Solving problems

Everyone experiences problems at work, but how we approach these problems makes all the difference in how well we resolve them in an efficient manner. In fact, just like there is a process for solving mathematical problems there is a process for solving business and life problems as well. It requires that you approach the problem systematically and in an organised fashion.
Here are a few steps you can follow:
1)    Clearly define the problem,
2)    Identify the causes of the problem,
3)    Gather all the facts relating to the problem,
4)    Review the options available for solving the problem.

““We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.””
— Albert Einstein

Just be kind

It’s been scientifically proven that people who are curious are happier. Knowledge is not only information it’s also instructions to execute from. I think you can motivate a person with words, but you’ll inspire them with your actions. When I tell you a story that sounds good, that’s motivation, and then I’m giving you a motive to do something. When I tell you about what I did or if I’m leading by example, that’s I’m leading by example, that’s inspirational. When I’m telling you about how I did it, that’s educational. Now you have an actual foundation to build from, most people do more motivation than inspiration. So, when you grade yourself from a psychological perspective, it’s all about what you know.

““It is a little embarrassing that, after forty five years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each other.” ”
— Aldous Huxley

Buy less and buy better

Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Aristotle said great communication comes down to three things:
·      Ethos – Ethics, values, the credibility of the person speaking, for example, “Am I worth listening to?”
·      Logos – Evidence, facts, the logic, or apparent logic of what they are saying, for example, “Am I right?”
·      Pathos – The emotions of the audience, for example, “Do I care?”

 

Aristotle also said that you could not win an argument with just one of these things, to win an argument, you will need each of the three to be always present. And as soon as you think about communication from the receiver’s perspective, you can see that he was correct.

Running around

If you are frantic during a 24-hour day, do you think you’ll be less frantic if we had 32-hour days?
I think the single most important quality of success is self-discipline. And when I say self-discipline, I mean that you have the ability within yourself based on your strength of character and willpower to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not. All the best advice in the world will only help you if you can motivate yourself to take persistent and consistent action in the direction of your goals until you succeed.

““The best way to succeed in this world is to act on the advice you give to others.””
— Napoleon Hill

It’s a choice

Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” is our satisfaction chart which makes us feel whole and accomplished as a human being. There are five levels in Maslow's pyramid, from the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are:
- Physiological (food and clothing),
- Safety (security),
- Love and belonging needs (friendship)
- Esteem,
- Self-actualisation.


Nowadays, we are controlled by the media, especially social media where we are constantly following other people’s opinions. We really need to learn how to think free and start loving and respecting each other. Patience is to let the season do their work as you can’t hurry the spring, you can’t rush the summer, and you can’t shorten the winter. You just need to have patience with the unfolding of things from the beginning to reality, from nothing to something. I think that it’s all about humanity. We can make our own reality, it’s a choice.

What I perceive is really out there

Affirmations without discipline is the beginning of delusion. Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution after the enthusiasm of which the resolution was made has passed. The truth will set you free to correct old errors in judgement and will help you to set up new and easier disciplines to turn wrong into right. To turn lack into prosperity and turn skepticism into faith. To turn wrong into right we must speak the truth because only the truth will set us free, I mean, free to correct errors in judgement.

 

We all have unique challenges, whether it’s family or personal problems, financial issues, or business problems, we all have them at one stage or another. Errors in judgement are subtle and usually don’t show their results immediately. The formula for failure is a few errors in judgement repeated every day on a continuous basis. When you continue to repeat your errors in judgment over a period then you’ll be way off course.

““Men can be divided into two groups: One that goes ahead and achieves something and one that comes after and criticises.””
— Senaca

Manage your own emotions

Most people don’t have the emotional intelligence to understand their own thinking and feeling process. We have men and women who are envious and jealous of each other because they don’t understand where these emotions arise from. Jealousy is when you see somebody that has something and you don’t want them to have it, and envy is when you see someone with something you want and you don’t particularly want them to have it, but you want it to, so you’re envious of them at all times. Most people don’t have enough emotional intelligence to check themselves.

Answer the following questions:
·      What’s my educational level?
·      What’s my environment like?
·      What are my experiences?
·      What’s my level of execution?
·      What’s my emotional intelligence?
·      Is what you are doing aligned with your values?

Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.

The Universal Story Structure

Gustav Freytag was a 19th Century German novelist and playwright who developed a visual representation of the five-act structure common in classic plays and novels. This structure is known as Freytag’s Pyramid or triangle, or “the "dramatic arc," and  this a straightforward way of organising a tragic narrative into a beginning, middle, and ending, and is comprised of five distinct parts: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

 

I think stories are powerful because they transport us into other people’s world and in doing that, they change the way our brain works and potentially change our brain chemistry. This is what it means to be a social creature and connect with others, to care about others even complete strangers and its so interesting that dramatic stories cause us to do this. The same thing can happen when we watch movies or listen to music, we feel uplifted, we feel motivated, or we feel connected to others around us.

Health = Wealth

There are few talents more richly rewarded with both wealth and power in countries around the world than the ability to convince backward people that their problems are caused by other people who are more advanced. Remember that effort gets noticed, results get awarded and you are wealthy when you can freely decide what to do with your time. Self-awareness means reading the room and balancing one’s contributions to ensure a value exchange that benefits all. I think it’s about balancing ambition with value, knowing when to speak and when to listen. Knowing that given a choice of being clever or kind, being kind is right choice.

