RULES TO HAPPINESS
Rules - we all have them. Sometimes we use them every time we do a particular task, encounter a particular person or situation or even how we deal with ourselves on a day to day basis. So this is my master Rules list. When I find my creativity or motivation lacking, I no longer sit and wonder how I got there because more than likely I am not heading out the same way I went in - so how I got there isn't half as important as just getting out. Spending my energy on getting out means that afterward, with my hindsight at 20/20 I can look back on a situation and declare the full lessons contained in my life experience.
These rules have been compiled from resources on cable and broadcast programming, movies, documentaries, books, the internet and my life experiences.
SELF:
- BE HAPPY! Happy people are more creative. Most people who are happy are that way because they decided to be that way and refuse to be any other way. When you aren't happy, practice being happy - decide for 30 - 60 minutes, no matter what, you are going to be happy and refuse to be any other way.- Have balls of steel.
- The less time I spend thinking about myself, the happier I am - Kirk Douglas. Difficult to be happy when you spend all your time thinking about just yourself.
- Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up! Often, at least have of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are as in control as we think that we are.
- Always speak kindly to yourself.
- Get out and stay out of your comfort zone. Once you get out of your comfort zone you will break those imaginary shackles that hold you back.
- When you are ready to quit, you are closer than you think (Breakthrough)
- Focus only on what you want to have happen, not on what you haven't done.
- Take things a day at a time.
- Always be moving forward.
- Be quick to decide.
- What you are made of, is really determined when you are by yourself.
- Be irresistible.
- Define yourself - before someone else does it for you.
- Train yourself to think differently. Be positive and determined. There are few things more powerful than a positive attitude.
- Always believe you can do anything.
- Have a happy something that you can always go to to cheer you up. A song, a video, a photo - something that within a few minutes can change your mood and bring you back to happy - the place you want to be. =)
- Every minute we spend being miserable is 60 seconds we miss out on being happy.
HEALTH:
- Exercise each and every day. Exercise will super charge your mental circuits, boost memory and improve mood. - Dr. John Rainey - Spark- Spend time reading or learning about other disciplines. Learning new things is fun and opens up your mental creativity.
- Track all nutrition - this is the only way to have the data to figure out what works and what doesn't.
- Track all fitness - document every step, every mile, every minute - they are key to remembering your successes and reminding yourself of how FAR you have come.
- Divide calories to eat meals and snacks every 3 - 4 hours for even fuel throughout the day.
- Heavier fats and carbs and heavier calories should be eaten earlier in the day to fuel you farther through the day than eating them late at night before bed.
- Eat 22 - 25 grams of fiber each day (guidelines)
- Ideal daily water consumption for anyone is half of your body weight in ounces.
- Consume 8 to 9 servings (1 cup/1 med apple/1 med banana = 1 serving) organic fruits and vegetables each day.
- Eat a small handful of nuts 20 minutes before a meal and you will cut the required amount to be "satisfied".
- Tsp of cinnamon a day - add to anything.
- Only one day off allowed between workouts. One day is an exception or a needed rest, two days is a habit.
- Try one new fitness activity a quarter (every 3 months). Try it once.. if you don't like it, don't do it again. =)
- Listen to relaxing music or do nothing while you are eating. Stressors from the television, the news or other distractions can effect how you digest your food. Your emotions while eating help dictate what your body will do with that nutrition when it hits your stomach.
- Be conscious of all of the tastes and the nutrition you are consuming in your meals. If you remember your meal, remember its tastes, concentrate on the eating experience and actually THINK about the food you are consuming, you will have a better relationship with your food, and with your body.
LIFE:
- Celebrate each and every single VICTORY! Keep a list of your accomplishments to remind yourself of how far you have come rather than being daunted by how much further you may have to go.
- Never Ever Ever Ever Give Up. Almost nothing works the first time, it may work, just maybe not the way you are currently doing it.
- Never let anybody push you around, including you.
- Never expect life to be fair.
- There is always a reason to smile. =) Find it. After, all you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time. - Bob Parson
- Don't over complicate it.
- Think like a winner.
- With knowledge comes confidence.
- The less you communicate, the more people will listen when you speak.
- Anytime you want to say "Bullshit", say "Fantastic"
- Your time is the most valuable thing you can give anyone, treat it like gold.
