06 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Brand

1. Being customer oriented and not competitor oriented.

You can assume that most of your competitors are going to be customer oriented. So what happens in the marketplace? Everyone winds up with a similar product. 

Back in 2009, we began working for Great Wall Motor in China. The research we received from the client told us that Chinese buyers preferred sedans rather than SUVs because sedans were more prestigious and SUVs were practical vehicles with no social status. So we recommend that Great Wall focus on SUVs because the other 28 Chinese auto companies were likely to focus on sedans. As a result, Great Wall became the largest, most-profitable Chinese automobile company.

Entrepreneurs should do the same. Start by analyzing your competitors and try to find a way to be different. You can't win by being better; you can only win by being different.

2. Not defining your focus.

Every successful brand has a focus. If your brand is the market leader like Pizza Hut, your focus is "leadership." Domino's narrowed its focus to "home delivery" and became the second-largest pizza chain. Papa John’s narrowed its focus to "better ingredients, better pizza." Little Caesars narrowed its focus to "two pizzas for the price of one." There are hundreds of pizza chains, but these four chains dominate the category.

For entrepreneurs, you need to make sure your company has a strong angle and all your actions and goals are in line with it. Ask yourself, What category am I competing in? And how do I verbalize my difference in two or three words.

3. Thinking names don’t matter.

Hansen Natural Company had a great idea. Launch a 16-oz. energy drink to compete with 8.3-oz. Red Bull and the other energy-drink brands. The brand name: "Hansen's Natural Energy Pro." The brand went nowhere. Then Hansen launched Monster energy drink, also in a 16-oz. can. Today, Monster is a strong No.2 brand to Red Bull.

Names come last. Entrepreneurs should first develop a marketing strategy. And then name their products or services to reflect that strategy.

4. Not using a strong visual.

Many powerful brands have been built by using a visual that communicates something about the brand. Coca-Cola's contour bottle. Marlboro's cowboy. Corona's lime. Stella Artois' chalice. Blue Moon's orange slice. Geico's gecko. Aflac's duck.

Before launching a product or service, entrepreneurs should try to find a visual that reinforces the marketing strategy. Quite often, that requires either a change in strategy or a different brand name, or both. 

5. Assuming your new brand will take off rapidly.

That leads to many bad decisions, such as spending heavily on advertising to launch the brand.
Today, the best way to launch a new brand is with PR. You should only use advertising after your brand has become established. PR first, advertising second is our mantra.

Keep in mind, Entrepreneurs should be prepared to spend a substantial amount of time doing PR. Hiring a PR firm is an option only for those companies that have already built a substantial business, otherwise it is a waste of time and money.

6. Expanding your brand.

Once your brand starts to take off, you need to resist the urge to expand. Look at McDonald's. In spite of adding dozens and dozens of items to its menus, the chain today is in trouble. On the other hand, look at In-N-Out Burger, a West Coast chain that still has just four things to eat on its menus: hamburger, cheeseburger, double-double (a double hamburger) and French fries. Per-unit sales last year. McDonald's: $2,476,000. In-N-Out Burger: $2,546,000. (If In-N-Out Burger were a national chain, its sales would probably be much greater.) Provide link to data point.

Look at Yahoo, a company that once dominated the "search" market on the Internet and was worth $140 billion on the stock market. But Yahoo rapidly diversified into a portal and also made many acquisitions and turned them into Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Games, Yahoo Groups, Yahoo Pager, etc. Today, Yahoo is worth just $30 billion on the stock market and perhaps $25 billion of that is due to its holdings in Alibaba.

Meanwhile Google remained a pure search engine and is now worth $498 billion on the stock market. But even Google is falling into the trap of expanding its brand. That's the mantra of corporate American, keep expanding the brand until it falls off the cliff. 

Except for geographic expansion, entrepreneurs should almost never expand their brands. Quite often, however, they should do the opposite: narrow the focus.

06 Biggest Branding Errors Most Startups Make

1.

