process Areas are, for want of a better expression, a bit noddy. They are totally and utterly obvious. Not only that, but if you are managing a project or developing a piece of software, you are most likely doing it already.

Example: RD, Requirements Development, SP 2.1-1 Collect Stakeholder Needs.

i.e. when capturing requirements (developing an understanding of requirements), you need to first work out what people want.

If you you're not doing this already, I would guess that you are either unemployed or nearing the end of your contract (whether you like it or not).

Generic Goals example

Generic Goals are again common sense.

Example: GP 2.5 Train People.

i.e. for a project to be truly successful, make sure that the people working on your project have the skills required to perform their jobs correctly - and if they don't, provide them with training to make sure that they do.

The big difference here is that Generic Goals should be applied to all Process Areas. Even so, this is still common sense when you think about it. The person responsible for gathering the stakeholder needs when developing requirements for the Process Area example above, really needs to know how to gather requirements to be any good at actually doing that. If they don't have a clue, they will need training, or will end up doing a bad job.

But wait, there's more...

That's the basic relationship between the two - but when you look at the CMMI more carefully you'll start to see that there's a huge amount of cross-referencing to help you work out how to use it.

In other words, some of the Process Areas actually tell you the things you need to do to implement the Generic Goals for all the other Process Areas!

I'm not talking about the explicit cross-referencing you find in the model when it says "refer to the XXX process area for information about XXX", I'm talking about implicit overlaps between Process Areas and Generic Goals.

Best demonstrated with some examples

I'm not going to go through every Generic Goal and map it back to a Process Area for you. You need to think about how you apply this to your organisation e.g. the guidelines of the CMMI's PP Project Planning process area may actually be performed across multiple processes in your organisation, in a way that means that you cannot define your own "Project Planning" process as such, but must instead document how a number of your processes work and demonstrate how you are performing all of the activities described in PP Project Planning. If I just map Process Areas to Generic Goals, there is a temptation to just take the CMMI "As-Is". All I can say is, I wouldn't recommend it.

However, I know that the best way to demonstrate the implicit relationships between Process Areas and Generic Goals is with some examples, so here are my favourite two:

GP2.5 Train People
OT Organizational Training defines the key things to consider for the central management of training for the entire organisation. If you manage training centrally and ensure that all projects consider training for everything they need to do, then you're going to satisfy this Generic Goal.

GP2.6 Manage Configurations
CM Configuration Management sets out the industry best practices for managing configurations. Document the way in which your organisation performs Configuration Management, and apply it to everything you do and you'll be performing GP2.6.

The point

The final comment I'd like to make is that the use of the CMMI requires a bit of thought. Don't just focus on specific Process Areas unless you've really thought about their impact on your organisation.

The CMMI emphasises central management, consistency, understanding and accountability. All good things in my books - but not things you can achieve by just by working down the list and doing "what it says". The CMMI provides a well-structured reference model, but it's not a how-to guide.

Look at your organisation's processes, look at those specified in the CMMI. Look at how working on Process Areas in the right way can move you towards satisfying the Generic Goals.

Repackaged Common Sense = The Next Big Thing

2011-01-06T18:40:00.000Z

A theme you may notice in some of my posts is that a lot of ideas around "best practice" management, consulting, development or whatever are actually quite often existing ideas repackaged in new frameworks with new buzzwords etc.

That isn't a criticism, it's an observation. In fact, quite often the new presentation and structure of these ideas represents the evolution of better ways of doing things, even if some of these changes are very subtle, or simply provide a better understanding of the ideas rather than actually changing them.

Some of my posts are likely to be the same - a new view on old ideas. No matter how good something is, it can always be improved, or better understood, or better implemented. The Next Big Thing is the Last Big Thing, only that bit further down the line.

A Simple Way To Boost The Effectiveness Of Visualisations (or "Envisualisations")

2010-09-01T01:01:00.002+01:00

This is a really quick and simple tip.

If you are trying to visualise something that has not yet happened and you are struggling to create a mental image, there is an additional visual image that you can create that can massively boost the effectiveness of your visualisation.

Imagine the reaction of someone you know well to the outcome of whatever it is that you are visualising. Make sure that there is context to the visualisation so that the reaction could clearly only have occurred if your desired outcome has been achieved, but if you can make this real enough in your mind it can help a lot.

Why does this work? There are a number of reasons, with the following two being at the top of the list:

First, it's a people focus. As human beings we respond well to the reactions of other human beings, so there is an innate, emotional response that is created by thinking about other people's reactions to something.

Second, it's easier to imagine a scenario that is "real" in your mind. You can imagine the real person, in a real location, using expressions that they often use, to make the visual image far more grounded, easier to recall and more believable.

Third, it's easier to focus on the outcome without being tempted to try to work out how to get there. This way, you can leave your subconscious to work out how to get there rather than confusing your thoughts with details that aren't important for this exercise. Even if in order to achieve the visualisation you need to do a lot of conscious thinking, while you are visualising it you should not: you should be focussed on the experience and feelings of the moment that you want to create.

Give it a go: you'll be amazed by how effective it can be.

An All-New Term For Visualisation

2010-08-30T23:52:00.003+01:00

A slip of the tongue from my wife has created a brilliant, all-new term for visualisation. I'm hoping it will catch on...

What is visualisation?

For the uninitiated, put simply, visualisation is a technique whereby you create an experience that you want to have in your mind.

In some cases this experience is something you have already done, so visualisation can be seen as "mental rehearsal". For this, there is a lot of evidence that rehearsing an experience in your mind, for example successfully shooting a basketball hoop, can significantly improve your performance in that experience in reality.

In other cases, the visualisation may be of something that you have not yet experienced but want to experience in the future. This is actually something that most people do without even realising it, to some degree. For example, an artist will have some idea in their mind of what they are going to create; no matter what you do, you will have some kind of vision of what success looks like before you do it.

Visualisation in everyday life

Another example that you may be more familiar with could be driving into town: you know that you are going to take the car and that you will end up in town. You probably have some kind of idea of the route you will take, where you will park, and so on. This idea of the route and end destination may appear to you as images - even if just momentarily and without you really thinking about it, because it is so natural to do. Visualisation takes this a step further and is the conscious act of thinking through what you are going to do. Some people refer to it as a mental movie that you play to yourself.

There are various theories about the impact of visualisation, ranging from the idea that visualisation is just a way of planning and preparing but not much more, to the more extreme beliefs such as those expressed in films like "The Secret" and in books on the use of the subconscious, which suggest that just by thinking something we can manifest them in reality, and by visualising and end result your subconscious, or even the universe itself, will bend to make it happen.

The new term: Envisualise!

My wife has been talking about what we are going to do to the rooms in our new home and something she always does is to build a vision of what the new room will look like: colours, furniture, patterns and so on. It's the way she's always approached this kind of thing and has never read anything on visualisation or any similar techniques (although she may have heard a term or two like this from me).

She often talks about how she envisages the room and what her vision looks like. Recently, she said to me that it was how she had "envisualised" it. It made us both laugh, but actually I think it's a great term. It's a cross between envisage and visualise: it's the union and evolution of the two techniques.

Brilliant.

I hope you enjoy this new word and start using it to describe your envisualisations from now on!

The Key To Success: Cross-Train!

2010-08-29T23:51:00.001+01:00

There is no single way to achieve success in life and there is no "right" or "wrong" path.

Some people seem to be able to achieve all of their goals in an effortless way while others work hard for many years to get there.

There are many books, videos, seminars, courses and other different forms of advice available on subjects of personal development and on specific skills, but which ones should you go on? Should you even bother or can you achieve all of your goals without looking to others for help?

Well, there are people through the ages who have been massively successful without going on any courses. They worked it out themselves - and you could too.

Accelerate the learning process

However, the great benefit of learning from others is that it accelerates the learning process. It is one of the primary reasons for the human species: the ability to pass on knowledge from one generation to another; the ability for us to learn from others to build our capabilities and to avoid repeating mistakes.

I personally am constantly reading and learning. Every experience in my life - no matter how mundane - is an opportunity to enjoy life and to learn something. Even if the learning is simply building on something you already know, it is still all experience.

Multiple "right" answers

There are many people claiming to have "the answer". A lot of these "answers" are quite different approaches to the same thing; many more are re-packaged or re-worded versions of the same approach, with a slightly different spin.

In my experience, many of these "answers" can have some truth in them and can provide some extra insight that will help you.

The most important thing is to evaluate techniques and use your own intelligence in deciding what you are going to take away from them. How does what these techniques provide build on your own view on the world? What additional value does it bring, how will it help you do something better or avoid doing something that is not as constructive as it could be?

At the same time, everything must be taken with a pinch of salt. Many of the people selling these thoughts are very good marketers and will try to convince you that their way is the only way and the right way. Buy their products and you will achieve ultimate enlightenment and a long and happy fulfilled life!

Take the best bits but don't be brainwashed by this way of thinking. We as human being create models to help us better understand the world and to be able to deal with things, but they are only models: only approximations for us to understand and do things that would be beyond our capabilities without these simplifications.

Why cross-training is so important

We all learn in very different ways and getting lots of different perspectives is a very constructive thing to do as it exposes us to alternative ways of understanding things that may be more in tune with our learning style. It can also "fill the gaps" in the jigsaw of our understanding such that we are able to achieve an even greater insight than even the people who are providing the advice.

If we just look at one way of doing something, we will never be able to achieve this insight.

When I talk about cross-training, I'm not just talking about personal development/self help approaches. I'm talking about everything: relationships, work, technologies, hobbies; academic and practical; subjective and objective.

At work, I often make use of skills that I have picked up from widely different areas of study and experience. It is the fact that I apply this range of skills and continuously build my skills that makes me so effective. Specialism and depth of knowledge is extremely useful, but without the ability to apply it using the range of other skills that we have at our disposal our expertise would remain a blunt instrument.

In the world of personal development, there are loads of different theories and approaches and it really is worth considering a variety of them - even things that may seem dubious to you at first: it was actually a very "fluffy", almost "spiritual" book that I read that had the most profound and constructive impact on me, even though I don't believe all of its pseudo-science, many of the techniques and ideas suddenly made a lot of what I had read in the past fall in to place, and by putting them into effect I have experienced a radical change.

So - cross train and become as rounded an individual as you can be. It really could make the difference in terms of both the amount of success that you experience and in the speed at which you experience it!

Free Online: "The Secret" Video

2010-08-28T23:53:00.004+01:00

I just stumbled across a full version of "The Secret" online and the link is below.

I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be up there (it's on some Chinese site) - but I've just watched it and it is a full version in English with Chinese subtitles.

Whether you believe all of the "science" (or pseudo-science) or not, it has some interesting ideas and there is a lot of evidence to support the value of techniques such as visualisation: even if you don't believe the "reasons" behind the theories, I've put a lot of these concepts into action and can confirm that they really have worked for me.

The link is here: http://v.ku6.com/show/68l4FTFqkVZhWcvX.html

Hope you enjoy. It's good enough that I've decided to buy the DVD for a friend of mine to watch as I think they could really benefit from it. You can find the DVD:

Let me know what you think!

Thanks For Your Messages of Support: I Am Back

2010-08-27T08:55:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to all of you who have sent me messages encouraging me to continue blogging. To be honest, I didn't realise so many people were reading and am returning because of this support.

It's been over 6 months since my last post, but it has been an amazingly busy and successful 6 months. I have learnt a huge amount and have far more useful insights to share than before. I have also continued to write (as I originally committed to myself that I would) - albeit not on this blog.

This is just an initial post to let everyone know that I am returning and my first proper posts will start appearing over the next few days - so watch this space.

The best thing for me is that all of the work on personal development is really paying off - but at times in ways I didn't expect - so there are various things I can share on that front.

Great things that have happened in my life over the past few months (and are continuing to get better) include:

A great pay rise and bonus, above my expectations
I have taken on a couple of new roles at work and am now presented with more opportunities than I could possibly pursue, so I am able to pick and choose
My wife is expecting our first son, due to be born in November (we were previously told that she might have trouble conceiving)
People have been very generous in offering us various good quality baby furniture and toys to get us started
We have found a great house that would previously have been out of our range, have sold our house and will be moving in over the next month
There have been various great social events with friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time, including a stag do and wedding that were both brilliant
...and quite a bit more - and very recently I had another breakthrough that makes all of these things seem like very small steps in comparison...

So, here I am and I'm glad to be back. Please do get in touch if there is anything in particular you would like to hear about and my first posts will follow soon...

Action Without Direction Is Better Than No Action

2010-02-07T15:59:00.005Z

Take this post as an example.

I haven't had a sudden moment of inspiration to write something, I am just writing. In line with my commitment to write something every day, I know that taking action and writing something - writing anything at all - is more productive and useful than sitting back and waiting for an idea or direction.

Of course, direction is important to make sure you're going the right way, but more often than not it is better to do something than to wait for that direction. Even if your action means you're taking things forward in slightly the wrong way, at least you are taking things forwards, and if you need to adjust your direction in the future at least you're not starting from scratch and have done some good.

At work, this can sometimes manifest itself in a belief that you need someone's permission to do something that you know is right and will help, but are concerned others will not understand or support you. Many times I've heard great ideas that never went anywhere because the person with the idea was waiting for some permission or other that in reality they didn't need. Whilst at work you do sometimes need to be careful due to the political environment in which you work, often it is better to act and ask permission than ask permission and risk never taking action.

Not sure what you should be doing? Try doing something - doing anything - just to get something done - and you'll probably find that you will find your way, and if not at least you can say you've done something...

End Every Day With A Success

2010-02-06T15:26:00.004Z

This is a really simple and obvious psychological trick that can massively help how good you feel about every day in your life.

The idea is simple: No matter how bad your day has been, always end it with a success.

You define success

Let's say you've just had the worst day of your life. Everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. You get to the end of the day and think to yourself: there is nothing good about this day.

This is where you need to stop.

Step back and think of one thing you can do that is positive and could be seen as a success. Even if it's really small, just something that you will be able to look back on and think "well at least I did that..."

Even if you have something really big on your plate that you know you should do right now, but also know there's no chance you're going to get it finished in time: you're going to fail, it's all going to come crashing round your ears and you're going to suffer the consequences.

