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 March 1st, 2010 |  Welcome back to Jobs, Skills & Advice. Have you claimed your FREE eBooks by subscribing to the newsletter yet? If not, then claim your FREE eBooks now. Thanks for visiting! Everything starts with a thought and man literally becomes what he thinks. “Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is THOUGHT.” (Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill)
The central theme of As A Man Thinketh is “You are what you think”. The following is an excerpt from the book where he describes the importance of every single thought that enters the mind:
A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts, By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the flaws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of character, circumstances, and destiny.
Napoleon Hill said that a lack of self-confidence is the greatest problem regarding thought and he presents a formula for building Self-Confidence. He said “Taking inventory of mental assets and liabilities, you will discover that your greatest weakness is lack of self-confidence, this is overcome with auto-suggestion.” The following excerpt is from Think and Grow Rich:
SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.
Second. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.
Third. I know through the principle of auto-suggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Fourth. I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.
This article is reprinted from My Goal Manager which is an interactive service that follows the strategies and philosophies of some of the most respected resources throughout history to help you: identify and utilize natural talents, create a personal success roadmap, fuel the fires of motivation, keep Your finger on the pulse of progress, confidently make complex decisions, maintain complete organization over your schedule, and much more. Check out My Goal Manager and begin an exciting journey today!
February 26th, 2010 | Time is the most powerful currency of the 21st century. And this powerful currency demands much of our attention. Unfortunately, most people never make use of this remarkable resource we have – our time. Here’s some tips to help you make the most of your time every single day:
1. Break down large tasks into smaller ones: We all know the feeling of staring at a new complicated project feeling overwhelmed and wishing we were anywhere but here. But, even complicated tasks are not impossible to handle. In fact, most tasks become unbelievably trivial once we break them down into small pieces. Get into the habit of breaking down your tasks into small ones and tackling each individual part one at a time. This will help you stay calm as well as it will help you accomplish your goals without the urge to procrastinate.
2. Get rid of unproductive routine tasks: This included getting up each morning and checking your email. Do not start your day on somebody else’s agenda. Get out there, take some time to focus on the goals for the day and then start working on them. Do routine tasks during slow times of the day. For example, check your emails right after lunch.
3. Look at your habits to see if they could be changed, maybe you could do certain things different ways and save yourself some time in the process.
4. Evaluate yourself to determine if you are a morning person or night person and organize tasks to use whatever time suits you best. I am usually the most productive at night or after 10 AM and that is exactly why I work on my most important goals during those hours. 2 hours of focused work is far more valuable than 10 hours of unfocused work.
5. Learn to say the word “no”: One of the biggest secrets of success is leadership. You need to be able to become a leader and say NO when someone asks you for a favor that can take considerable amount of highly productive time from you.
You need to be very cautious about where and how you spend your time. Time is the most precious resource you have and you need to stop wasting it and start treating it like gold.
To learn how you can take control of your time and use it to achieve your goals, visit Manage My Time Now.
February 25th, 2010 | Mary Berman, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, had been looking for work since February 2009 before starting her Guerrilla Job Search, in mid-September.
Up to that point, 20 weeks of job hunting had produced zero job interviews.
Just 7 weeks later, she accepted a job on Thursday, November 12, as a marketing executive assistant.
How did she use Guerrilla job hunting tactics to find work 65% faster?
“I started with the Coffee Cup Caper. I sent a paper Starbucks coffee cup with my cover letter and Guerrilla Resume. I heard back from them a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.
After her first interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache.
“It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note attached. A friend of mine, who was off work that day, played delivery person and took it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”
Berman’s second interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan. I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information given to create suggestions for what I would do in the first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”
Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …
1. Start smart
The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a Guerrilla Cover Letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.
2. Follow up with style
Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things. In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.
And, leaving out the gift, could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend posing as one? Of course.
3. Give employers another reason to hire you
Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action for her first 3 months on the job.
A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.
Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)
4. Score style points with your delivery
Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.
Do you NOT see a pattern? Email should NOT be the sole delivery method for your career documents.
Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of conventional job hunting with conventional tactics.
After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.
If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live. The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla is you.
