Taking Action

Today is day two that we will be featuring one of the 7 Qualities of a Successful Person: Take Action.

Don't Wait
"No matter what anyone says you can't get what you want by just thinking about it." (Katie Byrd) You must be focused and have a clear enough vision of what you want, and you will naturally just start taking action to reach your goal. You’ll be surprised at the get great ideas you come up with and be able to expand the ones you already had, and you will know exactly what to do and be motivated to do it. Successful people do not wait for the "perfect" time to start achieving their goals; they go straight for them and don’t wait for a particular moment to surface. If you you're waiting for something big to happen before you can do what you wanna do, you might be waiting along time. The perfect time is now, stop making excuses for yourself: I don't have enough time, I don't have the money right now. Whatever it may be, there's no time for second guessing, "He who hesitates is lost."
Take Action and if you fail at your first attempt, all you have to do is simply learn from your mistakes and try again. Keep Pushing. For so many of us the hardest part of becoming successful is reaching a starting point. So the next time you want to do something no matter how big or small, Take Action.

“Take the Lead”

Leadership in all its richness is easier said than done. The awkwardness to do such a task is rarely bestowed in a time of convenience or is a choice that we make in which we understand the fullness of all predicted responsibilities and the agony that such a decision may cause. Nonetheless, the understanding of leadership does not come from if we are aware of the uneasiness it brings, but whether we are built for such a circumstance. Either we lead, have the ability to lead and don’t, or lead because we have to. So the irony of the situation is not who is leading us or what those leaders are made of, but precisely what type of leaders we have.

Interpretation:
A lot of times we chose our leaders based on their moral character, their resume’s accolades and at even times because of how well they may resemble us in some way. But these things should seldom be ones main concern when it comes to selecting a leader because none of the above ensures a leader will be successful. A true leader is someone with not only the requested accolades but equipped for the position both psychologically and emotionally. They are able to handle the pressures, devise creative solutions, problem solve and manage the personalities of all, and that is only scratching the surface. The importance in understanding this is that what essentially makes us great is what makes us human. In closing, from a logical stance the person who is qualified should be granted the opportunity to have the position, but it is our humanistic qualities that we should not ignore when making a decision as important as selecting who we chose to lead us.

Quote of the day

"People have to do what they gotta do in
order to do what they want to do."

7 Qualities of a Successful Person

On Sept. 28, 2007 we had a entry on here about the 7 qualities of a successful person. It was a pretty good entry, and I think we learned a lot from it. I noticed that we poccessed many of the traits rather they are being applied is another story. So, I thought it would be a good idea to reinorate the 7 qualities and in addition. I will be adding an article about each of the 7 qualities for the next 7 days. So, if you don't remember the 7 qualities are:

• Persistence


• Know What You Want


• Prioritize


• Time Management


• Take Action


• Pay the Price


• Think & Speak Positive

For a break down of the 7 Qualities click here

Beating Procastination

So, the first article is for Time Management which is an extremely important quality from the 7 traits of a successful person. Time Management we help to Beat work overload, Increase your effectiveness, Achieve much more, and work smarter. I found a few articles on this on MindTools.com So visit there site for more on this and more skill building tools.

The 80:20 Rule
This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the '80:20 Rule'. This says that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently that it is the norm in many situations.

Here is the article taken from MindTools.com
Overcoming Procrastination
Manage your time. Get it all done.

If you’ve found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again, you’re not alone. In fact, many people procrastinate to some degree - but some are so chronically affected by procrastination that it stops them achieving things they're capable of and disrupts their careers.

The key to controlling and ultimately combating this destructive habit is to recognize when you start procrastinating, understand why it happens (even to the best of us), and take active steps to better manage your time and outcomes.

Why do we Procrastinate?

In a nutshell, you procrastinate when you put off things that you should be focusing on right now, usually in favor of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you’re more comfortable doing.

Procrastinators work as many hours in the day as other people (and often work longer hours) but they invest their time in the wrong tasks. Sometimes this is simply because they don't understand the difference between urgent tasks and important tasks, and jump straight into getting on with urgent tasks that aren't actually important.

They may feel that they're doing the right thing by reacting fast. Or they may not even think about their approach and simply be driven by the person whose demands are loudest. Either way, by doing this, they have little or no time left for the important tasks, despite the unpleasant outcomes this may bring about.

Another common cause of procrastination is feeling overwhelmed by the task. You may not know where to begin. Or you may doubt that you have the skills or resources you think you need. So you seek comfort in doing tasks you know you're capable of completing. Unfortunately, the big task isn't going to go away - truly important tasks rarely do.

Other causes of procrastination include:

Waiting for the “right” mood or the “right” time to tackle the important task at hand;
A fear of failure or success;
Underdeveloped decision making skills;
Poor organizational skills; and
Perfectionism ("I don't have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly now, so I won't do it at all.")

HOW TO OVERCOME PROCASTINATION
Finish Article Here

Quote of the Day

"Every great achievement
was once considered impossible."
-Unknown

One of the World's Best Quotes?

Today, I found this site called careerlab.com and I thought it was pretty cool. The career lab is a career and leadership development firm, and they had a section on their site called the worlds best quotes and I wanted to post one of them and a few of the comments. Check Out The Rest At (free plug)
www.careerlab.com/comments.htm

"No great thing is created suddenly."
—Epictetus (A.D.200)

We live in a McDonald's culture. We want everything instantly and without effort. And we bristle when others around us appear to be getting more, sooner. Waiting for rewards or results is out of favor. It is so uncool.

Many things are created suddenly: the two-day house makeovers on HOME & GARDEN TELEVISION, for example, but they aren't great. They are adequate, functional, or practical improvements. Greatness requires thought and time, effort and sacrifice. Especially sacrifice.

Stellar careers aren't built overnight. Take the orthopedic surgeon, whose education extends 15 years past high school. Take the country western star on Grand Ole' Opry. Take the NFL quarterback or wide receiver, the CEOs, CFOs, and Vice Presidents of brand-name companies. Think about Edison, Einstein, or Galileo, or anyone else you might admire. None of them got there overnight.

Great careers are built upon hundreds of thousands of small efforts, undertaken daily, that eventually grow into a series of satisfying wins. An ad for Paul Masson Vineyards picturing a bottle of wine said, "Nothing good happens fast." I framed it, and hung it in my office.