You still need to stop.

This horrible situation is out of your control, so make the decision to do no more on it today. You have to stop for the day at some point anyway, so stop and think of that one thing you're going to do that will be successful.

Maybe you're at home and you just want to get one small house chore done that will save time tomorrow- like washing the pots, or washing some clothes. Do it now, and know that you ended the say on a success.

Or you could be at work, and you can look at your long list of things to do and pick off one thing that you can get done now, that will be a success. It may be small, but at least you can leave the office with one success. Send that email helping someone out, or complete that little admin task you've been putting off but still needs doing. Get it done - and you have succeeded.

You can define what that small success is, but make it small enough to be easily achievable as the last thing you do that day.

You'll be amazed

Just this small thing can make a massive difference on your life.

You will never finish a day with that sinking feeling of dread and disappointment. Yes, you still have a load of other things to worry about, but at least you ended on a small high.

In time, you will find that the feeling of success will translate to clearer thoughts and more success elsewhere, including on those big horrible tasks you're struggling with.

This small technique will not solve all your problems, but it will help, and will make you feel better.

Give it a go today!

____________________

A couple of related links

As always when I write about anything, I do a quick search on the subject first.

If you found this article interesting, here are a couple of other articles that may also be of use to you:

One Way To Never Break A Routine

2010-02-06T15:10:00.003Z

Routines can be a great way to help achieve things that take time and effort, like a new level of fitness or a product that will take a long time to create and can be produced through regular, small contributions.

Whenever we start a new routine, we always have a sense of hope. There is a target we are aiming for, a vision of a better place that we will get to if we stick to it.

The trouble is, it takes work. Even with our best intentions, a routine is something we have to do, consistently and without fail for it to be a routine.

We make and break our own routines

Take a daily routine, like doing a small amount of exercise every day. Or even a weekly one.

The most common cause of a routine like this breaking is missing just one day. We miss that one time and think that we've broken the routine, so what's the point now? It's broken - we're going to have to start from scratch again to get it going.

But is a routine really broken by a small thing like this?

The answer is no.

Routines are an artificial creation, they're just in our mind.

We decide what our routine is, how often we're going to do something, how we measure our own success. So you've missed a day, so what? Okay, so it may "feel" like the routine's broken, but it hasn't. It's only one day.

Say you miss three days and pick up again where you left off. It's still the same routine, you've just had a bit of a break. It's not broken, you've not gone back to the beginning at all. It could be that you've not made as much progress as you would have liked, or your fitness has regressed slightly, but don't let that stop your routine - it's all in your mind. Just start where you left off and continue.

If your routine is a personal one, the only person you are really accountable to is you - so it's up to you whether you beat yourself up about it and stop (which doesn't really help anyone), or just pick yourself up and continue (which is surely a more constructive way forwards).

Some people might suggest that this is somehow deluding yourself, but I disagree. We're not denying that we've missed a few days, and we're not saying we're happy about that. What we're saying is that despite missing those days, we are going to continue regardless. We will persist and succeed regardless of setbacks - the routine is not broken, it has been on hold but will continue.

Have you ever broken a good routine and never started it again? Maybe now's the time to pick it back up. It was only on hold, after all...

Free Online Self-Tests

2010-01-17T12:45:00.004Z

Creating the free self-assessment tools made me wonder how many similar self-tests and personal development quizzes are available online, so I had a quick search.

In this post you'll find some links to some others that you will find online, some notes on what is good about them and some thing that they miss, and what the self-test tools I'm pulling together do to plug those gaps.

Here are some of the better online self-assessments that I found:

Solve Your Problem "Self Discovery" Quizzes (described as "Fast, Fun, and best of all Free!" - a bit of fun, covering a mix of topics, with some light advice after you've completed each one):
http://quiz.solveyourproblem.com/
Fun Education "Self Discover" Tests (some are aimed at kids, but there are career development ones too. The tests are interactive and quite long):
http://www.funeducation.com/Tests/SelfDiscovery.aspx
Leadership and Motivation Training assessment tools (there are a range of self-assessments on this site. They are not dynamic i.e. they are PDF files that you can download, but they are quite comprehensive and cover a good range of areas, mainly focussed on leadership):
http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com/leadership-assessment-tools.html
Cynthia Wall's self-tests (not interactive - just a set of exercises you can do offline):
http://www.cynthiawall.com/quiz.html

There were also loads that I found that weren't that helpful

A whole range of sites that I stumbled across in my search contained loads of quizzes that had clearly been pulled together purely for entertainment and not to really help understand ourselves or take action.

You commonly find similar quizzes on social networking sites like Facebook and in email chain letters too.

Not a bad thing, but a bit of a waste of time if you're actually filling them in for a real purpose.

Probably the best of these that I found was "Quiz Stop", which provides a good range of different categories of self-test quizzes: http://www.quizstop.com/

Aside from the "purely for fun" ones, are the useful ones really any good?

Well, most of them are okay. None of the ones that I found were particularly ground-breaking - but then, they're not going to be.

All any self-test like this will give you is a fairly superficial indication of yourself - but it is how well that indication is produced and presented, and more importantly how easily you can act on it, that makes the big difference.

The thing that was missing from them

The real thing that was missing in most of them was clear guidance on what the results really mean and what you can do with them.

In particular, in most cases these tests lead to a summary screen that focusses on what you are, with no reference to what you are *not*. Often it is this comparison, the identification of areas for improvement, that can help you take action that makes a difference. This goes hand-in-hand with advice on what you can do to balance out in those areas where you are doing *too much* of one thing or *not enough* of another.

Whilst a big part of this responsibility falls on you, the tests should at least provide some pointers if they are to be of any real use.

The tools on this Business-Life-Success blog don't fall into this trap

The tools I've been pulling together do show exactly where you scored well in what areas, in comparison with other alternative areas, and include some guidance on the "why": http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

They're based on the book "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!", by Ron Yeung (links to this book on Amazon are provided below).

This is available to buy at the following locations, but you can also download the full book to "try before you buy", along with a whole load of other books, as described in the following post: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/fantastic-100-free-self-help-books-to.html

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:
Personal Development Book Store on Amazon.CO.UK
Personal Development Book Store on Amazon.COM

Something Different In Personal Development

2010-01-16T17:17:00.005Z

Ever get the feeling that all personal development and self-help messages are the same?

Ever just want to find something just that little bit different, that changes your perspective on things and takes you one step closer towards a better way of living?

There's a reason they all sound the same

The primary reason that so much information out there is similar, is because there are only so many areas of your life that you can influence and so many techniques you can apply to make your life better.

Think about your life. In what ways do you want it to get better?

Do you want more money, more friends, more material possessions, more fulfilling relationships, more peace? I'm willing to bet that there isn't much on your list that doesn't appear on many other people's lists across the world.

Now think about what you can do to make those improvements and attain those things.

Again, it's the usual suspects: define clearly what you want and how you want to get there, work out how you're going to get there, replace bad habits with good habits, reduce procrastination and replace it with action, change your mindset to appreciate what you get etc. etc.

Sound familiar?

Why more of the same can result in something different

Ok, so some advice is a bit different. Sometimes we read something and it sparks something; it triggers a new way of thinking, a revelation.

Sometimes even things that we already know, when presented in a subtly different way, can lead to something great.

Which is why more of the same is not such a bad thing.

The more people write about the same things, explore new possibilities in the same areas, the more likely we are to stumble across the next great revelation. Also, the more people who are likely to be exposed to these ideas for the first time.

Just because you or I have heard it all before, doesn't mean that everyone has. The number of times I've read a book that was written years before another, and realised the "new" ideas that I had been blown away by were actually a slightly more developed version of something that had been written years ago, isn't a bad thing. It's actually reassuring: at least they were onto the right thing all those years ago, and at least people are still working to take those ideas even further now.

The more recent books are often better too, even if just slightly better articulated or incorporating a few extra little lessons and examples.

Re-hashing ideas for the sake of creating content is a bit of a shame though...

In my "daily rubbish" posts, I am writing just to ensure I write something on a regular basis as much as anything, so sometimes there is a risk that I fall into the trap of re-hashing old ideas - but I will always try to add something extra, a new insight or a bit of commentary that is relevant to me or might be useful to others.

What does sometimes frustrate me is when I read other's blogs and articles that are clearly just taking credit for ideas that come from somewhere else, that are not only a repetition of often-told stories, but also add nothing new and are so abstract they provide no guidance on how to apply them.

How do we make things different?

There are plenty of things we can do to take these ideas forwards and make them different, a bit more useful and tangible. If you look at the best books and websites out there, they all have several things in common. Below are a few examples - if you have more please let me know:

They include specific, real-life examples. They're not just a load of theoretical text regurgitated from a psychology textbook, they include stories on how the ideas were applied and how they worked in real life to the author or to someone else specific.
They provide extra ideas or commentary that extend the original concepts
They condense or re-present the ideas in a far more interesting, accessible and understandable way that more people can relate to
They provide exercises that you can do yourself
They provide new tools or templates to use in your own personal development

What I'm looking for is something different in personal development. Have you found it?

Identifying Your Style of Influencing - Free Self-Test Tool - Available Here First

2010-01-16T11:49:00.002Z

This is the fifth of our useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-assessment spreadsheets, as introduced here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

Download it here: 3-1 - Self-Test - Identifying Your Style of Influencing

This self-assessment tool is taken from Chapter Three of "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (which can be found on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COMhere).

The purpose of this self-test is to assess your style of influencing, which will help identify where your strengths and weaknesses are and areas for improvement.

Instructions on how to use it are included in the spreadsheet.

Download it, have a go, and let me know what you think. I hope you find it useful.

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Your Style of Tackling Tricky People - Free Self-Test Tool - Available Here First

2010-01-15T19:42:00.001Z

This is the fourth of our useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-assessment spreadsheets, as introduced here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

Download it here: 2-3 - Self-Test - Your Style of Tackling Tricky People

This self-assessment tool is taken from Chapter Two of "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (which can be found on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COMhere).

The purpose of this self-test is to assess your style of dealing with tricky people, which will help identify where your strengths and weaknesses are and areas for improvement.

Instructions on how to use it are included in the spreadsheet.

Download it, have a go, and let me know what you think. I hope you find it useful.

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Measuring Your Political Skill - Free Self-Test Tool - Available Here First

2010-01-14T17:12:00.005Z

This is the third of our useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-assessment spreadsheets, as introduced here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

Download it here: 2-2 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Political Skill

This self-assessment tool is taken from Chapter Two of "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (which can be found on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COM here).

The purpose of the self-test is to provide an indicative measure of your own political skill and to identify areas for improvement.

Instructions on how to use it are included in the spreadsheet.

Download it, have a go, and let me know what you think. I hope you find it useful.

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Identifying Politics Where You Work - Free Self-Test Tool - Available Here First

2010-01-10T21:15:00.004Z

This is the second of our useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-assessment spreadsheets, as introduced here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

Download it here: 2-1 - Self-Test - Identifying Politics Where You Work

This self-assessment tool is taken from Chapter Two of "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (which can be found on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COMhere).

The purpose of the self-test is to identify the politics at your work, which will help respond to any challenges or opportunities that the political environment may raise for you.

Instructions on how to use it are included in the spreadsheet.

Download it, have a go, and let me know what you think. I hope you find it useful.

_______________________________
For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:
Personal Development Book Store on Amazon.CO.UK
Personal Development Book Store on Amazon.COM

Available Online For Free - The Science of Getting Rich - A Self Help Classic

2010-01-09T18:08:00.006Z

"The Science of Getting Rich" is one of those timeless self-help classics along with the likes of "Think And Grow Rich" and "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin".

The principles it promotes are as valid today as they were back then. Whilst some people may criticise it for its "pyscho-babble" (being all about acquiring wealth through creative thought and the "law of attraction"), and for its complete focus on obtaining financial riches rather than general personal development, if you do give it a chance, it does have some great, thought-provoking ideas in there - and it's short and to the point so at least worth a go!

Read it for free

The book accessible for free online at the following site: http://www.jamesallenlibrary.com/the-science-of-getting-rich.html

If you're like me and prefer to have a book to read, you can get it from Amazon (links below) - but the great thing about it being online is that it's available for you to check out beforehand and confirm whether or not you want to buy it.

A load of other free books

All of James Allen's books are also available online at the same site: http://www.jamesallenlibrary.com - thanks to whoever it was that posted the comment on my post the other day to let me know about this (Fantastic - 101 FREE Self-Help Books To Download).

Buying the books

These books are of course also available on Amazon - below are direct links to some of them for quick access if you are interested:

- -

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Establishing Your Values - Free Self-Test Tool - Available Here First

2010-01-09T13:10:00.007Z

This is the first of our useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-assessment spreadsheets, as introduced here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-self-assessment-tools-adapted-from.html

Download it here: 1-1 - Self-Test - Establishing Your Values

This self-assessment tool is taken from Chapter One of "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (which can be found on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COM here).

The purpose of the self-test is to understand your own personal values, which helps to focus on the areas that are important to us in life and also identify any areas where you may want to make changes or improvements.

Instructions on how to use it are included in the spreadsheet.

Download it, have a go, and let me know what you think. I hope you find it useful.

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

New Personal Development Book Stores

2010-01-09T05:19:00.006Z

I've created a couple of Amazon book stores, tailored to personal development and career success.

The front pages of these include the top 9 books that I have got the most out of over recent years - so if you're looking for something good to read, do have a look:

Free Self-Assessment Tools - Adapted From The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!

2010-01-09T04:34:00.008Z

Download useful, easy-to-use and FREE mini-self-assessment spreadsheets from the Business-Life-Success Blog!

Where are the self-assessments taken from?

One of the 100 Free Self-Help Books that I highlighted that are available to download, is a great little book that is full of little self-assessment exercises and tools, providing practical, repeatable little tests that you can do to things like:

establish your career priorities
bulk up your CV
measure your skills
deal with office politics
move up in management
negotiate a big pay rise
learn to network
change your career track

Whilst some of these activities aren't the most "sophisticated", they are all interesting and thought-provoking exercises that provide some useful indications or suggestions as an output.