Not having a brand.

You’d be amazed how many startups attempt to build business momentum without a brand. Or, just as bad, they slap together a brand in a few minutes thinking that it will be enough to support their business. A real brand demands much more significant effort, including competitive research, market research, creative brainstorming and multiple rounds of development. It’s not something you can improvise, and it’s not something you can procrastinate developing. It needs to be one of the first and biggest priorities for your company, and you need to take the time and spend the money to do it properly.

 2. Being inconsistent.

Merely having a set of established brand standards isn’t enough to guarantee any level of branding success. Your brand guidelines are merely a playbook; you still have to get out there and execute. One of the most important factors for brand success is consistency -- adhering to those brand standards, precisely, across every marketing channel and strategy you pursue. This is the only way your customers will become more familiar with your brand over time, and any deviation could compromise that consistent experience.

3. Copying another brand (or brands).

When you’re developing a brand from scratch, you’ll be looking at other brands for inspiration, including competitors and brands you admire. Witnessing these brand strategies in action, you’re going to be tempted to leverage some of the qualities that made those brands successful. To an extent, this is a good idea, and the entire reason you do brand research in the first place. However, you can’t just copy another brand and expect to see the same results. Differentiation is key.

4. Forgetting culture.

Branding isn’t just about the mask your company wears when dealing with prospective customers and the general public. It should also serve as a template for how you build your internal company culture. For example, if your brand is supposed to be approachable, friendly and creative, you need to create an office environment that encourages and demonstrates those same qualities. This way, your customer service reps, salespeople and other customer “touch points” will act in line with your brand standards, and you’ll see higher employee retention as a nice added bonus. 

5. Neglecting voice.

Many novice entrepreneurs have a misconception that your company’s “brand” merely refers to visual elements or simple identifiers, such as your company name, tagline, logo and any colors relevant to your brand. However, your company’s voice is just as important. Are you going to speak to your audience formally or informally? How will you structure your blog posts and social media interactions? Who are you going to speak to, and what kind of tone or angle are they going to want to hear? These are important elements of your brand identity that can’t be neglected.

6. Omitting personal brands.

Personal brands aren’t always necessary, but they can be a massive asset for your branding strategy. Most people these days don’t trust corporate brands, even ones that they’ve engaged with for many years. Instead, people trust other people. They trust faces, names, and personalities of real experts in the field. The best way to engage with these potential customers is not through a corporate brand directly, but through a series of personal brands connected to your corporate brand as extensions. For example, your CEO or head salespeople might develop their own personalities online to increase the power of the corporate brand they share in common.

5 Rules of Branding That Will Make You A Sought-After Superstar

1. Don’t have a generic name.

You probably remember most of the big technology companies that sprang up before the dot-com bubble burst in 2001: names like Yahoo!, AOL and eBay were easy to remember because they were quirky proper nouns. Today, the biggest tech companies have similarly memorable names (e.g., Amazon, Facebook, Google). 

What you probably don’t remember are the countless generically named startups that went bust. Companies like Pets.com, Mortgage.com, iMotors.com and eToys.com raised between $50 million and $166 million each. All of them have since gone bust, despite some great ideas.

Granted, these companies may not have failed purely because of their generic names. But those names certainly didn’t help them. Choosing a common word for your company name is a losing strategy. It’s like naming your book “Book.”

2. The less you offer, the more you’re remembered.

I explained the dangers of offering too much in "5 Rules of Marketing That Will Help You Find The Right Niche And Thrive," but it bears repeating: Don’t confuse the customer.

Offering too many products or services weakens your brand name, which customers will always associate with the product or service that first put you on their radar.

A great example of a company that avoided this trap for decades but then fell into it is McDonald’s. When the fast food upstart first became popular, there were diners everywhere. And what do diners offer their customers? Everything. But when McDonald's first became popular, it had only nine items on its menu.