““Stupidity is knowing the truth, seeing the truth but still believing the lies. And that is more infectious than any other disease.””
— Professor Richard Feynman

Sense of humour

Illustration: Eva Bee ©

What are people really worried about?
The noise from outside makes us want to fit into the “container” and that stops us differentiating between what my mind saying and what is my intelligence saying, and this noise becomes your voice. Make people comfortable and at ease. I think happy people smile more, so it’s a good idea to laugh loudly and welcome humour with open arms. What it really comes down to is that we are not confident about what we have to offer, in other words, it’s a lack of self-awareness. Being insecure about our own abilities, for example, what am I good at? What are my passions? and what am I bringing to the table? Do not take yourself too seriously, show passion and ambition but not at a cost to others.

““Everyone in the world should achieve everything they ever wanted, and achieve everything they ever pursued, just to realise that it’s not the point.””
— Jim Carey

Stoicism is helpful

Marcus Aurelius

When we speak about success, there are parts of this we are in control of and parts of it we are not. There are so many things that we have no control over, like outcomes, therefore, one should just focus on the things that you can change which is the world of your own thoughts and actions. I think this is where we should place our attention, therefore, I only emotional commit myself to my intentions and actions, not the outcomes as I have no control over them.

 

Stoicism is a philosophy designed to make us more resilient, happier, more virtuous and more wise–and as a result, better people, better parents and better professionals. Stoicism has been a common thread though some of history's great leaders and has been practiced by leaders, artists, writers and entrepreneurs.

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Sales training for building consensus

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I have found that there is a great deal of pleasure in coaching and nursing teams, guiding them through a structured process to identify a focus area that enables them to maximise their inherent power by tapping into the hearts and minds of consumers. For example,

• Creating needs (listening, objections, negotiation and presentations)
• Motivation (rapport, communication and mindset)
• Pipeline management (plan, prepare and execute)
• Sales Savvy (decision maker access, network mapping & development, best practise and analysing success)

Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.

““Your potential customer doesn’t care about your company. They care about the problem they have and the possibility of resolving it. Are you creating enough value in the sales conversation or are you just talking about yourself?” ”
— Anthony Iaanarino

The first fruit

Image c/o The Ecologist

““Sometimes a fruit falls from a tree and rolls so far away from its roots that it’s no longer of the tree. The hard fall, and long journey, bruises the fruit so much that it totally changes it. It’s the same way for some of our people. This is why some can’t be awakened regardless of how much truth you present to them. This journey has totally brainwashed them to such a degree that they’re no longer of the original tree.” ”
— Malcolm X
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You need self-discipline

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It’s not what you have learned that is decisive for your future, it’s whether you can put your head down and discipline yourself to pay the price repeatedly until you finally obtain your objective. Learning to effectively lead yourself and others all comes down to discipline, and you’ll need self-discipline to set your goals and make plans for their accomplishment.
You will also need self-discipline to:
-       continuously revise and upgrade your plans with new information,
-       focus on the most important thing you need to do at that specific moment,
-       invest in yourself every day and build yourself up personally and professionally,
-       learn what you need to do to become successful,
-       delay gratification, save your money and organise your finances,
-       focus on your goals and dreams and off your fears and doubts,
-       respond positively and constructively in the face of difficulty.

Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.

Persist until you succeed

Persistence is self-discipline in action and is the true measure of individual human character. Every great success in your life will represent a triumph of persistence. Your ability to decide what you want to begin and then to persist through all the obstacles and difficulties until you achieve your goals is the critical determinate of your success. And the flip side of persistence is courage. I think the greatest challenge you will ever face in life is the conquest of fear and the development of the habit of courage.

““Courage is the greatest virtue because it guarantees all the rest.” ”
— Winston Churchill

Our rewards

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, “Compensation,” wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. In other words, the amount of money we receive will always be in a direct ratio to the demand for what we do.

““The Law of Income: You will be paid in direct proportion to the value you deliver according to the marketplace.”  ”
— T. Harv Eker

The control process

Why is it that most people don’t realise that they have control over their lives?
I have never understood why human beings are so reactionary, they are reactive to their subconscious mind and the feelings and impulses they have in the moment. For example, how would you react when someone is driving irrationally and when they overtake you, they give you the bird (finger)? The natural reaction for most people would be to return the gesture. Now who are you relinquishing control to, the “twat” who gave you the bird or would you remain in control - what would your response be? The outcome would be extremely different depending on which decision you take. I think in general, when you react you relinquish control of the situation, and you only remain in control by not responding.

What time is it?

© Zac Freeland/Vox

Nowadays the majority of people use their telephones as a means of telling the time. Over the weekend when I said, “the second hand never negotiates,” the majority of people in the group thought I was speaking about clothing. Time management isn’t just about time as you can manage how you use time, but time can’t be managed. Here are a few tips to help you master the art of time management:

·      Plan ahead
·      Conduct a weekly review
·      Use time management tools
·      Focus on a single task
·      Say “No” occasionally
·      Block out distractions
·      Prioritise activities

Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.

Leadership is about

The single most important characteristic of a leader that people will willingly follow is honesty.  Leadership must live these values as no one likes being tricked by a business or, within a business, by its leaders. Ensure that your company is purpose as well as commercially driven. We need to make more of an effort to showcase successful leaders who build great companies based on honesty, fairness, respect, and generosity.

Leadership is NOT about:
Authority
Egocentric
Fame
Greed
Position
Power
Title