The book is called "The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests and Exercises to Assess Your Skills and Potential!" (get it on Amazon.CO.UK here, and Amazon.COM here).

Turning the exercises into easy-to-use tools for you

A number of the exercises involve agreeing or disagreeing with a set of questions, and adding up the results of your answers under a number of "categories". I found that the easiest way to complete these exercises was to copy and paste them into a spreadsheet and to create simple formulas to do the adding up for me.

Each time I created a spreadsheet like this, I realised that it was in itself a mini tool that could save people a lot of time and make completing these exercises a lot easier.

So, I will be publishing each of these mini-tools over the coming weeks and linking to them from this page. I still recommend downloading or buying (UK - here / US - here) the book for the additional exercises and explanation, because there's some good stuff here that I would just end up re-writing if I wanted to include it here, but hope that these mini-tools that I have adapted from the multiple choice exercises will be useful.

1-1 - Self-Test - Establishing Your Values
2-1 - Self-Test - Identifying Politics Where You Work
2-2 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Political Skill
2-3 - Self-Test - Your Style of Tackling Tricky People
3-1 - Self-Test - Identifying Your Style of Influencing
4-1 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Core Competencies
5-1 - Self-Test - Understanding Your Organizational Effectiveness
6-1 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Readiness for Management
6-3 - Self-Test - Distinguishing Leadership from Managership
7-1 - Self-Test - Understanding Your Personality Type
8-1 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Work/Life Balance
8-4 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Work Discipline
9-1 - Self-Test - Evaluating Your Negotiating Effectiveness
10-2 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Work Dissatisfaction Levels
11-1 - Self-Test - Measuring Your Networking Skills

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Great Free Online Tools

2010-01-08T00:36:00.008Z

Ever been in a situation where you needed a technique or tool but couldn't remember what it was called, couldn't remember how to use it or couldn't remember where to find out more about it?

Here's a great selection of free websites and online resources to help you in your career, in visualising information at work, for general business activities and personal development tasks, and for self-evaluation.

Tools for your career

For a wide range of common business and management tools, check out Mind Tools for some great overview pages:

http://www.mindtools.com/index.html

Each section of the site provides an overview of the tool, its purpose, how to use it, and for many of them you can download free templates to use too.

The tools are grouped by:

Visualisation

Representing and communicating data or other information visually is a common task, that can often benefit from the inspiration that a few examples can provide.

See the Periodic Table of Visualisation Methods as a great starting point.

Other free online templates

Business Balls have another wide selection of free templates to download, covering business and personal development topics: http://www.businessballs.com/freeonlineresources.htm

This list is a bit longer and less structured, but is a useful resource.

Self-assessment tools

Finally, a key part of effective personal development is taking a step back and critically reviewing yourself: your current state, your values, your personality, where you want to get to and so on - so that you know how far you need to go to achieve your goals.

Here's a list of example self-assessment resources, many of which are free (it tells you next to each link): http://www.rileyguide.com/assess.html

I've pulled this list together so I can use it as a reference point in the future. If you found it useful, make sure you're looking at this specific post and bookmark it so you can find these resources again when you need them too...

PopURLs - What's Hot Now

2010-01-07T14:50:00.002Z

http://popurls.com/ - a great site that aggregates the most popular content from across the web.

If you're keen to stay on top of what's hot, cutting edge views and opinions, it's a very good place to start.

Also a good place for if you're looking for business ideas and opportunities based on current trends.

If this is something you're interested in, another site to look at is: http://addictomatic.com/ - another good, customisable content aggregation site, which is along similar lines to iGoogle (http://www.google.co.uk/ig or http://www.google.com/ig), and PageFlakes (http://www.pageflakes.com/).

Fantastic - 100 FREE Self-Help Books To Download!

2010-01-07T14:02:00.005Z

I don't know who posted this, but 100 self-help books are available to download for free from the following site: http://www.ebookee.com/100-Collection-of-Self-Help-books-220MB-_400928.html

The direct links to the files are:

You'll need a program that reads "RAR" files to be able to unzip them (I don't think WinZIP reads ZIP files - e.g. I'm using WinRAR).

Using the links above, you can either pay for a fast download or get the files at a very slow speed (which is what I did - and yes it does work).

I was amazed by the quality of the books included e.g. it includes the extremely well known and respected book, Think and Grow Rich: The Original Classic, among others.

The full list of books (some of which appear to be short eBooks, others being fully-fledged self help books that you can purchase via Amazon), is below:

10 Essential Key To Personal Effectiveness.pdf
10 Life Changing Technologies.pdf
100 Action Principles - By Bill Fitzpatrick.pdf
101 Golden Keys To Success And Fullfillment In Life.exe
101 Things I've Learn In My 50 Trips Arond The Sun.pdf
12 Dirty Habits That Prevent You From Developing Exceptional People Skill.pdf
18 Powerful Words And Their Usage - Kenrick Cleveland.pdf
21 Success Secrets - Brian Tracy.pdf
38 Ways To Win An Argument.pdf
50 Self-Help Classics - 50 Inspirational Books To Transform Your Life.pdf
7 Little Known Success Secrets Of The Rich And Famous.pdf
7 Part Affirmations.exe
9 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Any Book.doc
A Guide For Creative Thinking By Brian Tracy.pdf
Abcs Of A Successful Selling Career - Tom Hopkins.pdf
Acres Of Diamonds - Russell Conwell.pdf
Amacom.Time Power.pdf
Anthony Robbins - Personal Power Ii.pdf
As A Man Thinketh - James Allen.pdf
Be A Successfull Consultant - An Insider Guide To Setting Up And Running A Consultancy Practice.pdf
Best Of Jim Rohn.doc
Boc Proctor - Making The Impossible Possible.pdf
Brian Tracy - The-Keys-To-Self-Acceptance.pdf
Brian Tracy - Thinking Big.doc
Buzan, Tony - Speed Memory.pdf
Buzan, Tony - Super Creativity.pdf
Buzan, Tony - Use Your Head.pdf
Buzan, Tony - Use Your Memory.pdf
Can You Believe It - Vic Johnson.pdf
Career - Career Warfare 10 Rules For Building A Successful Personal Brand And Fighting To Keep It...
Career - Resilience At Work How To Succeed No Matter What.pdf
Charles Faulkner - Creating Irresistible Influence.pdf
Charles Faulkner - Metaphors Of Identity Booklet.pdf
Charles Faulkner & Steve Andreas - Nlp The New Technology Of Achievement.pdf
Complete Idiot's Guide To Verbal Self-Defense - Isbn 0028627415 - 559s.pdf
Dale Carnegie - Goldenbook.pdf
David Lieberman - Never Be Lied To Again - Get The Truth Out Of Anyone.pdf
Habit.Busting.A.10-Step.Plan.That.Will.Change.Your.Life.pdf
How To Be Happy At Work - A Practical Guide To Career Satisfaction.pdf
How To Speed Read.doc
How To Think Like A Computer Scientist Learning With Python.pdf
How To Think Like Benjamin Graham And Invest Like Warren Buffett.pdf
How To Think Like The Worlds Greatest High-Tech Titans.pdf
How Would You Move Mount Fuji.pdf
I.Went.To.College.For.This.pdf
Imprint Books - 2003 - Mondays Stink!.chm
Inside The Minds Of Winners.pdf
Jack.Welch.Winning.pdf
Jesus Ceo.pdf
Jossey Bass - Creativity At Work.pdf
Jossey-Bass Dont Give Me That Attitude 24 Rude Selfish Insensitive Things Kids Do And How To Stop...
Keys To Becoming Confident.pdf
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates - 2004 - Experiments With People Revelations From Social Psychology -...
Lead The Field - Earl Nightingale.doc
Leil Lowndes - Conversation Confidence - Workbook.pdf
Lessons From Jack Welch.pdf
Loophols Of The Rich.pdf
Love Yourself Into Life.pdf
Make Your Own Miracle - Achieve The Impossible.pdf
Mastermind Marketing - Jay Abraham.doc
Mcgraw Hill - No Lie Truth Is The Ultimate Sales Tool.pdf
Mcgraw Hill - Who's Pulling Your Strings (How To Break The Cycle Of Manipulation And Regain Contr...
Million Dollar Habits - Brain Tracy.pdf
Millionaire Women Secrets Of Success.pdf
Napoleon Hill - Think And Grow Rich.pdf
Next Economy E 03.pdf
Nicholas.Brealey.Publishing.Living.The.80.20.Way.Work.Less.Worry.Less.Succeed.More.Enjoy.More.Isb...
Nlp - 7 Keys To Personal Change.doc
Nlp Reading Body Language For Seduction.pdf
Non Verbal Communication.pdf
Principles Of Success - Brian Tracy.pdf
Roger Love - Set Your Voice Free.pdf
Russ Kick 50 Things Youre Not Supposed To Know Ebook-Een.pdf
Say It Right The First Time.pdf
Self-Employment - From Dream To Reality.pdf
Seven Steps To Goal Setting.pdf
Shad Helmstetter - What To Say When You Talk To Your Self.pdf
Simple Steps To Impossible Dreams.pdf
Skconfidence.pdf
Skmemory.pdf
Skperseverance.pdf
Strategies 4 Success.pdf
Superpowermemory.pdf
The 3 Most Powerful Ways To Get Yourself To Achieve Anything Despite Pressure, Deadlines, And Pro...
The Best Kept Secrets Of Great Communicators.pdf
The First Time Manager.pdf
The Gentle Art Of Verbal Self-Defence - Suzette Elgin.doc
The New Nlp - Abundance.doc
The One Minute Manager - Blanchard & Johnson.pdf
The People Puzzle.doc
The Principles Of Excellence.pdf
The Science Of Getting Rich - Wallace D Wattles.pdf
The Ugly Truth About Milton Friedman.pdf
The Ultimate Career Success Workbook.chm
The Winner's Circle - R J Shook.pdf
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook.pdf
The.Photoreading.Whole.Mind.System.Ebook-Een.pdf
Time Power By Brian Tracy.pdf
Tips For Increasing Reading Speed.pdf
Tony.Buzan.-.Use.Your.Memory.pdf
Turbocoach A Powerful System For Achieving Breakthrough Career Success.pdf
What Smart People Do When Dumb Things Happen At Work.chm
Who Am I A Book That Will Change Your Life .....pdf
Who's Pulling Your Strings (How To Break The Cycle Of Manipulation And Regain Control Of Your Lif...
Wiley Create Your Own Future How To Master The 12 Critical Factors Of Unlimited Success.pdf
Wiley,.How.To.Feed.Friends.And.Influence.People.(2005).Yyepg.Lotb.pdf
Winning Attitude.pdf
Working Identity Unconventional Strategies For Reinventing Your Career - Harvard Business School.chm
Working Peoplesmart 6 - Strategies For Success.chm
Your Forces And How To Use Them - Christian Larson.pdf
Zig Ziglar - Goals Pro Chart.pdf
Zig Ziglar - Self-Talk.pdf

Brilliant stuff. Hope this is of some use to you!

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

How To Stick To ANY New Habit, Resolution Or Routine

2010-01-06T07:24:00.005Z

It doesn't matter when you decide to start a new routine, or replace an old bad habit with a new good one, or change an area of your life.

The important thing is (1) that you do make the decision to make the positive change, and (2) that you can stick with it once you've started.

Persisting and seeing it through is often the most challenging part, but also the key to success. Even if the change is very small, making it last will multiply its value over time.

Loads of advice

Here are a small selection of excellent articles on how to set and stick with your new goals, routines, New Year's resolutions, or whatever it is you're trying to change:

A. Lifehacker - "This Year, I will"...

http://lifehacker.com/5437929/top-10-mind-hacks-for-making-your-resolutions-stick

This is an excellent article that I strongly recommend reading.

Lifehacker made it onto TIME's list of top blogs for 2009 and with loads of articles as useful as this on a range of topics you can see why.

The key recommendations Lifehacker pulls out are:

Think progress, not perfection
Set up a scheduled review
Conquer huge backlogs with a DMZ or half-life approach
Make it into a geeky game
Utilize public shame
Use a timer
Pick only one actual resolution
Create a reminder network
Distract yourself at the moment of temptation
Roll 12 habits into one resolution

It's possible that the priority of these could change from person-to-person, but it's a good list. Do have a read of the main article, as it includes commentary on each.

Interesting that there isn't anything specific on setting direction: I guess this assumes you already know the direction and is all about how to stick at the actions needed to get there.

B. Web Worker Daily - "For the New Year: A Success Toolkit"

http://webworkerdaily.com/2010/01/04/for-2010-a-success-toolkit/

Another New Year Resolution-focussed article, this one covers:

Attention to small steps
Discipline
Having a destination in mind
Constantly switching from big picture to small picture
Support
Leaving behind limiting beliefs
Encompassing valued traits
Appreciation

Some similar themes, although I think I actually like this list slightly more than the Lifehacker one.

Both #1's ("Attention to small steps" and "Think progress, not perfection") are related, and I do think this is key to achieving real change: long-term goals are important for setting direction (see point #3 above), but it's the smaller changes that are easier to see progress, easier to stick to and often most surprisingly effective. These are then supported by

For more on discipline and commitment, also take a look at the following article on the Small Business Branding blog: http://www.smallbusinessbranding.com/1789/will-you-harness-these-two-important-aspects-of-success-this-year/

C. Adam Khoo - "Achieve Your Goals & Change Your Life in 2010"

This article looks at the common stumbling blocks and how to overcome them:

Reason #1 Vague, Unspecific Goals;
Solution: Get Clear on What You Want
Reason #2: Lack of Consistent Focus;
Solution: Focus on What You Want Daily
Reason #3: Interest But Not a Commitment;
Solution: Make a Public Commitment
Reason #4: Lack of Personal Power;
Solution: Take Charge of Your Mind and Take Action

#1 - Getting Clear On What You Want - is a very common "starting point": how can you make progress if you don't know where you're going? Of course, you could just pick up some "standard" goals and direction to get you started whilst you're working out your real destination, but I agree that having a clear view on the end game is important. This is the same as #3 in Web Daily Worker's list.

