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Friday, March 18th, 2011
 Ever hear of the 24-Hour Rule?
Neither had I, until I read Harvey Mackay’s recent newsletter, in which he shared a concept he learned from legendary NFL coach Don Shula. After 32 seasons in the National Football League, Shula holds the record for the most career wins (347). In 1972, he led the Miami Dolphins to a perfect season, 17 – 0! Nearly 40 years later, that record has yet to be broken. Oh yeah, throw in a couple of Super Bowl wins as well.
According to Mackay, one of the secrets to Shula’s incredible success in football was the “24-hour rule.” This rule stated that his team could only relish a win, or brood over a defeat, for 24 hours. After that, it was back to work preparing for the next game and the next series of challenges. During the 24 hours of reflection, Shula encouraged his team to deal honestly with the emotions conjured up by the win or the loss but, at the end of the allotted time period, it was back to work preparing for the next game.
So, what can we learn from the 24-hour rule?
Let’s start with failure. How easy is it to throw in the towel after we lose a big contract, a long-standing client, or maybe just dealing with the daily struggles caused by a rough economy? Too easy, right? I think it’s one of the primary reasons so many small businesses fail, and why so many dreams for a better future go unfulfilled. We allow ourselves to dwell too long on the things that didn’t work. Statistics show that most of us give up, just a few feet short of the finish line.
Every day offers new opportunities for success and personal improvement. If we’re focused on what didn’t work yesterday, instead of what could work today, we’re whipped before we start. Allowing ourselves 24 hours to sulk is more than enough time. Getting over it and getting on with it is a better way to go.
When all the feathers hit the floor, we’ll experience more success than failures in our lifetime. So let’s not let our pity parties last more than 24 hours.
To be successful, you have to believe you can change the conditions of your life. In fact, you have only got two choices: let someone else determine the outcomes in your life, or accept responsibility for doing it yourself. I’d opt for the latter. Shouldn’t you?
Guy Kawasaki, the former Chief Evangelist for Apple, says: “You’ll wait by a river a very long time before a roast duck will fly into your mouth.” We can choose to wait and blame or we can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on. Success is a choice.
The other side of the coin is how you handle those spectacular victories in your life. Closing the biggest account of your career, winning a sought after award or degree, or coming up with an idea that turned your company around.
Think this is a good time to coast? I don’t. Celebrate the success or the accomplishment for about 24 hours and get back to work. You’re on a roll. Take advantage of the momentum. Success breeds success. After a short break to celebrate the victory, use what you learned, and what worked, to generate more of the same.
Winners don’t quit after one victory. They figure out how to stay motivated and make sure their success is repeatable.
The 24-hour rule means you get a brand new start every day. Remember, we can learn from the past, but we can’t linger there. As Mackay says: “Build on what you know so that you don’t repeat mistakes. Resolve to learn something new every day. Because every 24 hours, you have the opportunity to have the best day of your life.”
Tags: accomplishment, challenges, client, contract, dreams, economy, fail, failure, future, improvement, loss, opportunities, success, victory, win
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
 Last week, I reminded you of John Wooden’s admonition not to confuse activity with achievement. Good advice for sure. Being busy and being productive are separate issues. Strangely though, deep down inside, we like being busy because it gives us the false sense of being productive, but this is only an illusion. It doesn’t matter how many trivial activities we complete, they’re still trivial and don’t improve productivity or contribute to the bottom line.
Important but Not Urgent
Stephen Covey and others have made the compelling case that the most important things are seldom urgent. The sad fact, though, is that we can easily become addicted to urgencies. Often our badge of honor is having the reputation of being a firefighter – able to put out dozens of trivial little fires in a single day. Let’s refocus.
In the last article, I offered several suggestions on how to better manage your time, so you could be more productive. Those suggestions included: planning your day; writing down your goals; keeping a journal; and reviewing your progress on a regular basis.
Here are a few more suggestions on how to make your days, weeks and months more productive.
Coordinate Your To-Do List and Your Calendar
Before you write a single item on your to-do list, review your weekly calendar. Get a bird’s eye view of your week and when you’ll actually have time to work on those few important tasks or projects. Writing a to-do list is much like building a budget. A realistic budget is preceded by a well-thought-out strategic plan. A daily plan has a much greater chance of succeeding if it’s coordinated with your calendar.
One of the best ways I know of to find the time to work on high priority items is to schedule them in your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself to work on “A” priority items – every day or certainly every week.
If It’s To Be – It’s Up To Me
Personal responsibility. You knew this one was coming, didn’t you? Yep, you’re the only one responsible for achieving your personal goals and improving personal productivity. It’s not your Mama’s job, your boss’s job or your spouse’s job to make you more efficient, effective and productive. That’s your job.
Like it or not, you’re the one who’ll have to take control and do those things that must be done for personal or professional development. You’ll have to control your schedule, take the class, get the certification, or heal the relationship that’s keeping you where you are now, instead of where you want to be.
E + R = O
This little equation will do more for improving your performance and productivity than almost anything else I know of. It stands for Event + Response = Outcome. This equation suggests that it’s not the events we encounter that determine the outcome. It’s our response to those events that make the real differences.