Today, McDonald’s offers everything. It's become the fast food equivalent of the diners it beat out over 50 years ago. As a result, it's had to reinvent itself multiple times to compete with new burger competitors like Five Guys and Shake Shack.

3. If you want to expand, launch a separate brand.

Granted, offering too much isn’t necessarily a problem if you can keep up with the demand. That’s why McDonald’s is still making billions every year. But offering too much under the same brand name is a mistake every single time. 

One of the biggest cases of brand-extension failure is Microsoft. Sure, Microsoft is still an industry leader in some key markets -- but at one point the company completely dominated the tech market. Then it decided to release tons of new products and services under the Microsoft name.

That’s when Apple literally came back from death’s door and stole away Microsoft’s customers with strong brands like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Today, Apple is the biggest tech company in the world, while Microsoft is number six.

Fortunately, if you’re thinking of starting a new brand, being a person is a lot better than being a faceless corporation. You can just piggyback off your good reputation on your new brand’s website (e.g., “Hey, remember how much you love me? I started this brand, too.”).

4. Promote what you do, not what you’re selling.

I see so many companies saying things like, “At our company, we offer unique offerings.”

The problem with this strategy? No matter how hard you try to convince them, most customers won’t care about your “unique value proposition.” This is why Pepsi beats Coke in taste tests but is still second in market share.

People don’t think in terms of products and services -- they think in terms of jobs they need to get done. Or, as Theodore Levitt put it, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”

So, instead of promoting what you sell, you should focus instead on what you help people accomplish. Specifically, that means the job that you help them do -- one they wouldn’t be able to do by themselves.

5. Ratings and reviews are your salespeople.

Most people believe that they cannot close a sale without a set of interpersonal communication skills. Ultimately, they end up internalizing the belief that they (or a sales team they train) are the most qualified people to sell their own services. But this is only partially true -- after all, their customers are much better equipped to do the selling.

21 Simple Ideas for a Successful Small Business Saturday

First, some basics.

1. Get web ready
Don’t forget the easy stuff. Make sure your address and contact info is correct on your website and all your social media profiles. You’d be surprised how many small businesses forget to update all their accounts as their business evolves -- and busy shoppers might not know you’ve opened a new location or have new hours.

And while you’re at it, review your site as if you were a customer, ensuring that all promotions are prominently displayed and that your payment process is working properly. You should do these checks regularly -- and an annual holiday sales event like Small Business Saturday is as good a prompt as any. 

2. Utilize free resources.
American Express is doing the hard work for you, offering free signs, email templates, web badges, posters and other marketing materials to get your business’ name out there. There’s still time to download many of these materials and get them customized and ready to use in minutes. Next year, see if you’re eligible to order the full suite of materials (you might even be able to get on the initiative’s Shop Small map).

3. Extend your hours.
If you usually close at 5 p.m. on Saturdays consider staying open til 8 or 9 p.m. Check out the events going on in your town that night and plan accordingly, so you can make the most of the foot traffic, suggests marketing software company Vertical Response. And if you change your hours for the shopping event make sure to tell shoppers on social media and on your website.

4. Prioritize customer service.
Re-train your staff to make a good impression. Your ability to connect with customers and create more personalized experiences can help you stand out amongst competitors. According to a 2016 study, although people continue to shop online -- nothing beats an in-store experience, so make sure yours is one to remember. Run through scenarios that might occur at your store during a busy weekend and give your staff the tools they need and the words to say to solve problems and help customers who might not have visited your store in a while. 

Let's make some deals -- and promotions.

5. Plan incentives
Give people reason to come to your store or your events. Shoppers in Oakland County, Michigan have a chance to win $5,000 thanks to a special promotion that lets shoppers text photos of their receipts. Consider your own in-store incentives, such as raffles, collecting contact information for your own upcoming events and promotions throughout the year.  