#2 Focus on What you Want Daily - appears to be one of the most important ones to me. #2 on Lifehacker's list - the scheduled review - links to Benjamin Franklin's approach (http://www.flamebright.com/PTPages/Benjamin.asp), and is an approach that Og Mandino advocates in his books. It's also something I am doing with my "daily rubbish" and "daily reflection" posts: "Big Plans, Small Actions, Lots on the Way..." to read more about the overall routine, and "Daily Reflection Template" for more on the daily reflection.

#3 is all about getting others to hold you to account, which supports Lifehacker's #5 (Use Public Shame) and Web Daily Worker's #5 (Support).

#4 is more about personal beliefs and values, taking charge and taking action, which links to Daily Web Worker's #6 and #7.

D. A few more great blog lists

Finally, here are a few more lists of "best of" blog posts that will help support in all of the areas explored by the posts above.

D-1: Lyved posts that will help your 2010 resolutions:
http://www.lyved.com/misc/lyved-posts-that-will-help-your-2010-resolutions/
D-2: Essential Zen Habits of 2009:
http://zenhabits.net/2009/12/essential-2009/#more-5216
D-3: Steve Pavlina's personal development articles archive:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/
D-3: PluginID 5 Lessons I Won't Forget from 2009:
http://www.pluginid.com/lessons-from-2009/

What are you doing to stick to your resolutions today?

New Year Is an Awesome Time Of Year For Inspiration

2010-01-05T23:19:00.002Z

New Year is a time for reflection, for review, for considering what went well in the last year, what could have gone better and what you're going to do differently this year.

As a result, you get loads of people writing interesting and often inspirational articles on their blogs and websites and in newspapers and magazines.

There are almost too many articles and ideas flying about to know where to start - so it's also important to avoid information overload and to avoid going into analysis paralysis, resulting in you never writing anything because there's so much you want to do, so many unfinished articles, how could you possibly get through them all?

So you will see a theme forming here...

Act now.

Write stuff now. It doesn't matter what, just write.

And keep a list of all those great sites you want to comment on. You don't need to do them all today. Maybe you'll be in the mood at some point and do a load of them. Maybe you won't, but don't let that stop you from tackling at least some of them.

Why You Don't Need Inspiration To Write

2010-01-05T23:05:00.003Z

It's easy to write.

It's also easy to publish.

The challenge is writing something that's good.

Writer's block doesn't exist

You can write about anything. There's no such thing as writer's block.

The thing that holds writers back when they see a blank sheet of paper is not a lack of things to write about - it's fear.

This fear is all about how good the writing will be. We don't want to waste our time. We have an idea of the "shape" of the words in our heads, and are afraid that it won't come up as we envisage it when we actually put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

That's exactly what these daily rubbish posts are about. It's about just writing. I may not be particularly happy with all of the output. It's not as polished and well structured as I'd like it to be, but at least it's tangible output. At least I'm writing. Eventually I'll write something that's good. Even the stuff that I'm not as happy with may help someone. That can't be a bad thing.

Just as I was writing about it...

I stumbled across this post by Scott Berkun: http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/54-writing-hacks-part-1-starting/

The message is absolutely in line with my thoughts, and he provides a set of specific "hacks" for overcoming writing block - and just starting writing. You can read his post for details, but on a high level these hacks are:

Start with a word
Write about how it feels not to be able to write
Have a conversation
Read something you hate
Warm up
Make lists
Switch to something harder
Run like hell
Whiskey
Rummage your scrap pile

Writing something "good" is different

Well, kind of.

It takes time - and in my experience it helps to define the structure up-front.

It also takes a number of iterations - whereas just writing to "get into a flow", you just write it once.

I could go back and re-write big chunks of this post, but I'm not going to, because it defeats the object of what I'm trying to achieve.

Some day I may come back and write a new post, with better structure and more polished words on this topic. But at least this is out there. At least I've done some writing. It's progress, it's learning, it's useful for me and for you.

Even with structure you need to do unstructured writing

Even if you are trying to write something that's "better", when you have the structure you need to fill that structure with words. Doing this requires more open, free writing like this, followed by several reviews, revisions and iterations to make it better until it's write.

Therefore, these "hacks" are just as applicable if you're a perfectionist as if you're not. The reality is, if you're too much of a perfectionist you'll never write anything and never get anything posted. However, if you're a perfectionist who understands this process, you will be comfortable to write rubbish the first few times and to shape and craft the words into what you want them to be.

Anyone Tried Bookmarking Demon?

2010-01-03T10:20:00.003Z

I have a small site that I've been using to test out some affiliate marketing campaigns on but it's currently heavily dependent on Google clicks and is therefore not very profitable (I've made a profit of just over £100 in 5 months - although considering I've only spent about a day working on it, this isn't too bad as a first-time experiment).

I have been thinking about giving Bookmarking Demon a go to increase the amount of "organic" (i.e. non-PPC) traffic I receive. Has anyone given this a go before me?

I'll write up my thoughts on the product once I've tried it out. It's one of those products that you hear a lot about online but it is an affiliate product itself so it could all just be hype to get you to buy it...

Is Just Setting Goals Enough?

2010-01-02T10:30:00.002Z

If you're a strong believer in the "Law of Attraction", maybe just setting Goals is enough to start making progress towards the achievement of your aspirations (read more on Wikipedia here, or on Steve Pavlina's blog here).

However, this is rarely enough.

For starters, just setting your goals doesn't actually move you much closer to them. Even if you just live by the "law of attraction", you'll need to continuously re-enforce your belief in your ability to achieve the goals, by regularly reviewing them and/or using techniques like daily affirmations. Steve Pavlina advocates the use of a "belief board" for this.

Furthermore, even advocates of the "Laws of Attraction" are quick to highlight why goal setting alone fails: http://darrenhardy.success.com/2009/12/db10-why-pt1/.

In summary, you need to use your goals to create plans, and execute those plans through action.

If you already have a routine of setting yourself to-do lists, of forward planning and actually successfully completing the tasks you've set yourself, then maybe just formalising your goals and reviewing them regularly will be enough: through regularly review, your thoughts and actions will start to align to these goals and you will progress towards them.

However, if you don't have a good track record of forward planning, you're going to need to use your goals to work out a plan going forwards. What do you need to do to achieve your goals? How can you break these things down into smaller steps? Do you need to do some things before others? What is the first thing you need to do? When will you do it?

The great thing is, as with everything, even small changes can have a massive impact if they're consistently applied.

For example, if you get into a routine of setting yourself a small to-do list on a daily basis (e.g. 3-5 achievable things that, if completed, will give you a sense of success at the end of the day) and combine this with the regular review of your goals, you will find yourself making immediate progress. By combining these tasks, your to-do list will align with your goals, so small actions taken on a daily basis will make small steps towards your longer-term goals. Regular reflection on achievements made against these small tasks will also create a feeling of success that will spur you on to continue with your routine, encouraging you to do more and more.

These small steps all add up - and the sooner you start, the sooner you'll notice results. So if you haven't started already, start now! I promise you won't regret it!

Don't Ask Too Many People First...

2010-01-01T20:42:00.004Z

Ever had a really great idea, that you're sure will work, but are concerned people won't agree with it or it could get you in trouble if it doesn't pay off?

It could be that you're concerned that by doing it you're going to make someone else look bad because it should really be them doing it?

Point 2 in the following post is titled "More work. Less talk." http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2009/11/20/9-life-lessons-i-have-learned-from-blogging/

It says:

"...don’t fall into the trap of talking a lot about what you are about to do. I have found that this just makes it harder to do it. And it can get you stuck in analysis paralysis mode for months as you argue about stuff that is probably irrelevant with other people or just in your own head. Plus, you don’t know much until you do and get some real experience.

So just do stuff. Learn from your failures. Do again.

A week of good work is worth more than a trillion theories that are never put into practice."

Just do it

It is often important to ensure certain people are on board with, or at least aware of, your plans before you go ahead with them.

However, sometimes you're better off just getting on with things and doing whatever it is you want to do.

Sometimes the element of surprise actually works in your favour and you avoid any resistance because it's a success before anyone can put a stop to it - and it's difficult to argue with an established success.

I've been in situations where people have advised strongly against something just because they don't believe I can pull it off - but often these are the most satisfying successes when you get to prove people wrong!

Don't let "asking for permission" be an excuse to procrastinate. If you know it's the right thing to do, just do it!

The Secret To Financial Success?

2009-12-31T14:17:00.004Z

Is there a secret to financial success?

One point stood out to me in the following article: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/195915_the-secret-that-only-rich-people-know

It's the first "secret", which I felt made an interesting point that does make a lot of sense when you think about it.

Multiple Income Streams

Here's the paragraph:

"The first part of the secret that only rich people know is the setting up of multiple income streams. Not just two or three, but as many as they can find that will allow them to have an accumulated income that will create the substantial amount of money"

Multiple income streams.

Even if each income stream doesn't generate much, if you have enough of them, it could add up to a substantial amount of money.

It also means you have more to fall back on: if one fails, you still have other income streams working for you, whereas if you have only one job and you lose it, you face a much bigger challenge.

Not the only way

It's clearly not the only way: there are many people who have made it with only one income stream, one job at a time, working their way forwards.

However, most of the "famous" entrepreneurs you're likely to hear of do have multiple income streams. In some cases that means multiple companies, in some cases it is that their company has entered multiple markets. In some cases it even means they have one main day job plus various other "side" channels to generating income such as books, advertising appearances, public speaking...

It also rings true with the "passive income" concept that a lot of affiliate marketers are pushing: lots of small sites targeting small niches, on their own don't provide a significant income, but together can generate a solid income.

How many income streams do you have?

If You're New, Shut Up and Listen

2009-12-30T22:39:00.003Z

Ever started a new job or joined a new group and wanted to make the "right" impression?

Ever felt you needed to say something, even if it's just to be heard?

Don't

A number of times I've seen people say completely irrelevant and stupid things in front of people they really don't want to be making a fool of themselves in front of, just because they felt they needed to "make an impression".

Trust me, first impressions count - and being a bit quiet is better than being a bit stupid.

Listen

The best way you ensure you say the right thing is to listen first.

Make sure you say things that are relevant and useful: the only way you can do this is to understand the context, the needs of the people involved in the conversation, and to respond accordingly.

I don't mean to be patronising

I guess this post is really aimed at new graduates and people with limited experience who have just joined a new job - and I hope if you're in this category and you read this it's of some help to you.

However, I also know the feeling myself - the need to "make an impression" - and it can actually get stronger the more senior you get. How do you establish yourself as the "expert", the "experienced" one with a new client?

If you're new to a project or client or company, remember to take it easy, shut up and listen first.

It can even be the clearest demonstration of experience there is anyway.

How to Use Meetings To Drive Progress and Success

2009-12-30T08:47:00.003Z

This is a very simple technique that can massively increase your productivity.

I noticed early in my career that I am motivated by deadlines and the drive to avoid any failure to meet those deadlines. However, that fear was not a fear of missing an arbitrary date, rather it was the fear of letting someone else down or disappointing someone in not delivering for them when I said I would.

This is a common driver. If we commit to doing something for someone, it increases our own drive to complete the task that we have committed to and therefore increases our chance of success.

The technique

The technique is very simple: if you need to get something done, book a meeting with someone with a vested interest in whatever that something is, for a specific time in the near future, to review either the output of the completed task (e.g. the deliverable) or progress towards its delivery.

Ideally, this time that you book the meeting should leave plenty of space before the overall "deadline", to provide you with time to make any updates you need to following this meeting. e.g. if you need to deliver something in two weeks time, try booking the meeting for one week's time.

Often, the tighter the deadline the better. It creates a sense of urgency for yourself and the pressure can often drive you to produce a better output quicker. It's better to finish early than to leave things to the last minute and rush something out, that could be either incomplete or not quite right (partly because you didn't consult with whoever you are doing the task for in time).

The more respect that you have for the individual you book the meeting with the better, particularly if you really care what they think of you. You need to care enough for it to get you to work.

I often find that I repeat this a number of times before I deliver something. It's common to take an iterative approach to the development, review and approval of deliverables for clients but I use this technique for more than just formal "deliverables": it can be applied to all kinds of tasks at work and at home.

Why it works

There are various reasons why this simple technique works:

It provides us with a tighter timescale to work to, increasing our chances of getting it done sooner and decreasing the risk of missing our deadlines
It creates a feeling of urgency, making us act now instead of putting it off "because we have time"
It sets expectations with someone whose opinion we care about, increasing the stakes for success and failure
It gives us more time, enabling us to increase the quality of our output or to get it done earlier
It gives us a chance to get input early, to be able to adjust our approach so we can "get it right" based on people's feedback

It still depends on you

However, it still depends on you taking action:

Choosing a date that will push you to get the job done quicker
Choosing the right person to attend the meeting to increase your drive to succeed
Actually following through to (1) getting the work done and (2) actually run the meeting when you said you'd run it (i.e. never postpone - it's better to go in there less prepared but still get the input/support/guidance - or less positive feedback - than to postpone and risk missing out on valuable feedback or reduce the amount of effort you put in so that you increase your risks of missing the overall deadline)

Avoiding Goal Overkill

2009-12-29T23:57:00.005Z

Goals are important, but are of little value without action to achieve them.

In the intro for Og Mandino's book The Greatest Secret in the World, he does include the standard initial "goal setting" part to the personal development process - but it is far briefer than usual.

The interesting (and very good) thing about the focus of this book is that it is all about replacing bad habits with good ones and living certain principles, not on prescribed methodologies for goal setting etc.

A very, very short goal-setting exercise

The intro that is provided to this exercise is:

"Now, I'm not going to ask you what you want from life. I'm not going to ask you to list your assets as they are now and then make a second list showing what you'd like them to be a year from now, five years from now... and so on. We don't need to go through all that "pipe dream success bookkeeping" you find in most self-help books."

Any of the above sound familiar from other self-help books you've read?

The four things this short exercise asks for:

Present job title
Present weekly income
Job title, 45 weeks from now
Weekly income, 45 weeks from now

The reason it's so short is also explained:

"...If you have improved your job title and your weekly income as much as I think you've indicated on that private memo to yourself then all the material things you want will come your way."

