by Dr. Heléna Kate | Jan 16, 2014 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
OK, so I cannot spell. You must have noticed by now. That, and I have several other learning disabilities. I have heard my entire life how sloppy, stupid, or unprofessional I am because of these difficulties. I can\’t say it hasn’t stung from time to time but it has been a great teacher.
Which brings me to the idea of perfectionism, a topic that was repeated again during the last session of my Serious Success 2 Business program. We discussed the importance of moving forward rather than getting stuck in the idea with a false belief that things, at some point in time, will be perfect. They won\’t be.
There was a point in my life where a mistake like what I just mentioned would\’ve caused me physical pain. I would have cringed at the idea of people witnessing such an \”obvious\” oversight. However, at this point in time, a mistake like that only reminds me of my humanness — something I have to say I\’m becoming very good friends with. I have learned that compassion with myself is a vital part of my success.
I\’m going to recommend that you become friends with your own limitations, shortcomings, and oversights. Not because we want to devalue our work or lessen its impact but because, in order for the world to change — and in order for our lives to change — we need to move forward, take action, and make a difference. If we are doing that, the mistakes along the way will fade and our successes will become that much greater and more memorable.
I am grateful that I do not need to be perfect. I will, of course, try my best, but doing my best truly is good enough, and makes the work and the challenges faced that much more enjoyable and deeply fulfilling.
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by Dr. Heléna Kate | Jan 14, 2014 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
Being successful generally does not just happen, it requires taking action. As with many things in life, being focused can greatly increase your odds of achieving an important goal, or goals.
Success is no different. If you want to be successful there are actions you can take to help improve your odds. Here are seven secrets of success you can focus on to greatly increase your chances of being successful.
- Get serious: Being successful is not about taking it easy, it’s about getting serious and being committed to task. You should also be serious about seeking excellence. While focus and getting serious means you should not have to work every hour of every day, you do need to be serious about taking action every day in pursuit of your goals.
- Training: Archilochos, the Greek soldier and poet once said, “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.” We can imagine all the success at an activity we want, but at the end of the day, we will execute only as well as we have trained. What skills do you need to tune and practice? It’s essential you train hard and your train often, if you want to achieve success. It’s also wise to use a coach that can provide feedback and help you achieve peak performance.
- Surround yourself with the right people: Success demands hard work, determination and the right support. You can only be as good as your team. You can have the best quarterback in the NFL, but if the rest of the team sucks, your team is not going to the Super Bowl. In another example closer to home, take a look at the “tiki bar” at the Snook Inn. When it’s busy during happy hour, lunch or dinner, the bartenders work really hard. More importantly, if you watch them closely, you can see they work as a team. They could never keep up with demand during these peak hours if they did not support each other. You want to surround yourself with competent, positive team members, who also are willing to give 110 percent toward being successful.
- Physical health: Your physical health is extremely helpful for business success. If you are working long hours, or a road warrior, being in good health allows you to keep going in the face of adversity and long days. Physical health also improves energy, speed and charisma. All of which are useful in achieving success.
- Be self-aware: This may be the most challenging of the seven for most of us. It’s not only important to understand others, we must be self-aware of our own behavior. This can be critical in assuring we bond with customers, partners and suppliers, as well as those that may be able to help us through the day. Smile when speaking on the phone, treat others with respect, and learn to listen. Practicing these skills will allow others to be more empathetic when you need help and support. Life is too short not to spread the good cheer.
- Take positive action every day in pursuit of your goals: Be proactive in reaching your goals. As an adult no one else can best do this other than you. Accept responsibility for the outcome you achieve and you will find that you will achieve more. If you lose a sale, instead of blaming someone or something else, look in the mirror and say, “What can I do better.” Ask yourself how you can work harder, learn new skills or help your team.
- Work harder than the rest: When you are in charge, there is no try, there is only do, or no do. By giving 110 percent you will find that over time your results are much greater than average, because most won’t give 110 percent. It takes time, preparation and commitment to task to be successful.
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Andy Singer is the president of Singer Executive Development, a professional training and development company that helps optimize business performance of employees and executives. They work with companies of all sizes optimizing performance and key skill sets in areas such as sales, marketing and operations. Singer is also on the board of directors for several organizations.
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by Dr. Heléna Kate | Jan 12, 2014 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
We hear over and over that we need to stay physically active to be healthy but we do not talk much about needing to be physically connected to be successful. Guess what, its just as important!
Think of it this way. The more that we take care of our selves, the more energy that we will have to do the things that we need to do for our business.
The less we connect with our body the less we have to give to our business. Think about a time when you were really run down and then you ran into an angry person in a store or something. It was probably challenging not to get angry back or even escalate things. Now imagine a day where you have exercised, eaten right, and meditated. Same situation and you are able to handle it totally differently. Maybe even help transform the situation into a positive one.
In business, we are dealing with problems, conflicts and challenges all the time. And, on top of it all, it is our livelihood. We need to be sharp to be successful. So here are some tips (You likely know them so just take a moment to see if you are doing them. If not, then what might you change):
- Sleep enough and on a regular schedule
- Eat healthy and especially stay away from sugar and allergens
Exercise regularly
- Drink enough water
- Do things that are pleasurable for your body: ie. massage, dancing, taking a bath
by Dr. Heléna Kate | Jan 5, 2014 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
Feeling stressed? Well, its common knowledge that you are not alone. Most of us these days have a high level of stress in our lives which is affecting the way we interact with others. In cases of chronic stress, the frontal lobe of the brain literally shuts down. This makes it virtually impossible for us to do anything besides react.
How do you think this affects your business and your life?
It may seem like that vacation or even day off is more than you can afford but what is the price for not taking time to slow down? We hear a lot about cleansing our bodies to create a healthier happier life but what about our minds and emotions?