We all face difficult events throughout our lives. Every day, we’re faced with events that have the potential to derail us from getting where we want to go. Our response to those events will determine our success or failure. Controlling how we choose to respond to events not of our making is what develops the character of a winner.
Staying at the top of the productivity game isn’t easy. It takes work and it takes being savvy. Doing a few simple things, like those mentioned in these last two posts, will go a long way in helping you keep your performance and productivity at a very high level. You really can get more done by doing less.
Tags: achievement, activities, calendar, failure, goals, journal, performance, plan, planning, priority, productive, response, responsibility, success, to-do, urgent
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
 We live in a very situational environment, individually and organizationally. We expect quick service, quick delivery and rapid responses. We don’t think we have time to wait and we mistakenly decide we don’t have time to plan.
Recent surveys indicate that an alarming number of small businesses have neither a business plan nor a strategic plan to guide their daily actions. If you asked these small business owners why they don’t have such a plan, they would more than likely say they’re too busy to write one. I don’t need to tell you what the failure rate is for small business across the country. Do you see the pattern developing here?
I suspect the statistics for personal strategic planning would be equally low and the consequences just as disturbing. How many baby boomers standing at the door of retirement today have been following a financial plan that has them ready to walk away from businesses or careers and enjoy their golden years? Right. Not many.
The Missing Link
Strategic thinking is the missing link between an individual or an organizational vision for a preferred future, and making the vision a reality.
Both vision casting and strategic planning are admittedly intuitive. In both instances, we’re looking into the future and seeing what could or should be, but that’s the way of change. Look around the room you’re in right now. Everything you can see or touch was, at one time, nothing more than an idea in someone’s mind. First came the vision of what could be, then came the product.
But, we must connect the dots between the vision of what we want to achieve and the actual product. That connection results from strategic thinking and planning.
It Isn’t Brain Surgery, It’s Planning
Developing strategy is simply the first step of a three-step process for achieving what we want to achieve. Improving performance or increasing productivity will result from developing strategies (plans) that will frame goals and focus activity.
Strategy + Measurable Objectives + Actions = Preferred Change
This simple formula can create phenomenal change in the life of an individual or an organization. There are just three pieces to this little puzzle and, when they’re connected, you’ll have a clear understanding of what you want to accomplish, what you’ll need to measure along the way, and the specific work that has to be done to make it happen.
It’s one thing to have a vision; it’s quite another thing to make the vision a reality. Visions are a dime a dozen. Everyone has a vision for something better. Very few individuals or organizations have a specific plan for converting their dream to reality.
Strategic thinking is necessary, precisely because it forces us to look beyond the present and, specifically, beyond the current crisis. Strategic thinking is important because:
· It serves as the arbiter for our decision making. It provides the perspective we need to make good decisions. · Based on our vision, mission and values, we have context for why we’re doing what we’re doing. · It serves as a beacon – warning us when we’re in danger of drifting off course. · It helps us make principle-based decisions.
• It serves as the arbiter for our decision making. It provides the perspective we need to make good decisions.
• Based on our vision, mission and values, we have context for why we’re doing what we’re doing.
• It serves as a beacon – warning us when we’re in danger of drifting off course.
• It helps us make principle-based decisions.
Without strategic thinking, unpredictable circumstances and day-to-day challenges would cause us to lose track of our overarching purpose.
Having a plan, or at least going through some type of planning process is often the difference between success and failure – personally and professionally.
Tags: action, change, dream, failure, future, goal, objectives, plan, reality, strategy, success, vision
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
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Monday, June 14th, 2010
I confess I’m not a fan of the local newspaper. There are too many other sources these days for the specific news I choose to follow. Having said that, there’s one publication I do enjoy reading on a regular basis – Investor’s Business Daily.
As you know, I love to focus on fundamentals. I place a high value on doing those few things that give a high return on the investment. Whether it’s time, talent or treasure, doing a few simple things on a regular basis will almost always separate you from the crowd.
My favorite section of the IBD is “Leaders & Success.” In that section of the paper, the focus is on men and women who have attained success and often remarkable achievements through – guess what – clarity, focus and hard work. I know, that last part is a drag, isn’t it?
The Leaders & Success section also presents IBD’s 10 Secrets of Success. The 10 secrets come from years of analyzing leaders and successful people from every walk of life. This extensive study revealed ten traits which, when combined, turned dreams into reality and into fantastic levels of achievement.
This week I’ll share five of the secrets and finish the list in the next edition of “Getting More With Les.” Ready? Here are the first five:
1. How You Think Is Everything:
Always think positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve?
2. Decide Upon Your True Dreams and Goals.
Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve?
3. Take Action:
Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve?
4. Never Stop Learning:
Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve?
5. Be Persistent And Work Hard:
Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10. What can you do to improve?
That’s enough to think about this week. Do yourself a favor though, give these five success secrets some deeper thought. Remember, knowledge itself isn’t power. Knowledge APPLIED is where the real power comes from.
Tags: clarity, failure, focus, goals, hard work, improvement, investment, Investors Business Daily, leaders, learn, negative, news, newspaper, persistence, positive, success, time, training
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
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Ever hear of the 24-Hour Rule?