Goals are still important

The interesting thing is, one of the scrolls places a fair amount of emphasis on setting goals. The difference is, rather than asking the reader to spend loads of time on it, it is emphasised as being a core part of how you should live your life. A regular activity, setting clear goals to achieve on a short and long term basis.

We do live our lives by our habits and principles. They guide the decisions we make and actions we take every day.

Likewise, goal setting should be just something we do, not a big one-off exercise we do to pretend that we're going to do something about our aspirations.

Posting Now, Not Later

2009-12-29T23:28:00.002Z

Holding back content can sometimes be a great way to ensure maintained, regular, consistent communication.

If you have a surplus of content, it can be good to hold some of it back to use at a later date, for a number of reasons including:

Keeping the "level" of communication consistent
Ensuring the frequency of communication is consistent (reducing the risk of lack of time)
Avoiding blocking the creative process for the purpose of keeping to a schedule
Enabling better forward planning for the release of content

Why this sometimes doesn't work

It really depends on what you're trying to achieve with a blog or website.

If you are building a community, you will want to ensure there are regular, consistent, heartbeat articles or other comms along with the more significant posts: it keeps people coming back based on consistent expectations.

However, in the case of this blog I am partly doing it for myself. I want to drive myself to reflect and write daily, to improve myself. Whilst I always hope that the articles are of good use to others, I am doing this largely for myself.

As a result, if I am particularly productive on a particular day, I will post the content, even if I could save it to a later day. Some articles will take longer to write anyway, but the shorter ones (like this one), will be posted as soon as I've written them. This way, I will not be tempted to "skip" a day by using content I've written in the past.

Again, the purpose of the "daily rubbish" posts was to ensure I write something, even if it's not particularly high quality - it is to push myself to author content.

Do you hold back content or do you always post it straight away? Which strategy makes the most sense to you?

A Few Success Tracker Tools (available online)

2009-12-29T23:20:00.005Z

I've started using this blog as a way to track my personal development progress.

Og Mandino provides another type of success tracker in his book "The Greatest Secret in the World", as mentioned in this post: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2009/12/greatest-personal-development-books-in.html

There are various similar trackers on the web, but most of them seem to be all about tracking weight loss!

As I've found another couple of examples I thought it would be worth sharing them here:

A Fantastic Year (2009)

2009-12-29T22:09:00.006Z

How awesome has your year been?

It's great to look back at the positives from the past few months to remind yourself how far you've come.

Have you sat back and really thought about it?

Off the top of my head, here are some of the great events and achievements of the year:

Got married! Fantastic wedding - lots of family and friends, went really well, both of us really enjoyed it.
Fantastic honeymoon! Two weeks in Jamaica - great hotel, delicious food, lots of really good, fun excursions.
Awesome new bathroom! Including a great power shower. After three years of suffering the old shower, it's brilliant.
My wife got a new car! It's taken a while to get there, but we got the car she wanted and is very happy with it.
Massive success at work! I'm particularly happy to have successfully managed the delivery of a very big (and very challenging) enterprise architecture project for a major telco. Very hard work but well worth the pain - learnt a lot and it was a massive success.
Started this blog! More to the point - started putting some real structure around my personal development efforts (this blog is only one small part of it), and am already seeing some great results.

We also built bridges with some people who we had not been too close to recently, got back in touch with loads of old friends and have had some fun looking into plans for the future following our marriage. It's been great!

It's still important to look at areas for improvement...

More time at home! I've been spending a lot of time working away from home recently due to my current assignment - not great for a recently married man. Worth it for the assignment, but I need to redress that work/life balance.
More exercise and better diet! i.e. any exercise at all would be a good starting point, as the past few months have been very unhealthy. Being away from home so much means lots of meals that are bought for convenient rather than health value but there is always time to do better.
More effort on our social life! It's actually been a good year socially, but it still could have been a *lot* better. A lot of the social improvements this year have been one-off events putting us back in touch with old friends, plus my social life has been far better at work as well. The main thing for me will be a better and more regular social life at home and with my wife.
Environmental improvements! e.g. even small efforts at home that will make a big difference over time (e.g. maintenance efforts on the house, the cars etc.) Also more efforts on more general environmental improvements (recycling etc.)

A lot more good than bad

There are more areas for improvement that I am going to work into a real action plan - but the key thing for this post is actually the focus on the positives.

Whilst there are areas for improvement, look at the successes!

It should also be noted that even in the areas for improvement, we have made progress against them this year already - we just need to do a lot more.

How has your year been?

Everything Is a Project

2009-12-29T21:56:00.004Z

It's true - but what does it mean?

It mean that we can create the structure in our own lives to drive forwards constant progress.

It also means that discipline and structured action are key to success.

Scott Berkun on the subject...

Scott Berkun wrote a brief blog post on this here: http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2009/everything-is-a-project/

I read his book, The Art of Project Management (Theory in Practice (O'Reilly)), a few years back and thought it was great - and recommend having a browse of the essays on his blog too as there are some gems there that are very worth reading.

What makes a great article?

Some of the greatest articles I've read aren't that long at all - they just have one or two key concepts or principles that have changed my perspective, made me think a little differently or in some cases provided me with an idea or pushed me to change something that has transformed the way I do things.

It's pretty much common sense though, right?

Whilst I've always really known that "everything is a project", it's sometimes good to be reminded of that fact. It helps re-assure me that the way that I approach things is right and that's why it so often works - and when things don't go so well it's probably because I'm just not applying the principles that I so often advocate.

Can you think of anything that isn't a project?

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

The Greatest Personal Development Books In The World?...

2009-12-28T22:11:00.005Z

For Christmas I had the good fortune to receive two self-help books written by Og Mandino: The Greatest Salesman in the World and The Greatest Secret in the World.

The Greatest Salesman in the World

The first book is a small (A5-ish size), 89-page book, that presents the story of how a humble camel boy rose to become the greatest salesman in the world by following the instructions in the Ten Scrolls for Success (also included in the book).

Despite its length, this is a great little book.

The story surrounding the scrolls is entertaining and lightly written to provide context and maintain interest. There are some Christian themes that will add to its poignancy if you are religious but the messages are not over-bearing and you won't need to be religious to get something out of this book.

It's written in fairly "old style", but the truth in the words is instantly recognisable. The basic concept is that if you read the scrolls three times daily they will become part of your conscious and unconscious thoughts.

There is a bit more to it than the description above and the first scroll explains how they should be read and used. Of course, the challenge with anything like this is actually sticking to a new routine like this...

...which is where the next book comes in...

The Greatest Secret in the World

This is the follow-on to the The Greatest Salesman in the World, and provides a structure to help actually follow the lessons of that book day-by-day.

It contains the same "Scrolls For Success" as the previous book, but the context is more "practical" and aimed towards helping you "stick to the program".

The key tool it provides is a "success recorder" and instructions on how to use it. The success recorder is to be used on a daily basis to track progress and as a way to ensure the instructions the scrolls outline are followed.

Why buy both though?

Admittedly, the majority of the real content is the same in both books so some might argue that you're better off just getting either one or the other.

I personally found the story in the first book worth reading cover-to-cover, whilst the second book is more of a practical step-by-step guide to follow as prescribed; not as entertaining, but worth it for clear instructions on how to "put it into practice".

One or the other or both are well recommended if you don't mind the slightly old-style English used though.

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

Create Lots of Little Successes To Maintain Momentum

2009-12-27T11:19:00.003Z

The most common cause for failing to finish a task or a programme of activity is due to a lack of visible results.

This is the same reason people often don't stick to things. If we can't see the benefits - and right now - why carry on? Surely it's a sign that it's not working?

However, the minute you can see any tangible benefit from an activity interest picks up again.

The trick is to create lots of little successes that maintain interest and momentum. These "successes" can still be fairly intangible: it's all about "creating" them in the right way.

Breaking it down

Creating the feeling of success can be fairly easy - although it's largely down to creating the perception of success, i.e. convincing yourself and others that whatever it is you're doing is going well, based on "evidence" you've gathered as you've progressed.

A few simple steps to follow to help with this:

Break the task down into smaller bits
Work out how you will know when you have completed one of these bits
See every bit of progress as a mini-success. It is all a step in the right direction.
Reflect on progress regularly. Look at what you have done and achieved. Tell people about it!

It may seem like common sense, but if you have a seemingly massive task that you are tackling, it's really worth taking a step back and thinking about how to break it down and what checkpoints you will review progress at along the way. Do give it a go - it really works!

Week-By-Week Personal Development Plan

2009-12-25T23:40:00.004Z

Sometimes it's easier to just use a plan that someone else has made rather than coming up with our own from scratch - especially if we're doing something for the first time - and then it's always easier to build our own plans if it's something we've done before and are familiar with.

How about this for a nineteen-week step-by-step personal development plan to get you started: http://personaldevelopment.suite101.com/article.cfm/personal_development_program_building_awareness

There's a load of extra info behind each and every week, including extra supporting material here: http://www.suite101.com/blog/coachjerry/sample_personal_development_program

If you've had a go at following this plan, I'd be very interested to hear how it went. What worked? What didn't? Did you find it balanced enough? What would you do differently, were you to do it again?

Merry Christmas 2009!

2009-12-25T10:42:00.002Z

A very brief post today, as I am spending the day with family (the in-laws for lunch and my side of the family in the evening).

Keeping focus

My message for today is about keeping focus.

Focus is key to success, to driving forwards progress in the direction you want to.

However, remember that you must choose the right thing to focus on to be successful.

Success is not just about financial rewards.

Today my focus is on friends and family. I will focus on this completely and will not think about work or anything else.

This is the right focus for today. Without focus, I will not be successful. In same way, if I am distracted by work and consumed by thoughts of activities to succeed in a financial or material way, I will never truly be happy, because relationships are as important if not more important to happiness.

Have a great Christmas.

We Have Complete Control Over What Success Is

2009-12-24T10:53:00.003Z

The following article suggests that "All situations that are mutually beneficial define Success":

http://website101.com/goal-setting/define-success/

Whilst I do agree that mutually beneficial scenarios are generally successful from my perspective, what this seems to miss is that we define our own successes.

They are successful to me because I believe them to be successful.

i.e. to some people, if they "win" and others "lose", this is success to them.

In the long term, win-win scenarios are generally better because it usually leads to building a relationship with the other person involved in an interaction, leading to future successes that make the initial success even more pivotal - but "success" is a subjective thing.

It's all down to our perception of a situation.

The great thing is, we have control over our own perception of success. If we enter a negotiation or interaction with a conscious decision on what a successful outcome will look like, as long as we define it in the right way, we will be able to achieve it.

The conscious choice is how we take control of our own lives.

Make it your choice for your life to be a success and you can make it that way.

Christmas Eve, 2009

2009-12-24T10:36:00.002Z

Merry the-day-before-Christmas!

It's a time for giving, so an article like the following fits quite nicely: http://www.successful-blog.com/1/15-ways-to-help-the-people-in-your-business-and-your-life/

Even if you're not religious, Christmas is a great time where people are generally that bit nicer to each other, a bit more positive and happy, and give presents to one-another.

If we could keep that mindset of thinking of others before ourselves and giving not taking (and at Christmas not just thinking about what we're going to receive and the inevitable food and drink), the world would be a better place.

The more you give, the more people will give you back - and the more genuinely you do it, the better the results. i.e. if you're a genuinely nice person, who gives without expecting to receive, you will get what you deserve in return, even if it doesn't appear in the way you expected it or when you expected it.

So - give to give, not to receive, and enjoy the act of giving. Anything you get in return will just be a bonus on top.

Daily Rubbish: a lesson - 23rd Dec

2009-12-24T08:38:00.002Z

Three days in to my daily routine, and yesterday I didn't post a "daily rubbish" article.

Ok, so it was the day before Christmas Eve, but the whole point of this routine is that I don't ever miss a day, no matter how busy I am, even if the post is a bit pointless.

There will be another, separate daily rubbish post for today. This is the post to replace yesterday's post.

What I did wrong

#1 error was trying to make the article too good.

The whole point of having the word "rubbish" in the title of my daily rubbish posts, is that they can be completely rubbish, it's just a structure to make sure I do it. Even if I write a post saying "sorry, I don't have enough time to post anything good - here's a link to something else to read that I found useful..." - that would be better than nothing.

I now have another half-finished post, that I'm not happy to post just yet so will not form one of my "daily rubbish" posts.

I will not miss another day.

It made me think about personal development writers in general...

...and how the one thing that often irritates me is the "holier than thou" writing style.

I am not better than you, I am just different. I am better at some thing and not as good at others. This is always going to be true, and if I start becoming too preachy I need to look at my life and realise that even if things are great that is no reason to think that it's better than anyone else's. I am still learning and will continue to learn and that is one of the best things about the journey.

Maybe there's an idea in this for a "proper" article in the future...

Capability vs. Experience: Does Age Matter?

2009-12-22T10:23:00.007Z

There's a good list of "lessons learned" over on the Symbolics blog here:
http://symbolics.com/birthday-i-turn-30-today-30-lessons-ive-learned-in-life-and-business/

However, for today's "daily rubbish" post, I'm not discussing any of these lessons learned. Instead, I've actually picked up on something in one of the comments below the post: "You have wisdom way beyond your years..."

What's more valuable: capability or experience?

I've been fortunate enough to work for people who have given me the chance to stretch myself and work in positions far beyond those that would normally be expected of someone at those points in my career. For example, within two years of graduating I worked in a "Global Head of" position for a specialist UK-based consultancy.

These "sink or swim" scenarios are always risky, but with the right support and guidance I've always swam.

Many people who are just as capable may never get these opportunities because they "don't have the experience". It takes a good manager to have the courage to create these opportunities for people and to manage them through the roles, providing them with enough rope to hang themselves but always having a chair at the ready to stabilise them.

Experience is still key

You can't beat experience for learning lessons. No matter how capable you are, if you have zero experience, you're going to struggle. We base our actions based on reference points from past experiences, and without those reference points we will struggle.

However, the value of experience is in its application. If you don't actually apply the lessons you've learned - by repeating successes and avoiding repeated failures - your experience is worthless. This is why there are many people who are very experienced but still don't make any headway.