- Think about your problems in the third person - what advice would I give a friend who is in the same situation that I am in?
- Before you take on any risk, identify and quantify the worst possible thing that could happen. Write it down. Accept it and move on knowing the landscape of your risk. As soon as you quantify it and accept it - then you can move on thinking about how to move on and stop worrying about the possible worst things that could happen.
- Accept and manage good and bad fortune. Sometimes things don't go your way, but never look at defeat as failures. They are learning opportunities and investments in your education.
- Everyone is creatures of habit. We will resist new buying patterns unless we are given compelling reasons to do so.
- Stand out.
- Think about the fun aspects of your job, business or your life. If you aren't having fun, you need to make a change. If you spend your time doing what you love, you will work harder at it and take the time to really understand it. When you love something it tells you all it's secret. Its fun to be in love.
- Tomorrow isn't promised. You have to push yourself today.
- Before you pass judgment, remember to put yourself in check on whether or not you are any type of authority to pass any type of judgment.
LUCK:
- Luck = Opportunity Presenting Itself. Opportunities present themselves all the time. The luck is in identifying those opportunities. To do that you have to train yourself to think in the right way. It is all about perspective. Knowing how and what to think about. Start with 15 minutes sessions. Only thing about things you can actually do something about. Doing this can make a difference in your life. You should be: Happier, more Productive and by doing this you will position yourself to improve where you need to be.- When you waste time thinking about worrying or thinking about events that
you can't control then every second thinking about things you can't change will make you: Sad, Disappointed, Miserable. If you live in the moment you will be: Alert, Much Happier, able to seize all of the opportunities flying by.
STRESS:
- Take time to do nothing. If I take just 30 minutes while stressed to do nothing, my creativity improves.- Just do what you can.
SUCCESS:
- Measure everything of significance. Anything that is measured and watched, improves. - Bob Parson- Anything not managed will deteriorate. - Bob Parson
- Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. - Bob Parson
- Solve your own problems. Everyone has problems. Talking about your problems makes other people think that they are more important than you.
"A wise man keeps his own counsel" - Bob Parson
- If it doesn't work, they can't eat you. - Bob Parson's Dad
- Identify what you would like to be or do. Find your passion, make a plan, make small steps each day. Focus on small daily goals. Even the most daunting task can be handled a little at a time.
GENERAL BUSINESS:
- Always be able to answer these questions: Who are we? What do we do? For whom? What makes us different? Why do clients hire us?
- The longer an email, the less likely it is to be read.
- Referrals are made easier when people know what you are doing.
- Delegate before doing yourself.
- Follow up. Follow up. Follow up.
- Productive people are selfish - with their time. Avoid any conversation that does not lead to what you need to accomplish.
- Get to the point - be blunt without being disrespectful.
- Take care of business - immediately handle anything that gets in the way of your productivity (problem vendors, non-productive employees, etc.). Problems are like your ass, the longer you sit on it, the bigger it gets.
- Keep meetings short - 1 hour max. No exceptions. Period.
- Avoid business meals like the plague.
- Most effective committee is a committee of one. Group decision making takes too long. Compromise is the wrong thing to do for your business. Big decisions need to be made by the CEO. Be quick to decide, and quick to put a plan in motion.
- Busy people never answer their phone. Unless you are feeling lonely, don't pick up the phone. Ask callers to leave a message on the nature of their business and number.
- Get risky, not wreckless. Key is to make sure your risks are calculated and that you always have a fallback.
- Value is a major motivator for new customers. Find your value and flaunt it.
- Service will keep anyone as a customer. Communicate, communicate, communicate - build a relationship.
MARKET CONDITIONS:
- In a depressed market your efforts stand out more due to less competition. This is the time to improve your products and service. Focus on making your business better every single day. - As Advertising becomes more affordable and effective. Big mistake is cutting or eliminating your advertising budgets. Tough times in the media industry - lower rates, more commercials, or buy time periods and products that were once too expensive. Many businesses have cut back on advertising.
- In a bad economy, the consumer is more receptive to high-value propositions.
This is an excellent time to present your customer. Dive into the talent pool. Many of the folks left without a job are high quality talent.