6. Don’t compete with the Big Boxes.

You might be tempted to slash prices ‘Black Friday-style’ -- but don’t. Doorbusters might work for major retailers like Walmart and Target, but that doesn’t mean your small business should do the same. Marcus Lemonis, the host of CNBC’s The Profit, advises small business to stay away from Black Friday-style deep discounts. Instead, remember your market is coming to you for a different reason -- to support local businesses.  

Get connected.

7. Join forces
Work together with neighboring shops to give shoppers more reasons to visit. In South Dakota, Downtown Sioux Falls offers a number of deals, freebies and experiences throughout the town -- such as free cups of espresso and a special art market -- encouraging shoppers to make a day of the sales event and explore the downtown.

By joining forces with other merchants, you’ll likely get free promotion throughout the city, simply for registering as a participating business. Find out what your local community has planned and be part of it. Those relationships can help you throughout the year.

8. Invite a local celeb or official
Last year, President Barack Obama dropped into a local bookstore on Small Business Saturday and even shopped at a local popsicle shop in our nation’s capitol. While not all shops can get the president into their store, consider inviting other local officials who might make your shop into an impromptu photo opportunity. (Elected officials in all 50 states championed the day last year, so you have a ready audience.) And don’t forget other local notables, such as local authors, creatives and even pageant winners who might be flattered and excited to drop by if you make them feel welcome and special.

9. Join online groups associated with the holiday.

Americans love supporting small businesses and some have even started online communities to help promote Small Business Saturday. Go to meetup.com and do searches with terms such as “small business meetup groups,” and “Small Business Saturday groups” in your area. It’s free so get joining to connect your name and business with motivated, enthusiastic people.

10. Celebrate other small businesses.

Small Business Saturday is a community event, so go out of your way to celebrate other small businesses participating in the shopping day. Re-tweeting them and sharing their social content is a great way to show your support. It’s likely, they’ll return the favor too.

11. Support local charities.

Customers love knowing where their money’s going -- especially if it is for a good cause. Bubbly Paws, a dog grooming and retail spot in Minnesota, had big success on Small Business Saturday last year thanks in part to promotions and partnerships with other local shops, but also because it dedicated a portion of its sales to a local dog charity. The company saw a major uptick in sales and found that customers were motivated to shop and happy to know their money would help dogs in need as well as their community.

12. Don’t be left out.

Even if you have a product or service that doesn’t necessarily fall under the “holiday shopping” category, don’t hold back. In Staten Island, even exterminators are using big shopping day to offer discounts and promotions. By associating with the shopping event, companies can benefit from some of the free marketing happening online and in local media.

Amplify your message.

13. Utilize social media -- and hashtags.
Tell your store’s story on social media. Document your preparation for the big day and get your customers rooting for you. Take photos of your displays to whet appetites and on Saturday share images of your fastest selling products and the ways excited customers are enjoying your store.

And don’t forget to add specific event hashtags to accompany your posts: #SmallBizSat, #ShopSmall and #SmallBusinessSaturday. In 2015, more than 241,000 posts across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were sent in support of the sales events, so make sure you’re part of those conversations -- and those searches after the day is over. 

14. Update your advertising. 

Go Digital Marketing recommends small businesses update their PPC (pay per click) keywords to make sure their company name hits the top of customers’ searches. Change the keywords to reflect your most up-to-date offers and promotions, as well as your location.

15. Reward check-ins.

To get customers to spread the word about your small business to their friends, ask them to check-in through social media. Offer discounts or promotions for those who show they’ve checked in on a platform like FourSquare, Yelp or Facebook. A 2015 Nielsen study found that 83 percent of people surveyed found they trust the recommendations of their friends.

16. Promote small business selfies

Ask customers to take photos of themselves enjoying Small Business Saturday and have them post the photos to their social accounts and tag your store. To keep the Small Business Saturday momentum going, select the most creative, most liked or most fun photos to win a special prize afterward -- one the winners can only get by returning to your store later in the holiday season.