Likewise, the value of experience without capability is far lower than capability with limited experience. If you've experienced lots of things but can't do anything new or better based on those things, what value is that experience?

Conversely, if you are highly capable but have little experience, the contributions you can provide will be valuable, and the value you can provide will increase all the time because with everything you do, you will gain experience.

Some experience can be learned

There are many mistakes I have avoided, and many times I have been able to make sound decisions and talk authoritatively about what should be done, not through first-hand experience, but though things I have learned.

The key sources of learning are:

More experienced people - especially more experienced people telling stories. Some people find it irritating when people keep recounting things they've done in the past. I recommend you listen before criticising, you might pick something up!
Reading! - books, blogs, magazines, project reports... whatever works for you. Reading about other people's approaches, both academic methodologies and "real" case studies, is a great way to find out about how others have approached the same challenges that you are currently facing, the pitfalls to avoid and key things to do to succeed.
Other people's mistakes - which can be picked up both through the above two sources, and from encountering them first-hand. It's far better to learn through other's mistakes than your own, and through reading you can pick up far more lessons than you would be able to through your own experience (because experiencing things takes time and opportunity!)
Your own experiences - this is an obvious one, but it's still one of the most important. The above are all ways to fast-track learning, but your own experiences will stay with you and can be far more effective than the others. It may be more painful, but if you make a mistake, you're far more likely to remember to avoid it in the future (especially if it was particularly painful to resolve).

The key thing with all the above though, is to listen and think about how to apply the lessons you pick up.

With your own experiences in particular, it is important to recognise if you have made a mistake and address it rather than pretending it wasn't your fault - because you will risk repeating it, which is never a good thing to do.

Meritocracy hypocricy

The real challenge to all of this is when it's applied to real work environments.

There is a common perception that experience brings wisdom and greater capability - and the reality is that that generalisation is often right.

The problem is how to deal with when the perception is wrong.

Some companies like to think that they run a meritocracy (promotion through merit and achievement rather than time in post), but when people are involved in the review process emotions get involved and this often cannot occur.

The thing that really gets to me is when someone who has been promoted quickly due to their achievements ("fast-tracked"), doesn't share the same views as those who got them there and holds back others from the same opportunities. I've experienced this a few times over the years (fortunately only affecting me once), and I can see how frustrating it is for the individual.

Of course, the other side to this is where ambition clouds someone's judgement, making them think they should be promoted and thinking that they are looking at it "objectively", when in fact they are not.

In my case, I got around this a couple of times by accepting a more senior position early without the associated promotion/pay-rise/bonus/etc, proving I could do the job well then getting promoted off the back of the clear and irrefutable success. It's sometimes difficult to do this, performing a job where you know you should be paid a lot more than you are being paid, but the patience can pay off and result in a much more rapid progression as a result.

It's a tricky one

Ultimately, the whole thing comes down to human being striving to achieve and the difficulties that management face in taking risks and providing opportunities without over-exposing themselves, and the constant balance people need to strike in trying to fulfil their ambitions without becoming overly arrogant or over-stretching themselves.

The key thing that has always kept me going is keeping a focus on doing the best job in the most interesting and challenging roles I can (and if I'm given a dull role looking for ways to create opportunities, make it more interesting to drive more value, or doing extra stuff around the sides), and also keeping a focus on learning and developing rather than on the next promotion.

By focussing on how to help and drive benefit and success, you're far more likely to achieve the associated financial and status benefits than if you focus on the promotion and do everything cynically out of a desire to progress your career.

What Everyone In Life Strives For

2009-12-20T13:35:00.000Z

There are some things in life that almost everyone wants to achieve or do better.

There is great demand for help with these things: so both an opportunity to give and potential commercial opportunities.

What are these things?

The list below is a starting point, adapted from a list of categories that I found on a site selling self-help packages.

In each case you can also add to the end of the sentence words like quicker, better, for longer etc.

How can I get fitter / healthier?
How can I learn faster?
How can I improve my memory?
How can I boost energy?
How can I generate genius ideas?
How can I reduce anxiety?
How can I control my dreams?
How can I quit [smoking, eating, and other habits]?
How can I reduce pain?
How can I sleep more soundly?
How can I meditate deeply?
How can I change mental states?
How can I access altered states?

Do any of these ring true with you?

Are there any you would add?

BTW - the site I found the initlal list on was: http://www.lifetools.com/. I can't comment on the quality of the products they sell, I just found their categories useful! If anyone has tried any of their products I would be interested to hear what they think though...

Concrete Goals Tracker

2009-12-20T13:10:00.000Z

This post covers:

- The "Concrete Goals Tracker" tool

- The standard "concrete goals" and their priorities / scores

- A few minor criticisms

- Why it's still a brilliant idea

The "Concrete Goals Tracker" tool

A great tool from David Shea, published nearly a year ago (but stumbled across by me more recently): http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/concrete-goals-tracker-updates/

The key thing of interest that this raised for me was the question of turning goals into "concrete" things. This is always an interesting challenge that I spend a lot of time on (defining performance measures, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and so on are something many people in business get extremely hung up on - often without really stopping to think about why they're doing it in the first place).

The standard "concrete goals" and their priorities / scores

This goals tracker has a standard set of principles used to "score" activities you've completed based on which goals they have contributed towards. You can come up with your own list, but David's standard list is:

10 points - It's life-sustaining, billable work!

10 points - It's signing new business!

5 points - It's publishable code! Ship it!

5 points - It's sharp visual design! Show it!

5 points - It's concrete planning or accounting!

2 points - It's new self-promotion!

2 points - It's a new article for the blog!

2 points - It's social or business development!

1 point - It's maintaining an old relationship!

1 point - It's making a new relationship!

A few minor criticisms

Ok, so first, some of these clearly aren't relevant to everyone. I've not written any code in years and do not run software delivery projects, so anything about publishing code isn't really relevant for me.

Likewise, I'm not totally sure about the level of priority. As a consultant, building new relationships is a very important activity to me, and something I often don't place enough focus on, so I might bump this a bit higher on my list.

Finally, it doesn't cover all of the bases i.e. it's very much work-focussed. I think this is actually the right thing to do if it's something that you're using purely for managing tasks at work, but if you're setting your life principles, I'd at least expect something in there about your health (which again, is something I often miss off because I'm too focussed on work - so I'm raising it because I know it's something I often fail on!)

It's a brilliant idea

All of the criticisms above kind of miss the point though.

David makes it clear that you can tweak this tool to your own needs.

The key concept is: first work out your priorities, then on a regular basis, make sure that whenever you do a task you think about how that task aligns to your goals.

This provides a way of: aligning your daily activities to your longer-term goals; tracking progress against your longer-term goals; highlighting how well you're doing to cut out tasks you keep doing that aren't well enough aligned, or make decisions on things you could do instead of the things you normally do, in order to make more progress.

BTW - this is the very first of my "Daily Rubbish" posts. Hope you enjoyed it!

Big plans, small actions - lots of little updates on the way...

2009-12-20T12:42:00.002Z

Starting today, I am going to use this blog in a very different way.

The new structures that I will use are going to transform the level of activity on this blog and what I will achieve from it. It will also mean that the content will be far more personal.

The basic structures that I will be rolling out are:

1. Daily rubbish post

2. Daily reflection

3. Monthly detailed review

This is a post of intent. The first structure will be implemented from today. The second will be implemented over the next couple of weeks (once I have decided on a standard format for it), and the last one will start from the end of December 2009 - i.e. the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Not that the timing is particularly significant - the important thing is that I start as soon as possible.

When I first setup this blog, I had big plans for loads of useful articles that I was going to write and share here. Those plans do still hold, but the way they're going to get here is going to be quite different.

I have decided to implement some of the principles that I use all the time at work (and that are the reason for my massive success at work), to drive real progress here.

The principles

Over the coming weeks and months I will publish posts explaining these techniques, but for now I'm going to focus on immediate action.

I am going to put in place a simple routine to make sure I post things, even if the posts don't have as much content as I would like, and use this to build momentum while I write the more in-depth articles that I always had in mind for this blog.

Taking this action is the important first step, and I use similar structures on every project that I work on to establish the "project heartbeat". It is used to create sustained momentum, continuous alignment with goals and regular communication across the team. I will explain more about these structures later. For now, this post will just provide an overview of the structure I am putting in place on this Blog.

1. Daily rubbish post

This is just a post for posting's sake. If I can't think of anything useful to post, I will just dig out a link to a good site I've used and write some words around it. The purpose is just to make me look back at this blog and do something about it.

Sometimes, just forcing a routine like this makes us take just enough time out to think, leading to the occasional gem of an idea or new innovation. Some of the posts may be rubbish, but who am I to say what's rubbish and not? Let's see what I come up with...

2. Daily reflection

We learn through reflection.

It's through looking back and asking ourselves questions that we ensure we repeat successes and avoid repeating mistakes. What went well that I would repeat? What could I have done better that I would change if I did it again?

This is also the point where we can bring in our goals. Have we achieved something against each of the areas of our lives that we want to achieve something against today?

I'm going to decide on a structure for capturing this over the next few days, and when I do, I will start posting a post a day where I will document my reflections.

This is going to make the blog far more personal than I originally intended, but will be a good way for me to (1) make sure I do reflect on a daily basis, and (2) create something that I can look back on.

I'm doing this for myself rather than for any audience, but I hope that readers of this blog could at least find the principle useful for themselves.

** UPDATE: On 16th January 2010 I stopped posting daily reflections to this blog. I still continue with this routine and all of the old posts are still available to access, but I am not publishing them here, as described in the following post: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2010/01/end-of-daily-reflections.html

3. Monthly detailed review

This will be an extended version of the daily reflection, looking at the achievements and areas for improvement from the previous month. Whilst the daily reflection will be short and sweet (to remove any excuses for me to not do it!) - this will be my chance to really think a bit more about what I set out to achieve at the beginning of the month and how far down that path I made it.

4. Everything else

And of course, this is only the basic routine that I will be following. I will continue to write and publish articles on wider topics. The routine should help ensure I keep bringing my focus back to this blog and delivering on the commitments I've made here.

An important final note

One thing I have made a conscious decision on that I would also like to make clear is: I am not a pro-blogger, and do not plan on becoming one.

i.e. I don't seek to create an income that is equal to or exceeds my main income through blogging.

This is something that I'm doing for two reasons:

(1) To give myself the structures to drive my own personal development (not the original intention of this blog, but it's what I'm going to be using it for from now on), and

(2) To create and share content that genuinely helps people. If I can share things that have helped me, then I hope it will be useful to others too.

I'm very keen to hear people's thoughts on this approach to using the blog and if they find any of my posts useful. Please do get in contact if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.

Ultimate Knowledge Management (KM) Resources List

2009-06-30T20:41:00.000+01:00

I spent over a year heading up a Knowledge Management department and in that time built up a list of some of the best KM resources on the web, which over the past few years I've referenced and shared with people numerous times at work.

This article groups the links into the following topic categories:

Knowledge Management Overviews
General KM sites and articles
KM Quick Wins
KM Business Cases
Knowledge Audits
KM Strategy
Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture
Operational and Continuously Improving KM
KM Books Lists
KM Books
KM White Papers and Research
KM training courses and certifications

Knowledge Management Overviews

Most of the following are PDF files that provide an excellent overview of KM approaches and techniques. Most of them provide useful diagrams and commentary around these techniques too.

General KM sites and articles

A few general KM sites and articles, including lists of tools and overview articles. David Gurteen's website provides a range of resources and is regularly updated with news on his travels. His monthly email newsletter often contains some interesting articles and links.

KM Quick Wins

Articles and essays on "guerrilla" KM tactics, driving quick wins with low funds or as a way to generate early support for a KM programme.

KM Business Cases

Various articles on KM benefits and building KM business cases.

Knowledge Audits

Approaches and structures for identifying existing knowledge assets and assessing the "maturity" of an organisation's KM capabilities.

KM Strategy

Different KM strategy types and how to develop KM strategies.

Developing a Knowledge Sharing Culture

Often the trickiest part of any knowledge management initiative, the culture of an organisation is critical to knowledge sharing.

Operational and Continuously Improving KM

Running KM processes operationally is very different to the up-front transformational effort required to put in place the foundations for KM. A lot of this is covered in some of the above overview articles, and the following cover some specific topics in this space.

KM Books Lists

KM Books

Some of the absolute classics (the Amazon reviews speak for themselves):

The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge
Learning to Fly by Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell
Communities of Practice by Etienne Wenger
The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid (Harvard)
The Knowledge-creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi (Oxford)
Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management (Harvard Business Review) - an excellent primer containing seminal essays
The Reflective Practitioner by Donald A. Schon

KM White Papers and Research

A few more academic papers and articles:

KM training courses and certifications

There are various KM training courses and certifications out there. Here are a few of the most well known ones:

The Importance Of Integrity

2009-06-28T20:19:00.000+01:00

Honesty and integrity are very important to me and the way I live my life. These basic principles have also often contributed to many of my successes, as by helping people and taking action in a way that is consistently positive and honest, people will often help you back.

There are a set of old blog posts in The Retrospector that focus particularly on integrity, which cover some great points:

Sometimes acting with integrity can be uncomfortable as it means openly facing your own failures, but by doing this in a positive way and working towards solutions, it does become increasingly easy to do and you will reap the rewards over time.

The issue of building trust through consistently acting based on a set of positive values is a strong theme in the book "The Trusted Advisor" (recommended in a previous post of mine), which goes into much more detail around a structured approach around this.

More Personal Development Categories

2009-06-28T19:42:00.001+01:00

In my post about developing balanced personal and career goals I listed a number of personal development categories from various sources: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2009/06/balanced-personal-and-career-goals.html

Over at http://www.inpowr.com/community/, they use the below list to categorise the different personal development community groups:

My body

Self-image
Relaxation
Nutrition
Sexuality
Energy
Appearance

My environment

Living
Transportation
Material
Neighbourhood
Workplace
Nature

My mind

Reasoning
Self-esteem
Perseverance
Culture
Security
Ambition

My spirit

Beliefs
Creativity
Peace
Reflection
Mood
Meaning

My relationships

Friendship
Love
Family
Recognition
Affirmation
Communication

My accomplishments

Finances
Altruism
Occupation
Leisure
Achievements
Planning

My view is that it is possible to over-do this kind of categorisation as it's just a tool to ensure we have coverage when setting goals, but it is useful to look at various different categorisation taxonomies and to choose the selection that works best for us.

