A, B, C, D, E, F:  The Foundations for Success 

Attitude:

Throughout decades of reading business success books and listening to many business talks, I have discovered a common thread among most of them. And that commonality is having a positive attitude no matter the ups and downs of your personal experience. Picture attitude as an expansive website with multiple pull down menus. The headings would include words such as Smile, Optimistic, Resilient, Positive, People Oriented, Vision, Faith, Values, Energetic, Humility, Responsibility and Thankfulness.  

I'm positive that you can think of other attributes to add to this list.

Belief: 

Belief could also be considered as being very similar to faith. Belief and faith can also have multiple definitions and applications. Your personal faith in a creator God is central to many of the values written in US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 

From a business perspective it is imperative that we have faith (or confidence) in ourselves, your employer, the products and services you provide, your industry as a whole and ultimately your customers as viable business partners.

Let's face it, faith creates trust. Without trust our economy collapses.

Capacity:   

Congratulations! You are in personal possession of the most powerful brain of any living creature on earth. There are billions of neurons in your brain and they are all capable of creating thousands of connections. Each night while you are asleep these brain cells are flushing out waste and creating new capacity for you to function at a high level. In addition, your brain creates new neurons every night.

Consequently, if you imbibed too much beer back in college,..there's hope for you!

Think back in history to some of the most creative thinkers and inventors. People like Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Tesla, Jack Kilby, The Wright Brothers, Henry Ford, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Companies (Composed of people of course) like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Xerox, HP, Dell, Honda and General Motors.

Your brain is no different than theirs! The key is to vigorously follow your talent set, make wise choices and focus. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Determination:    

Determination can be considered to be a firm and final decision to follow a course of action and be unwavering in your dedication to carry out that resolve.

It is related to its first cousin persistence, but it is an entirely different concept. Persistence is at its very core; the determination to repeatedly approach the issue until it is solved in some form, manner or fashion.   

Determination allows you to resist the temptation to lower your standards or quit when the inevitable temptation to bail out comes when a difficult task is tackled.

Enthusiasm:  

In a classical sense and a most common perception is that of a person with a high "I" personality when considering the DISC personality profile. A person with high energy, a big smile, they never met a stranger, creative and engaging. People want them at their event and their vigorous nature lightens up the room.

However, I believe you can show your enthusiasm by focusing on the strengths discovered by taking the DISC personality test. (See TonyRobbins.com/DISC for a quality version) 

I am a D/C style, which in a nutshell means that I'm a driven individual with an eye for details. My I score is far below these two types, however when I realize it's to the advantage of everyone concerned, then the engaging I can be summoned up for a finite period of time. Even the S (Supportive, low key) individual's personality can be used because their zest for supporting a cause they believe in will be recognized by many others. 

If this aspect of your personality does come naturally, work on exhibiting your strengths. Do not try to fake the natural high I you were never meant to be.

Focus:  

The Latin word focus meant “hearth, fireplace.” In the scientific Latin of the 17th century, the word is used to refer to the point at which rays of light refracted by a lens converge. Because rays of sunlight when directed by a magnifying glass can produce enough heat to ignite paper, a word meaning “fireplace” is quite appropriate as a metaphor to describe their convergence point. From this sense of focus have arisen extended senses such as “center of activity.”

 Typically, when we hear and read about personal success stories, there is very little mention about the preparation work, the failure and rejection they received before they became well known and were acknowledged for their achievements.

 

·         Albert Einstein: High School dropout and failed child tutor. But later a Phd, prize winning physicist and Nobel Prize Winner

*  Theodore Roosevelt: A financially broke and failed rancher. Later to become Governor of New York, War hero and President of the United States.

*  Henry Ford’s first Automobile company was a partnership that went bankrupt in 18 months. The year was 1900. By 1919 his immediate family bought total control of the new Ford Motor company for $105 million dollars. The company is now valued at $82 Billion dollars.

*  J.K. Rowling was a single mother, and one worked in Portugal as an ESL teacher and for Amnesty International.    She has written 7 immensely popular Harry Potter books and now has a net worth of 1 Billion dollars. Born 1965 in England.

 

All people who focused on a natural, innate skill they discovered, persevered, and focused to master their craft.

One of the companies I have been associated with operates under a strong 80/20 business directive from the senior management group. They use the Pareto Principle as a concept that assumes 80% of the business volume or opportunities come from 20% of the overall client list or product list. This is a corporate way of directing the managers to focus on the primary business that contributes to the majority of the profit.

 

The reward for this focus is two-fold. The business agents of the company do not pursue low volume, small potential business and the manufacturing group is not distracted buying components and building small volume, low margin products. The risk is some aspect of alienation from accounts that may feel neglected because their product demands were not met.

 

On a personal basis the same premise can be used to allow for the focus necessary for any true achievement to take place. Even if an individual is considered naturally gifted in a particular area, some level of focus is necessary for expertise and success to be obtained.

 

The first step must be a personal analysis of what will be of value to the individual. There may be a combination of tangible and intangible benefits. The goals established may be short term in nature or perhaps a lifelong goal. Some short-term examples might be a professional certification, college degree, a physical fitness goal or long-term items such as spiritual maturity or mastering a foreign language. The “return on investment” may be considered as part of the analysis.

 

Once a worthwhile goal is settled on, the proper amount of time must be allocated to master the skill or achieve the goal. This is perhaps one of the easiest things to plan, but more difficult to execute. Some aspect of trial and error will normally take place before one is able to decide what time commitment is necessary to accomplish your goals. Remember your freshman orientation for college? They told us to study two hours outside for every hour spent in class. If only we had heeded that advice!

Once the time and effort level is clear, it is important to put aside the incidentals that tend to distract all of us. You simply cannot allow time wasters to creep into your time allotted for the discipline required for success.

 

Then a personal 80/20 analysis of the goal must be conducted. Ask yourself what foundation of knowledge or skill must be learned first before you progress on to higher levels of expertise. It always helps me to get a grasp of the big picture before I can start to adequately assemble all the component parts that complete the whole goal. Once these fundamental issues are grasped, it helps you to focus on the task at hand because you can see the outcome.

Given the enormous amount of information readily available on so many topics, it is now possible to seek out multiple experts to assist in your skill building process. You may catch yourself being out of focus this way or you may need to set a more realistic timeframe for the accomplishment of your goal.

 

Be sure to establish the right physical atmosphere for maximum productivity. For the majority of people, the maximum retention of material and work productivity take place in a quiet, comfortable, well-lit atmosphere with no distractions. The repetition and self-testing build the skill level necessary to achieve your goals.

 

Avoid tangible distractions (TV. Magazines, Newspapers, etc) and police your thoughts to stay on track. Visualize the achievement, presentation, skill set or product in its perfect, finished form to spur you on to greater energy output and focus. Visualize the rewards of satisfaction, a job well done and future opportunities when a hard sought, worthy goal is achieved.

 

 A recap of these steps is listed below:

 

• Analysis of important goals

• Set aside necessary time

• Set aside time wasters

• 80/20 analysis of the specific goal

• Seek out expertise

• Set deadlines and benchmarks

• Establish the right physical atmosphere

• Visualize the finished product

This premise can be used to allow for the focus necessary for any true achievement to take place. Even if an individual is considered naturally gifted in a particular area, some level of focus is necessary for expertise and success to be obtained.