How are they continuing to hold us back from what it is that we really want in life because (just like our bodies) they are overfed and under-nurtured?
What I talk to a lot of my clients about are their rhythms. Everyone has a rhythm to the way they live and a part of that needs to be rest and relaxation. For some people that might be on a daily basis. For me, about every 10-12 weeks, I need a chunk of time to myself. When I don’t do this, I am not functioning optimally by week 13 and starting to loose ground by week 15.
Regardless of whether you need time every few hours, every day, every week or every month, finding your rhythm and meeting your need to slow down will ultimately make you more fulfilled as well as more successful.
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by Dr. Heléna Kate | Jan 2, 2014 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
As a label, the word “entrepreneur” really is fascinating. When my friends and I were starting up our first Virgin businesses in the early ‘70s, no one seemed to understand what we were doing. Some important people called us entrepreneurs, but they used the word in a derogatory way, hinting that we were adventurers, out to upset the order of things, and perhaps not to be trusted. We certainly didn’t describe ourselves as entrepreneurs at that time, because that would have been met with some strange looks.
These days, the number of people who are working as entrepreneurs has increased so much that that this career path almost qualifies as a lifestyle choice. Defining “entrepreneur” has become more difficult because it now means so many different things to so many different people — all of us speak from our own experiences.
The thing is, our critics were partly right: We really were out to disrupt the order of things. Then and now, when we’re starting up a new Virgin business, we don’t just want to carry out a simple moneymaking exercise, but to make a positive change in people’s lives and give consumers a better deal. Whichever product or service we offer, we want it to be a lot better than all the rest.
Our approach, which I would describe as entrepreneurial, has proven to be a real advantage. For instance, all but one of Virgin Atlantic’s original competitors have gone out of business since we entered the market in the ‘90s. This happened for a number of reasons, but probably the most important one was their lack of innovation and bravery. We noticed this first when Virgin’s move into air travel was met with skepticism, and then after we showed the critics that air travelers wanted a different type of experience — flights that included entertainment and terrific service — we saw that most of our competitors were too slow to react.
From my perspective, an entrepreneur isn’t just someone who launches a business; the desire to innovate then prompts that person to keep on striving to make positive changes. Companies need to be flexible: This starts with the people at the top, who must have a real desire to disrupt new markets they enter, and to react nimbly to changing circumstances at established businesses. It’s also probably fair to say that you can be successful in business without being an entrepreneur — keeping the money coming in steadily without looking for the next opportunity to expand and improve.
What makes the difference is fearlessness. The best businesses offer a product or service that has never previously been available. While you can almost always conduct research and test the marketplace before a launch, an entrepreneur will always be, to some extent, jumping into the unknown, as the very nature of a new product means you’re venturing into new territory.
Very young people often have an advantage here, since they can approach business challenges without fear because they have nothing holding them back, no commitments, and in many ways nothing to lose. As a person’s career progresses, considerations such as looking after one’s family and paying the mortgage come into play.
If you think you have a game-changing idea and you too have such responsibilities, you are facing a true test of an entrepreneur. The best way to handle this is to not to let such factors rule your decision-making process, but to integrate them into it. Prepare for failure, protect your downside, and then go right ahead with the launch.
The other part of the equation is resilience. Despite the most careful planning and preparation, the vast majority of startups fail within the first year of business. What does this tell us? That entrepreneurs must not only cope with failure, but welcome it. There’s no shame in admitting that something isn’t working and going back to the drawing board — we’ve done our fair share of that at Virgin. This ability to bounce back will make the difference, allowing you and your team to apply yourselves to new goals wholeheartedly, without looking back. So an entrepreneur is many things: a job creator, a game-changer, a business leader, an innovator, a disruptor. Most importantly, that entrepreneur is you, if you want to be one badly enough.
Let’s hear from readers: Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur, or a businessman or businesswoman? Which label do you prefer?
reblogged from www.entrepreneur.com Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, which consists of more than 400 companies around the world including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America and Virgin Mobile. He is the author of six books including his latest, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won\’t Teach You at Business School (Portfolio Trade, 2012).
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by Dr. Heléna Kate | Dec 31, 2013 | Dr. Heléna Kate's Blog
The new year is approaching and many of us take this as a time to review what happened over the past months and to envision what we would like to have for ourselves in the ones ahead.
Here are some powerful questions to help you get clear on where you are at and what will best serve you in the future. These questions go right to our core beliefs to uncover what foundation we have created to get what we really want out of life.
Are your core beliefs supporting what you most desire? By taking your own personal inventory, you can begin to see yourself with greater clarity and perspective. Remember to be compassionate during this process and not be overly judgmental and critical. Let us always accept ourselves fully for who we are in this moment.
Expect some resistance to doing an inventory like this. Simply bringing awareness to your belief structures will begin to clean out what no longer serves you and like it or not, we all resist change. However, committing to finishing a list like this will have powerful ramifications on what you are able to create for yourself. Commit now to doing a questions or tow a day and you will be surprised and what you learn.
- Have you consciously selected the beliefs you currently hold?
- What beliefs have you inherited from your family, teachers, and upbringing?
- What is in the way of you experiencing the freedom and joy that you truly desire?
- What makes you most angry and is it possible to forgive and let go of judgment in this area?
- What kind of thoughts and feelings do you have when you wake up in the morning?
- What is your body worth to you? Do you treat it well?
- What do you think about sex?
- What do you believe about money and possessing great wealth?
- What influence does your family have in determining your behavior?
- What kind of world do you really want to live in?
- What do you think is possible for you to achieve in this lifetime?
- Do you believe you are truly free?
- What do you believe you deserve from life?
Did you find any questions or obstacles arise when you worked on these questions? We would love for you to send them to us at admin@projectspace.in
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