Affiliate Marketing Awesomness

2009-06-28T19:03:00.000+01:00

Despite my slight skepticism about affiliate marketing, it's impossible to argue with the logic that it could *potentially* be a great way to make low-maintenance, "automatic" income, if you get it right.

The fact that you don't need to incur any costs around payment mechanisms, fulfilment etc and just basically need to drive qualified traffic to the relevant sites that converts into purchases, means that *in theory* it's a great way to make money. It could also absolutely fit the profile of the "muse"-type product that Tim Ferris recommends in his book, the Four-Day Work Week (although he isn't actually specifically talking about affiliate marketing in this book).

Of course, the reality is that it actually takes a lot of time and isn't as easy as it sounds, plus there are loads of affiliate schemes that are downright rubbish and to be avoided. However, the potential is there and I just stumbled across the following on slideshare that I found to be a reallygood overview affiliate marketing, why it's good and some pragmatic advice on making it work: http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/affiliate-marketing-2009-what-really-works-now-presentation

While I'm at it, the following includes a few good points too:http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article49608.html

How To Find Your Niche Market

2009-06-28T17:33:00.000+01:00

Finding a niche market that is large enough to be profitable, but is specialist enough that it is not saturated with too many competitors, is often a critical success factor for a business.

This post covers a few areas to steer clear of, some tips on identifying your existing niche, and how to find a new niche to break into.

If you are starting from scratch it is often a good idea to directly target a specific subset of a market (a niche), and if you decide to enter a wider market, in order to compete you will need something that will differentiate you from the competition (and this differentiation effectively creates your niche).

Niches to steer clear of

Put simply, any niche that is too small or where the population of the niche has little or no money, is one to steer clear of.

The following are some broad demographic groups that are generally not worth going for. There are always exceptions to the rule, but it's generally easier to just avoid:

The unemployed, homeless and/or bankrupt. There's just simply no money in this niche.
Children. Again, children generally do not have any money - so if this niche is chosen it either needs to be aimed at (a) getting the children to get their parents to buy things for them or (b) aimed at the parents themselves, not the children.
Students. Unless you're selling essentials, this market generally does not have any money either. There are more exceptions in this case than others, as there are some things students will spend money on, and targeting them via universities can be effective, but it is generally not as lucrative a market as most. As with children, it can be worth targeting parents.

It's also possible to put people trying to save money in this list, although money-saving schemes can actually be very profitable.

Finding your niche

We all have a niche of our own and every time we buy a product or service, whoever we buy it from is quite likely to be targeting the niche that we belong to within their market. As a result, a great starting point when looking for new business opportunities is to look at the niche market(s) we are already part of.

To work out your own niche, ask yourself some simple questions:

What do you want / desire? (There will be others out there who want the same things)
What are your constraints / what is holding you back? (Helps if the marketing messages empathise with these things, and breaking through them could also be a selling point)
What are your interests / hobbies? (If you're interested in something then others will be, and (a) will be easier to empathise with them Asand (b) you already have knowledge to build on)
What are your skills? (At work or at home, your existing skills and knowledge may help finding a product to sell or could lead to specific services you could sell)

Finding another niche

So, answering these questions will help identify your niche, but what if it's not quite what you are looking for and you want to break into a new area? Maybe there's just not enough money in the areas you've identified?

In that case you need to find a different niche to target. Whatever you choose, remember that you will need to be able to learn enough about it to enter it effectively, so it needs to be an area that interests you.

To find a new niche, a good starting point is to think about what people spend money on, for example:

Hobbies and sports: sports, movies, games, music, art, electronics, equipment...
Money: money-making programmes, getting better paid jobs, investment, budgeting and money management...
Health and beauty: fashion, cosmetics, dieting, weight loss & gain, body building, vitamins, healthy living...
Love and sex: finding a partner, dating, relationships, flowers, chocolates, jewelery, greetings cards, gifts...
Children, pets and family: toys, presents, gardening and diy tools...

Also think about current concerns and market trends. What are people's hopes and fears? What can you do to help with them? Is there something already out there that you can provide your own unique spin on?

Remember that a niche is a subset of another wider market, so if there is a particular area you are already interested in there will almost always be demand for some new product or service, or a more targeted version of an existing one, for a smaller part of the overall market.

Have you found your niche?

Quantity Over Quality Will Lead To Success

2009-06-28T16:18:00.000+01:00

Here are five reasons why:

The more you do of something, the better you will get at it;
The more you do in a shorter timeframe, the more mistakes you will make, and the more you will learn (not just about that task, but in general: sometimes the lessons you learn can be surprising and the only way you will experience them is through taking action);
The shorter the timeframe, the smaller the impact of mistakes;
The faster you get things out of the door, the sooner you will receive feedback on how you can make it better and the more time you will have to build those changes in;
The sooner you have something tangible, the easier it is to understand, to communicate what you are trying to achieve and to realise the benefits of the work. This principle is echoed in various agile development methodologies.

Being a perfectionist is useful up to a point, but if you keep holding things off until they are "perfect", there is a risk that you will never finish - and it's better to get something out there in a "nearly good enough" state than to never finish at all.

It's not all black-and-white thought: quality is still important, and whatever you do, it is important to strive for the highest quality possible, but not at the expense of getting things done.

For example, a lot has been written on the power of the pareto principle, or 80/20 "rule" (Tim Ferris is one advocate, for example) - and it is true that setting a timeframe to do something in, and just making sure you get as much done within that timeframe as possible, but not doing any more, is one great way to drive productivity and the time contraint can actually sometimes increase the quality of the outcome because the urgency can drive increased levels of creativity.

Project Managers will be very familiar with the good-fast-cheap triangle, and regularly need to make decisions about whether to spend more time on something to increase quality, especially when there's an impending deadline. It's a balance we all need to strike in everything we do.

This post is an example: I actually currenly have 12 work-in-progress articles, ranging from headline ideas and structures to drafts that I'm not quite happy with - but I'm also keen to ensure I keep publishing content on a regular basis, partly to keep the activity going on the site, partly to give myself a feeling of progress and achievement, partly to keep in the flow and learn through action. It may not be the most polished of articles, but I hope you find it useful and it's an example of how I am working to practice what I preach.

So the key message is: get started now! The sooner you get going, the more you can do, the better you will get, and the further you will go...

How to Fit Blogging Around Your Day Job

2009-06-24T00:00:00.001+01:00

This could actually apply to any "thing" you want to do, for example a hobby (blogging is just one example).

If you're like me, you work long and hard during the week and finding time for anything else that you want to do (never mind writing articles in a blog), can be a real challenge.

However, finding time to do things is, in principle, very easy. The challenge is just taking that step and doing what you know you need to do. It's all about your own personal priorities and the level of commitment and action you are willing to make and take.

So, how do you fit blogging (or whatever you want to do) around your day job?...

1. Don't!

This is the easy way out: just quit.

It's a surefire way to no longer have to worry about how you fit it around your day job.

But is it really what you want to do? If not, then taking this easy way out is not the way to go. If you want to do something enough, you will find a way of doing it.

So, option 2 is...

2. Don't!

Only do it at weekends and during holidays!

Ok, so this is kind of fitting it round your day job - but by this I mean don't worry about it during the week: work your hours, do your thing at work, then use your spare time to do the things you want to do (like writing your posts).

Still not happy?

Ok, in that case...

3. Don't!

Fit your job around blogging (or whatever), not the other way round!

This is a mindset change. It means that you've decided that whatever it is that you want to do (your hobby/blogging/social activity etc) is important enough to make sure it happens.

This means you need to do it regardless of work. You can make this happen: it's just a case of priorities.

If you ever say "but I've got to stay late to get this done..." - actually, you don't. There will be consequences of not getting it done, yes, but it's still your choice. In most cases, it will not be the end of the world. Also, once you start making time for your activity, and people start recognising that you do this, it becomes less and less of an issue. People accept it, life goes on and you get to do the thing you want to do.

Still not good enough? Time for extreme measures...

4. Don't

Quit your job!

Ok, this is the least likely option unless you can make money out of whatever it is you're doing, but remember that it is always an option. You are in control and it's just your own risk aversion that's stopping you take that step. Who knows, making that jump could lead to some new and unexpected opportunities that are more than worth your while. The question is, how much do you want it?

5. Try but fail

Finally, this is the most common one that people fall into and should be avoided above and beyond all of the above. It is a failure because it is the one option where we did not make the choice. It is the scenario where we have convinced ourselves we want to do something but have not taken sufficient action to make it happen.

You need to commit to make a difference. A decision needs to be made, a choice of direction.

Is there something you want to do that you've been putting off? Do you really want to do it? Take that first step today!

My Blogging Integrity Promise

2009-06-22T00:56:00.000+01:00

I am currently experimenting with bit of affiliate marketing using products on ClickBank and Amazon and some future posts will be based on my experiences with this.

However, I want to make it very clear that everything I do in this space will be completely separate from this blog.

I promise that I will only recommend books, products and other materials that I genuinely have used and think are worth highlighting as being of a high quality worth purchasing (or borrowing, or going on, or whatever).

I've seen a few blogs and sites recently that are clearly just cynical attempts to make money. This blog is not one of those, and if I try any of those techniques I will do it completely separately and only write about it on this blog to provide an objective opinion about how it went.

Why AdSense Sucks and Why I Use It Anyway

2009-06-22T00:26:00.000+01:00

Why AdSense sucks:

Pushing people away: Every time someone clicks on an Ad, it's taking them away from the site - so some could argue that it's kind of encouraging people to leave, which is not what I want...
Loss of control: Whilst the Ads should be targeted based on the content in the site, I don't have any actual control over them so they will always be advertising things I don't actually endorse;
Selling out: They take up space on the site and could be seen as "selling out" by users, suggesting my blog is more about making money than delivering high quality content, and detracting from the site's integrity;
Tricking users for financial gain: Some users who are not web-savvy may be "tricked" into clicking on links, thinking that they are endorsed by me when they're not - which could create a bad impression.

Why I Use It Anyway:

Quality Content: If the blog is good enough, people will come back. If the site doesn't have good content on it, people will leave and not come back anyway;
Tailored Content: If the articles are well written and clearly targeted, the Ads should be targeted too; and if they're not, people are not forced to click on them anyway...
Proof is in the pudding: It will be clear that I have not sold out by the quality of content published. If there are Ads and rubbish content, it's a fair point and people won't come back anyway;
People are not stupid: First, most web users are bright enough to know a Google Ad when they see one, and second, I would never try to integrate Google Ads to make them look like part of the site to "trick" people: this is unethical;
It's common: Many sites have AdSense installed now - even some large corporate sites - so it's become a familiar sight and is not off-putting for most people due to that level of familiarity;
Ads can help people: In some cases, the Ads may actually highlight sites that people are interested in and actually help people get to some content or find some product they were either looking for or didn't realise they needed;
It doesn't cost users anything: it doesn't actually cost the user anything. If it did I definitely wouldn't put them up there.

Finally, let's be honest, if people do click on them and I make a small amount of money, that's great. If they don't it's not the end of the world. My focus has got to remain on writing posts that I think people will find useful and interesting - and a few small Google Ads should not make any difference to that.

Unique Blogging: 5 Top Ways To Add A Personal Touch To All Of Your Blog Posts

2009-06-22T00:17:00.001+01:00

It's actually easier than you think to ensure that your articles are unique and personal.

This post covers five key points to consider when trying to craft unique, personalised blog posts:

How everything you write is already unique and personal as long as you don't copy it!
Using commentary to easily create unique, interesting and valuable articles
Writing a post based on other people's ideas - how to do it and why it's research, not plagiarism (as long as you reference the sources where possible)
When you realise someone else has already written something on a subject that you thought was a new idea you'd come up with
Injecting a bit of personality through idiosyncrasies and personal funny-isms

1. Everything you write is unique... as long as you don't copy it!

If you're interested about writing about something but you think it has already had a lot written about it, don't worry, just do it!

As long as you don't just copy content from other sources, whatever you write will be different - you won't be able to help it, the way you structure it and your writing style will provide a subtly different spin.

That slightly different spin will be enough to make it worth doing for someone: the great thing about publishing to the world is that someone out there will prefer your writing style to someone else's.

Also, remember that every post you write is good practice for you too, in terms of your own writing technique and in terms of getting things out there: sometimes it's important to write about something that's on your mind so you can get it off your mind and you don't need to revisit it. Likewise, it can sometimes act as a great starting point to re-visit and refine in future posts.

2. Using commentary

Stuck for ideas?

Commentary is a great and very easy way to create new and unique content without needing to come up with the ground-breaking ideas yourself.

Simply find someone else's article that you find interesting, and write about that. Reference back to specific parts of the article by inserting quotations and writing about your thoughts on those things.

This way, you take the interesting ideas of the original article and add to it with your own valuable insights and opinions (note: make sure you always reference the original source so people can see the full article in context).

The great thing about writing commentary is that you create your own personal brand by sharing your own unique views on things, which some people will agree with and others will disagree with - making for interesting discussions. It's also good to show that you are promoting other people's work - that you're working for the good of others and your blog isn't just a cynical way to make money.

3. Writing a post based on other people's ideas

Similar to commentary but a step further in terms of creating your own content, if you find a topic other people have written about that you find interesting, you can create your own posts based on their ideas.

This is not plagiarism or copying as long as you put a bit of work into it and create something a bit different. The two different kinds of "different" are (1) creating a totally different view on the same subject and (2) consolidating a number of people's views on the same area and presenting it back as something another coherent article where all of those points are covered in one place.

Again, I recommend referencing back to other people's work if you have consciously used it - both because it's their original work so they deserve the credit and because it helps people get a different perspective on what you're written.