- Populating your staff with outstanding performers makes your company
stronger. Share the pain. Renegotiate with vendors. Incredible opportunities exist all the time - good and bad. Some that you have now, you will never have when business is good. Step up, be alert and take advantage of them.
ON TWITTER/FACEBOOK/WEBSITE:
- Make information relevant, well thought out and don't over do it. One or two tweets or updates per day at the very most. Special offers. Offer fun and interesting observations. The information you share will influence people to follow you or not. Mention your account every time you get a chance. Even if no one is following, keep tweeting. Get followers by following other people - same industry or geographic area as you. There is a good chance they will follow you in return.ON EMPLOYEES:
- Enthusiastic employees are contagious - high energy.- Empower your employees. Empower them to make decisions. Review decisions only on an exceptions basis. Top performers will have a sense of ownership and will move heaven and earth to make your business better. This will allow you time to focus on the bigger picture.
- Avoid hiring inexpensive, disinterested employees like the plague. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
ON CUSTOMERS:
- Accept all customer feedback - good and bad. Use the bad to evaluate your business and improve products or services where needed.- Be a useful resource to them. Stay in touch. Provide value in each and every contact with your customer. Service reminders, new products or events. Get permission to contact them first.
- Give service with a smile. Always, always, always take care of your customer. Listen, fix issues fast, add new techniques to serve new customers. Don't eliminate all human interaction.
- Be EASY. If customers want to spend money on you, make it easy for them to do so. Instant gratification.
- No matter how good your product, prices or marketing - without great customer service, you business will suffer.
- 1000 companies can sell the same product. But those that listen to their customer will stand out and are always the most successful.
- Forget you are an internet company. Personal service is important. Find every possible opportunity to contact them. Thank them for buying your product.
- The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always the
customer.
- Try to give your complaining customers what they want, even if it costs you a few bucks. Small concessions will payout later.
- Customer service department should be overstaffed. Enough resources so
customers who need help get it when they want it. Less pressure on your reps for happier reps.
- Give your customers something they don't expect. We become accustomed
to bad customer service, that you make it your goal to do the opposite. Every opportunity to WOW them. No amount of money can buy the advertising of word of mouth.
ON PROMOTION:
- Advertise smartly. Columns, become an expert, local newspapers, people likes to do business with experts.
- Promote your website on all of your business materials.
- Have events online or in person to support your customers.
- Make sure you are offering better presentation than your competition.
- Presentation is at least as important as preparation - eat with your eyes first, then your stomach.
- The best deal presented poorly won't do as good as a mediocre offering
presented well.
- Make it crystal clear on why they should buy from me and not anyone else. Find points of difference in price, offering, experience.
- Make your offer - no risk. Money back guarantees.
- Tell your customers why they need your product/service, not why you are
the best product/service.
- Find the right audience. Get your offering in front of a small and focused group.
- Show them what you've got. The right presentation is important - get to the point. People don't care about irrelevant graphics or music.
- Offer detailed descriptions of all products and services. The more clarity we provide, the more people will buy. People are visual, relative pictures are a must.
- Make them an offer they can't refuse. Presenting the right offer is important. Make it crystal clear why they should buy from you. Find those points - price, quality, service, experience and communicate them on your site and in all of your materials. Including quality of life - time, support, stress, etc.
- The holy grail in marketing is now engagement, not eyeballs. Interaction with the brand. Impact-based metrics.
- Consumers are: Passive, Lurkers, Casuals, Actives, Defenders
- People don't mind being sold to if they like the experience and the process.
- People don't like being degraded, talked down to or treated like they are stupid.
ON SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING:
- SEM - Search Engine Marketing. Terms are sold on auction. Quality Index. Impressions to Click Through. So if your ad does better, it will be shown more. You only pay for traffic that goes to your site.
- Hit the target! List of terms that are directly related to your business GeoTarget your location - only pay in areas you want it. Words like "Sport Bikes" or "Choppers" will be cheaper. You will find terms that work betters than others.
- Make sure your ads are tied to the terms you targeted. If you have those words as the targeted keywords, then make sure the ad has that term.
- Make the Connection - links directly to the page on your site what the shopper is looking for. Screwdrivers should take directly to the screwdrivers page - not your home page.
- Don't make them work hard to buy your products.
