Too many times in the pursuit of our dreams, we loose sight of the total picture and instead settle on a small piece of it. A job, any job, whether it is in the conventional job market or any one of a number of work from home ventures all require the same thing - people of vision. Vision sees the entire portrait, balanced, controlled, and proportionate while focus concentrates solely on one aspect of the portrait. Dont misunderstand, having focus is not a bad thing as long as it doesnt loose sight of vision. In building your road to success you must take several things into account if you want your road to remain stable and strong. These are; Objectives: Ask yourself the following questions. Why do you want to go into business? Where do you want to be in 3 months, 6 months and 1 year? What will it take to get you there? Do you believe in what youre selling? Think about these and write down your answers. They will be the foundation upon which the rest of your business goals will be built. Knowledge Base: What we want to know here is how well you know your subject. Are you familiar with the products or services you will be representing? Do you have immediate access to training materials and technical support if you need it? Do you know where to get the materials and training? Have you researched your subject? As you are going to build these roads to success for yourself approach this part of your learning curve with a child like appetite for knowledge. You can never have enough tools! Just make sure theyre the ones you need for the task at hand. Using Your Resources: A good manager regardless of industry knows his people. He knows their strengths and their weaknesses and will use these resources appropriately in helping his team achieve a particular goal. That same manager if hes true to himself, will also recognize his own weaknesses and strengths and surround himself with knowledgeable people that will offset or compliment the team. Motivation: You have to realistically find out what drives or motivates you towards success. For each one of us it will be something different. Maybe youre looking for financial freedom, extra time to enjoy life or perhaps youve just had enough of the rat race. Whatever your reasons, write them down and keep them somewhere so you can see them. If youre looking at a new car or house, cut out their picture and put them on your wish board so you can see what youre working towards. Brass Tacks: Finally, if were going to put this all together we need to learn how to lead. But before we can do that, we need to learn how to follow first. Great leaders, people in authority, business owners and Entrepreneurs all need to learn how to temper their judgment with wisdom. We can learn a lot from people just by using our senses. Take a moment to stand back, listen, observe. By doing so, you are literally guaranteeing your success. Keeping The Road On Terra Firma: A final thought on keeping your Road on solid ground. Youve got your objectives identified, your resources have come together nicely and everything is starting to gel at the end of your day you need to ask; would I hire myself? If you have trouble answering that, start over again with the basics and re-examine your motivations and your goals. Be honest with yourself then move on. The road will have bumps. Thats to be expected. Dont let these bog you down use them to your advantage! If you think about it, thats the beauty of a mistake, it can be your best friend or worst enemy depending upon how you approach it. Business Ethics: I couldnt let this article go without mentioning business ethics a trait that seems to be sorely misunderstood, often abused, and seldom used. If you dont possess a strong business ethic, in the end you will be found out and your credibility will be forever damaged. Too many times ethics are driven by politics within an office atmosphere to the point where the mission statement is just that a statement and nothing more. To many times I have sat in on meetings that either discussed rules, company ethics or customer service. I have also attended several seminars in which these themes were quite prevalent. What always amazed me however is that the new and improved ways of attracting customers or quality associates to your business were the same things that were in practice over 30 years ago! Someone tried to re-invent the wheel, re-packaged it in something shiny and is selling it to you as the cure for all your business woes. Above all else, always remember that regardless of your business or station in life, you are a consumer and as such you should have a pretty good idea of your likes and dislikes. While the statement honesty is the best policy is nothing new, my grandfather telling me it was always easier to tell the truth because a lie would always have to be remembered so it could be told over and over again, is new not to me, but to others. Something will have to drive you to the front away from the pack! What will it be? Each of use must choose those attributes and find the combination that will work but we must never loose sight of our goals or sell our souls to achieve them. Regardless of what you may think, you can not teach someone Honor, Integrity, Loyalty or Truthfulness. They either have it or they dont. Remember, while you can lead a horse to water, you cant make him drink however, you can make him thirsty! |
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