An approach that I have used that works for this is:

(1) Find the topic of interest

(2) Do some research - find a minimum of 5-10 good articles on the same topic

(3) Brainstorm and map out the common, consistent themes and views e.g. using a mind map

(4) Structure the article - headings based on key themes, arguments (for and against) etc

(5) Write the various drafts etc leading up to the final article

Part 3 (brainstorming) is usually the part where you will come up with your unique spin on the subject or reach a decision on your own opinion on whether you agree or disagree with certain arguments etc. Part 4 is where you build those views into the story you will put across in your work.

4. What to do when you realise a unique idea of yours isn't unique after all

First, something you need to realise is that nearly everything you come up with, someone else has probably at least thought of and probably even written about by now.

Second, the way advances in knowledge occur is through building on lessons learned and developing our thoughts from those that came before. In some ways, very little is truly new, whilst at the same time everything is subtly different from whatever came before.

So, when you come up with a completely ground-shakingly new idea, then find out someone else has already come up with it, do not be disheartened.

The fact that you came up with it without finding out that someone else came up with it means it's still your idea too. It also means you probably have a new or different spin on it that someone else doesn't. It also means it's possible that if you continue thinking along those lines you will come up with another great idea before someone else, so don't stop thinking that way!

The most important thing is that you still do something about it, even though you've found out someone else has already come up with the idea. Read points 2 and 3 above and take action!

5. Injecting a bit of personality

This final point is just a general one on writing style. Different people have their own ways of writing and there is a lot out there about how to write - but my personal preference is to try to write conversationally, without agonising too much about writing technique.

Sprinkle your articles with idiosyncrasies and personal funny-isms: whilst you need to avoid it becoming annoying to the reader, it's all about establishing your own personal style.

...a final note...

The final thing is to ensure you write things that you would want to read. If you would find them interesting and read them, chances are someone else would too. If you're happy with your work, you're half way there.

The Missing Message In the 4-Hour Work Week

2009-06-21T19:40:00.001+01:00

The book that inspired me to actually get up and start this blog was "The 4-Hour Work Week", which has some great ideas about how to get priorities straight, how to create a "muse" to generate a semi-passive income etc.

However, I've just noticed a very important area that has been missed in the book.

As I've been playing around with some of the ideas in my spare time, I've found myself experiencing a strange internal conflict that I'd never experienced up until now.

I'm in a great, very challenging, very rewarding job; I recently got married to my fiance who I have been good friends with for 12 years and are happy starting our life together; and I have loads of great friends who I was very happy to see attend the wedding - so why the conflict?

Then it suddenly hit me today.

One of the core messages of the 4-Hour Work Week is about minimising the time spent on your business through automation and through minimising the interactions you need to have with customers and the people you outsource your work to.

The Missing Message

The key missing message is: relationships are still the single most important thing in our lives.

This does not contradict anything in the book, and in the later chapters Timothy Ferris does allude to having fun with friends etc, but I strongly believe that our relationships are the most important thing in our lives and the message needs to be remembered.

Surround yourself with lots of happy, successful people and you will be happy and successful.

In a product-based, automated business, yes you can reduce the level of human interaction required - but in the rest of your life, including in the blogosphere, at work (if you have a job that is not automated) etc - relationships are key. In fact, service-based businesses are built on them.

I still think the book is great, but when I re-read it I will definitely be keeping this in mind, and I walk forward from today with a renewed interest in my relationships. Make sure there is a social element to your goals too!

_______________________________

For loads of great personal development and self-help books for business and personal success, check out one of these tailored book stores:

6 Steps That All Personal Development Approaches Cover

2009-06-21T19:09:00.000+01:00

All personal development books, courses, programmes and other media, consist of the same basic steps.

Generally speaking, some are stronger in some areas than others, and some have more emphasis and detail on some areas than others, but they all follow the same fundamental steps.

This is my first attempt to summarise the key steps. If there are any I've missed please let me know by adding a comment!

Work out where you are
Work out where you want to be
Work out how you're going to get there
Change your mindset
Take a lot of action and keep re-aligning your actions with where you want to get to
Persevere, repeat steps 1-5 as many times as it takes

For each of these steps there are a wide variety of techniques and tools that can be employed, and there are even books on each individual one of them. Below I've included a very brief summary of what each one involves. I would recommend reading more specific material (including some of the posts and books recommended on this blog) or details on each.

1. Work out where you are

This is the "self-assessment" or "life temperature-check" that is vital an absolutely vital step towards the self-awareness necessary to decide what action to take first.

You need to be completely open and honest with yourself so that you can start make informed decisions based on an understanding of the gaps in your life.

I wrote a bit about some frameworks you can use for this here: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2009/06/balanced-personal-and-career-goals.html

2. Work out where you want to be

This is all about setting goals. Without an idea of where you're going, it's not possible to:

Ensure any actions you take are in the right direction
Know whether you are making good progress towards your goals or not
Know when you've got to where you want to get to

3. Work out how you're going to get there

There are a couple of parts to this.

One is to take the pie-in-the-sky, green-field, ultimate wishes that provide you with a trajectory and map out those milestones to getting there, with a timescale.

The other is the set of closer actions you need to take, aligned to those longer-term ones, that help you see where you're aiming and give you a starting point that you know will eventually lead to your ultimate aims.

In my experience, making lots of little short-term plans that are easy to achieve and actually doing them is the most effective way to push things forwards. Making lots of long term plans but doing nothing gets you nowhere. Moreover, the more action you take the better and more realistic your plans get, the more you accelerate and quicker you get to where you want to go.

4. Change your mindset

There are books after books on this subject. From positive affirmations, to hypnotism, to general life-rule-type recommendations, this is all about breaking out of your limiting beliefs and realising that anythings is possible.

All of this is great, motivating stuff, but is often the kind of material that leads to a lot of big dreams and no action.

Trust me - taking action is the best way to change your mindset, because the minute you actually see changes in your life you will start to believe without needing to read some book to tell you how to change your beliefs...

5. Take a lot of action and keep re-aligning your actions with where you want to get to

This is easily the most important step. Taking action is the thing that changes everything.

Taking action will also completely change your view on your goals and your feeling about what is possible.

My recommendation would be to keep your overall goals in mind but keep a focus on those short-term goals: keep re-writing them and doing them. The more you achieve, the more you will try to do, the more realistic your longer-term goals will feel and the bigger your aspirations will become.

6. Persevere, repeat steps 1-5 as many times as it takes

The final point is to repeat, repeat, repeat.

Perseverance is really important - the more you do something, the better you will get at it, the more you will believe it, the further you will be able to go.

We are all human beings and all get knocked back by things at times, but keep it up and you will succeed: our success will never be based on how well we do in good times, but how well we respond to challenges and overcome obsticals to succeed during harder times.

How to Persevere with No Traffic!

2009-06-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

So, you've started a new blog. You've got some great ideas and you've posted a couple of articles on them...

...but no-one's reading your masterpieces!

You've followed the advice from every traffic-building site out there and submitted your links to every directory you can find...

...but there still isn't anyone reading your genius creations!

The problem?

Content. Plain and simple.

Why you need lots of great content

Just think about the blogs you've read in the past. Which ones do you go back to, time and time again? Which ones keep cropping up in searches and which ones did you just glance through, never to return?

Put simply, you need great content, preferably the kind of content you might go back and re-read for reference or general inspiration, and enough content to keep people interested with a range of points.

The alternative to having lots of content is the promise of content to come - which requires regular updates - but again, the updates need to be good quality for people to want to come back and read them.

What to do if you don't have enough content

I wrote the following article about how much content you need to start generating any real kind of traffic: http://business-life-success.blogspot.com/2009/06/reaching-content-critical-mass-when-to.html, and it's clear that for a while when you first start out, you simply will not have enough content. There's no escaping it, and the only way to get enough content is to get writing!

A few people visited this blog recently and it's a great feeling - but I know that I need to write a lot more before people are going to have any real reason to visit - or more importantly keep coming back - and I know it's important to persevere and keep writing - despite the strange feeling that at the moment I'm writing things and there's no-one there to read it!

So, how to get over that sinking feeling that you're hammering away at something that isn't going anywhere?

The key thing here is: SET A TARGET.

My target is to reach 50 good-sized posts (not including the brief ones where I've posted recommended links I've found). This number is based on the rule-of-thumb figures I mentioned in my previous post.

I have signed up to various blog catalogues etc, but by setting myself this (admittedly quite high) target, I will not be disheartened if I don't get much traffic before then - moreover I'm not going to put any major effort in getting any serious traffic until I hit that target, so if people come and see my site before then it's all a bonus.

By using a target in this way, you can change your mindset about your blog and focus on what is important - the content - so that when you do start promoting your site, there is lots of good stuff up there for people to read and you're not just shouting about a virtually empty site.

If you're struggling to motivate yourself to write or have a similar challenge, set your own target today to change your attitude towards it and get motivated!

Why to Avoid Accepting Friends and Reciprocal Links on Subjects That Are Not Relevant

2009-06-21T16:29:00.000+01:00

This may seem like an obvious one, but when first starting out it is a strong temptation.

If you're writing a blog, I would guess that you're doing it because either (1) you have things you want to share with others and/or (2) you want to make money through blogging.

Either way, you need traffic on your blog to make it worthwhile.

One of the most effective ways to drive traffic and increase your site's rankings in the search engines is by getting lots of other sites to link to yours.

The trouble is, people often take a scatter-gun approach and try to get links from loads of other sites even if they're not relevant.

Whilst this will increase the chances of people going onto your site, it will dilute the overall quality of these links because they are generally irrelevant.

From a search engine perspective, this is decreases the ranking of specific relevant keywords in relation to other less relevant ones;
It also means you will build an inaccurate idea of traffic, as it will increase the number of people getting onto your site who aren't actually interested (and if you're looking for AdSense clicks this decreases the likelihood of any of those too);
It also impacts your credibility because it's clear you're just fishing for traffic instead of building an audience based on their interest in what you are writing about

...so, my advice would be:

If you want traffic, don't just ask loads of randoms to link to you if it's not relevant;
If someone with a site that has nothing to do with yours asks you to link to them in return for a link, don't accept: why would anyone visiting their site what to read yours, and vice-versa?

There's nothing wrong with trying to drive traffic to your site, but make sure you're focusing on the right audience, to get the right people who will actually get some value from your writing to look at your work.

The Danger and Causes of Not Taking Action

2009-06-21T13:35:00.000+01:00

Not taking action is the #1 barrier to success, the #1 reason why people fail in their attempts to change their lives through personal development, and #1 reason why people often start things up but don't finish them off.

The irony is that nearly all of the self-help and personal development books, cd's, courses and programmes I have ever come across place their emphasis on taking action NOW.

So what is it that causes us to falter?

Spending more time reading than doing

I know I've been guilty of this one in the past.

There are a number of reasons for falling into this trap, but the key ones are:

it's actually more fun to read up on great ways to achieve your goals than to actually do it;
it's safer to read than to have a go at something and risk failing;
taking action can be hard - it often involves a lot of time and effort and stepping outside of our comfort zone.

I need to understand the context before I do anything...

Have you run into this one before?

For example, you reach the end of a chapter and it has a set of exercises - but you think to yourself, that's great, some stuff to do, but let's read the next chapter to make sure I understand it in context before doing it - I want to know how it fits into the bigger picture first...

Big mistake. How often have you done this and not actually managed to go back and do the exercise?

Ok, so it is good to re-read these books and do the exercises as you go along that way - but that is eating into the time you could have been spending actually making some changes in your life instead of just reading about how!

Focusing on the wrong things - take the right action now!

The final key one is about what kind of action you take.

The grand, life-changing things you can do are all very important and need to happen, but not at the expense of everything else in your life. Sometimes it is important to do the mundane, day-to-day stuff before you sit down and think about the bigger picture.

There's a lot out there about how focussing on strengths over weaknesses is important - but ensuring that you have the right focus in life is really very important too.

A focus on strengths is not the same as avoiding doing important things you don't want to do. Mundane examples include washing the dishes, mowing the lawn, doing that little bit extra work you know will make a massive difference but you just can't really be bothered...

You know deep down what you should be doing right now - so stop reading this post and do it!

...okay, so if you're currently in a position where you can't do that thing you have been meaning to do but haven't got round to, make sure you do so as soon as you can. In the meantime, I found the following couple of posts when searching on this topic that are worth reading:

Top 50 personal development bloggers

2009-06-14T02:58:00.000+01:00

I'm clearly in discovery mode at the moment - and found this great list of top personal development and self-help bloggers that I will be coming back to reference: http://www.healthmoneysuccess.com/802/top-50-personal-development-bloggers/

It includes a brief description to each of them so you can read the summary before exploring their articles.

The following article is also useful in listing good sources of information online: http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=623.

50 of the best personal development blogs

2009-06-13T02:36:00.001+01:00

Just found the following article and had to share it: http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/2007/01/07/50-of-the-best-personal-development-blogs/.

Enjoy!

Reaching content critical mass: when to start pushing for traffic on your blog

2009-06-13T02:04:00.001+01:00

Everyone knows that when you first launch your site or blog, you will not have any traffic. No-one knows you're there, no-one links to you and it's difficult to find you.

We also know that content is king, both in terms of attracting people (and attracting repeat visitors), and for the search engines, which base relevance on content among other things. The big question is, how much content do you need to "launch"?

I stumbled over the following article, which provides some useful rules of thumb, both to help provide some milestones to work towards and to set expectations to avoid disappointment when the hits don't start rolling in when you only have one article: http://blog4smallbusiness.com/2009/01/19/seo-for-blogs-content-is-king/.

I recommend reading the full article for various blog SEO tips (search engine optimisation), but here are the very high level key milestones for reference:

10 pages - enough to launch the site but don't expect any traffic
50 pages - search engines might start to take a bit of notice if you're lucky - good case scenario generates 300+ visitors per day
150 pages - critical mass - if you've done all the right things in terms of writing lots of relevant content of a similar theme and doing all the SEO stuff, this article reckons you could move up to 3000 unique visitors per day (sounds high to me, but I will let you know when I get to that many pages)
3000 pages - expect lots of traffic, especially if you're well optimised, articles are all thematically consistent and you've been doing the SEO stuff like getting links from other blogs etc.

I found this very interesting and useful stuff - hope you do too...