- Track the results of your campaign. Measure the results the moment your ads hit the search engines. Immediately stop using ads that don't work.
ON EDGE:
- To be successful in business you need one Special Ingredient - Edge.- You have to find your edge. Reason why your business will succeed over
other businesses you compete with.
- Better, more functional, unique, low prices, customer service, more effective marketing.
- Convenience can be your edge.
- Quick decisions, Quick payment, Quick delivery
- Low Prices + Volume - Software expensive, service was poor, several days to ship. Low prices, same day shipping, phone support in the industry was a first.
- Outstanding Customer Service and Marketing. For example GoDaddy is:
Low Prices, Best Service, Widest Product Lane, Brand Marketing (Commercials)
- In November of 2000, GoDaddy became the largest company in the category
with more than 35MM domain and 7 million customers. Holding a 50% market
share. However he had 7 competitors who were making more money per year
than he was due to their inflated price.
- You can't be a success of anything, if you don't have some sort of an edge. If you don't have an edge, or know what it is - find it, create it, and put it to work. Do this and your success is guaranteed.
ON INTERVIEWING/PRESENTING YOURSELF:
- Be instantly memorable.- Understand the purpose of the interview. It isn't about you, it's about selling yourself as the best person for the job. Convincing another person that your skills and experience are a perfect match for the opportunity at hand.
- Identify what makes you stand out. Go to the company's website and read up on the company history, press releases, Google the person you are interviewing with - be prepared and this will inspire confidence in the people you meet with.
- Be energetic. If you aren't excited about the job, why would they be excited about you? Show them you will tackle everything with enthusiasm.
- Believe you are the best person for the job. When you believe that, and you are willing to fight for yourself - that confidence will go a long way in getting you the job offer.
- Be inquisitive. Have some good questions prepared in advance. Your questions should be about the company and have nothing to do on what is in it for you.
- Be a problem solver. Go in with understanding of the challenges that a company faces. Ask their interviewer what their internal challenges are. Be prepared for some solutions, or brainstorm. Think and respond like a team member - before you are even hired.
- Problem solvers are the people who get the job and move up the ladder
quickly.
- Spend NO time talking about what it is in it for you. Practice Patience. Prove you are the right person for the job first. You can always talk about your needs after you get an offer.
- Good old fashioned sales techniques. Let them know you are not exclusive. But this opportunity is your most desired. Follow up to close the deal. Email, thank you, hand written note - reinforce how excited you were for the interview and job. Make them feel that if they don't hire you it will be one of the biggest mistakes they have ever made.
ON NEGOTIATING:
- You can negotiate anything.
- Compromise without losing what you need to accomplish your goals. The
key in that is with negotiating.
- How to negotiate and get what you want:
+ Know exactly what you want when you sit down to negotiate.
+ Clear picture of what you want, and what you are willing to let go. Failure to do this will result in bad decisions during the negotiations.
+ Eliminate disadvantages. Plan and make the right moves. Don't back yourself in the corner by starting negotiations too late. Don't beat around the bush. Be direct in telling them what you want. If you leave what you want up to their imagination you will get screwed.
+ If you aren't dealing with the decisions maker, then get someone in your organization to go to the meeting who also isn't a decision maker.
+ Anyone trying to sell you anything will be happy to offer you a better price. The worst they can say to you is NO. More often than not they will say YES.
+ Always good to ask for a better deal. As for three tiers of deals. Low, Medium and High. Small, Medium and Largest. Most often the middle offer is the best for you.
+ When you are talking you aren't listening. Those who talk too much during the negotiation process usually lose. They don't take the time to listen, hear and comprehend the other sides concerns and needs. If you understand the other sides goals as well as your own you will be able to better understand what you can give away for them to move on. Listen and the other side will tell you everything you need to know to finish the deal.
- Don't be shy. Position yourself.
- Keep your cool. The moment you allow yourself to become angry over everything is the moment you lose.
- Don't make a threat unless you are ready to follow through. You don't want them to think you are all hat, no cattle.
- Don't give up what is important for you. You will have negative feelings, then that will create bad feelings later.
- Be prepared to walk away. Move on than risk a bad deal. Go into each
negotiation prepared for the worst and have a plan of what you will do when things break down.
- Smart business people never fall in love with the deal.
