Who is the most important investment? It is yourself of course. What are your success principles and what does it take to be a success? What is the definition of success? How do we benchmark success? You would have probably heard that success is the journey and not the destination.
This is so true, as when we do achieve that goal or objective we realise that we could still be unhappy or not that successful as we thought we would be and so we strive for the next one.We must realise that success is here and in the present and we need to be embracing it along with the challenges we face in business and in life.
Know Your Outcome
Whenever someone tells me their goals I usually ask them, “What is your outcome of achieving that goal?” There is usually a silence followed by “What do you mean?” Making goals is great and we should all be making goals either on paper on in our heads. Then, we should share that specific goal with others, so that we then become accountable towards ourselves and we need to display integrity in the eyes of others.
One thing that is even more important is that we need to indentify the outcome (the real reason) and consequences of us achieving that goal. Firstly, is the outcome a worthy one that has meaningful and has long term benefits?
Then have we thought about the sacrifices, the discipline, maybe the loneliness of the journey as we could lose friends along the way. Have we thought about why we want to do it and when we achieve it how is it going to be of real benefit to us? Is it going to make us happier or successful? Maybe it could be the wrong goal. In that case, let`s be realistic and go for a goal that even though might be difficult to achieve but it is more meaningful in the long term.
Take Action
Once the goal or objective is decided then we need to take action and start the process. You see, sometimes we forget to put a time frame on achieving our goals. So yes, we make the goals but then procrastinate as we get sidetracked or wait for the right time to start the process. You and I know that the perfect time to start will never arrive, as life is not perfect. We don`t know what is ahead of us, so the best time to start is now.
Be Aware and In –Tune with Your Surroundings
How aware are we of our surroundings and even more so the people that we surround ourselves with on a daily basis? If you think about this, it then narrows to our family, close friends, and of course our staff and in some cases our business partner.
Do we realise that we learn from these people as we have been doing so for years through our 5 senses unconsciously? They are our Visual, Auditory (hearing), Kinesthetic (feeling), Olfactory (smell) and Gustatory (taste).
All of these five senses have been recording related information that becomes memory which relates to behaviour that forms habits. These habits are then carried into our lives and definitely our work environment and our business.
So ultimately, how acutely sharp we are to our business surroundings that are made up of our staff and clients and what are they saying to us? Hopefully, we can learn from and then fine-tune and deliver the solutions back to them that create a response of productivity and empowerment. This comes from your staff and loyalty from your clients that become advocates for the business.
Be Focused but Flexible
We all know that we need to be focused in anything we do to be successful, but what of flexibility? Behavioural Flexibility is probably the most important key to personal and business success. It is about not having tunnel vision, not thinking that your way is the only way even though it has been tried and proven. There could be other ways that also work or even work more efficiently.
It is about showing respect about the other person’s model of the world. This is critical in any communication whether it is between two people, staff and client, manager and staff, business and business and so on. It also does not mean we have to agree as disagreement is healthy for stimulation and creativity. We can disagree but we must still respect their viewpoint.
If this prevails, then we will undoubtedly receive the other person or parties concern, respect in return. Think about a simple handshake that the world knows is a non-verbal form of communication displaying a greeting, respect, and friendship. The other person responds in exactly the same way. So if we fold our arms and show discontent, in most cases we would expect the same response from the other person. Fruit for thought when you next communicate with your staff or client.
Think & Behave with Excellence in Mind
Do we know that how we behave is a reflection of what we are thinking unconsciously? This is the true form of communication because our physiology never lies. Have you met someone that is seems to be saying the right things but for some reason you find it hard to believe them? This is exactly what I mean.
So how can you be sure and aware that your staff and your clients believe you every time you verbally communicate? One sure way is to be genuine and say what you mean. You see, sometimes the truth hurts someone, but you will certainly gain their respect in the long term, provided you say in the right way. This takes skill and training.
Research has shown that 55% of our communication is in our Physiology (Body language), 38% in our Tonality (Voice) and only 7% in our Words. So as they say “It is not what you say but how you say it”. Product, information and general knowledge is very important but by just being clever and letting others about what you know is not enough. The human care factor always wins hands down.
The other factor is the word ’Excellence’. We should understand that excellence does not only relate to great results that can be benchmarked in study, work and life. It is more than that. It is about putting 100% into everything we do. It is about the passion and positive attitude towards any task or project rather than the result. Yes we would normally get the targeted results if we have these attributes but we are all made up genetically and physically different.
So, the real excellence is when one is giving their very best against whatever mental, physical, or competency challenges one has versus someone who is naturally gifted and does not have to work that hard to achieve great things in life. Don`t get me wrong, as being naturally gifted is God-given, but as long as we are also challenging ourselves towards excellence.
Phillip Fernandez, Human Strategist & Director of Wizard Business Consulting, is a Motivational Speaker, Trainer , NLP Practitioner & Article writer. You can contact him on the above topic or any people performance related issues. E: phillip@businesswizards.com.au W: www.businesswizards.com.au Mobile: 0402 213 813 Office: 1300 747 389