February 24th, 2010 | Recent surveys suggest that, given the chance, about four out of 10 people would change career tomorrow and a further 3 probably would. The most popular reason given would be to earn more. But others want a new challenge, to do something more fulfilling, or to have a better quality of life.
If you are one of these who might, what’s stopping you? It’s probably only lack of the right information…
But let me tell you how you can get the information you need quickly and easily.
Simply stated there are only two things stopping you from making the successful career change you dream of – belief and action. Or in my terms: PMA + SMA = Career Change Success
But everyone goes on about PMA – Positive Mental Attitude, don’t they? What does it mean?
To some extent we all have some influence over the things that happen to us. I don’t mean to say that we can make everything work out right all of the time, but we can hold an attitude of expecting things to go right.
It also means belief in yourself; that you have the skills and experience; qualities and attributes that will benefit a new employer. The one who wins isn’t necessarily the one who can, but the one who thinks he can. So if you are going to make that career change, you must think you can.
Belief in yourself is also about being true to yourself and your core values. It’s not about short-term gains, ‘acing’ interviews or ‘finessing’ your way into a high-paying job that you’ve no real hope of holding down. The move you make must be consistent with your core values otherwise you won’t achieve that all important career satisfaction. If you get there by the wrong means, you’ll probably end up as one of the four in ten again!
So you should start your career change process by being clear in your mind about:
- what you really enjoy doing;
- what makes your work satisfying, great fun, fraught, or dull;
- what you’re good at and want to continue doing;
- what’s important to you;
- and how your decisions affect those close to you.
You can work out the answers to these questions from my advice on your skills analysis, your contributions and your values – then your career change becomes career reality!
But only if you use the second part of my formula – SMA by which I mean Sustained Meaningful Activity. In other words do the things you need to do, for as long as you need to do them, until the career change you want to achieve becomes career reality.
What are the things you need to do?
- Follow all the advice you can get and be clear that you have the skills and capacity to present a compelling case to a new employer.
- Work out how you will make your case come alive by preparing scenarios and stories that colourfully illustrate how your experience brings value and benefits to the new organization.
- Be prepared for disappointment – you may not get there first time – but stay positive and don’t just give up. Move on to the next one right away.
- Build up your network of people who can support, advise and challenge you; most people will be very pleased to help.
- Get your CV or resume updated and reviewed by someone you respect.
- Research potential businesses that may have the right type of opportunity, but are also likely to be consistent with your values.
- Ask questions at interview so you can gauge whether the opportunity is right or simply ‘there’.
- Make sure your writing skills are up to the task of producing not only excellent application cover letters, but also carefully crafted target letters for the direct approach to employers.
- Be clear how you can access the ‘unadvertised’ jobs market, by networking, research and targeting.
- Maintain your confidence and optimism and never quit, give up or give in/ – you know you can do it, so keep going till you get there.
February 23rd, 2010 | Having detailed plans to follow is vital in achieving just about anything worthwhile. The lack of good planning is a very common reason for failure in many endeavors. “I discovered that MOST IDEAS ARE STILL-BORN, AND NEED THE BREATH OF LIFE INJECTED INTO THEM THROUGH DEFINITE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION.” (Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill).
Sun Tzu believed that good planning was so crucial that his very first chapter in The Art of War is titled “Laying Plans”. The Art of War refers to planning in one way or another more than 1,100 times. Tzu believed that before undertaking the achievement of any goal it is essential to calculate a complete analysis of the situation.
Recording your Roadmap to Success by developing a detailed Plan of Action also allows you to work smarter and improve time management giving you more free time. “It is really not the number of things you do, but the efficiency of each separate action that counts.” (The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles).
The following excerpt is from Think and Grow Rich regarding the six definite, practical steps by which any desire can become a reality (the word money can be replaced for any definite goal that you wish to achieve) . Notice the level of detail involved in every step of planning:
First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).
Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing”.)
Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.
Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ— SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.
This article is reprinted from My Goal Manager which is an interactive service that follows the strategies and philosophies of some of the most respected resources throughout history to help you: identify and utilize natural talents, create a personal success roadmap, fuel the fires of motivation, keep Your finger on the pulse of progress, confidently make complex decisions, maintain complete organization over your schedule, and much more. Check out My Goal Manager and begin an exciting journey today!
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