17. Make your website mobile-friendly.
According to a Kissmetrics study, 78 percent of mobile searches seeking information on local businesses result in a purchase. With that said, make sure your website is mobile-friendly so Saturday’s shoppers who can’t make it to the actual store are able to buy your products on their smartphone. 

Make it a can’t-miss destination event.

18. Hold a kickoff event.
Start off the day-long shopping phenomenon with a kickoff event. Invite VIP customers and even local notables to your store, offering them snacks, beverages, and a special discount or freebie to show your customers they are special and get them excited for the day.

19. Offer a scavenger hunt.
Make Small Business Saturday and adventure. Cities from Anchorage, Alaska to Fruita, Colorado are offering scavenger hunts this year -- getting people to celebrate their towns and do some shopping in the process. A scavenger hunt can incentivize customers to explore their towns -- and discover stores like yours. AMEX offers a free template for this to get you started.

20. Become a holiday tradition.
Combine Small Business Saturday with other festive events going on in your city. Boulder, Colorado is holding an ice sculpture demonstrations and visits with Santa during Small Business Saturday. Working your way into families’ traditions ensures customers return again and again for memories -- and likely some shopping along the way.

Looking ahead.

21. Think beyond Saturday.
Although it’s important to utilize Small Business Saturday to boost sales and drive traffic -- but your thinking should go beyond this day of shopping. Stores in Alexandria Virginia plan to offer random acts of holiday cheer, a series of deals that are available throughout the holiday season, past Nov. 26.

After the holiday season has ended, take stock of what worked and what didn’t. Chances are, many of these strategies can be repurposed beyond the holiday season, allowing you to strengthen the relationships you created with customers and partners all year long.

5 Personal Obstacles That Limit your Success

1. Financial burden causing emotional stress

Starting a small business is usually an expensive proposition. The average small business costs about $30,000 to launch and operating costs can tack onto that price tag quickly. Even small home-based businesses that come with little overhead have a significant opportunity cost. Instead of working in a steady job and earning a reasonable salary with benefits, you’re taking on the burden of making money for yourself.

And knowing how difficult it is to estimate when your small business might start turning a profit makes the whole prospect both terrifying and paralyzing. 

The bottom line is that you need some sort of financial net to cover your personal expenses, at a minimum, while you’re building your business. Waiting until you have a year or two of savings is a good idea, but is not always practical.

At least try to find a side source of steady income. You can moonlight as a consultant in your area of expertise, do some freelance work or participate in the sharing economy by running tasks for TaskRabbit, driving for Uber or renting out your home on Airbnb.

The financial security that results will allow you peace of mind and the ability to make decisions based on long-term success and sustainability, instead of the kind of desperation that comes from trying to drive short-term profits.

2. Tying personal value to your company’s value

Starting your own business is an extremely personal venture. As your business starts to take off, it’s easy to feel that you’re a success. Yet the problem with tying your sense of self-worth to your business’ accomplishments is that entrepreneurship is a bumpy path. Businesses start off slowly and come with many challenges and missed goals along the way.

In fact, only one-third of all start-ups even last a decade. It’s easy to see how this can quickly become disastrous for entrepreneurs.

Instead of tying your value directly to business success, then, consider your achievements outside of entrepreneurship. If you have trouble recalling these, keep a list handy. Whenever you start feeling low self-worth due to your company’s performance, reference the list and reflect on the other positive aspects of your life.

3. The perfection paradox

Inertia is one of the greatest enemies of success. As an entrepreneur, you need to be quick on your feet, and reactive. You cannot wait until you have the perfect plan before taking action. You need to simply dive in and take a few risks.

By taking action and letting go of your need to always be perfect, you’ll have the chance to swing for the fences on moonshot ideas and potentially hit a home run.

4. Lacking substantial guidance

One huge obstacle many entrepreneurs face when they’re first getting started is their lack of formal guidance. When you have a traditional job, there is a list of duties you need to perform and a manager who holds you accountable. When you’re running your own business, you must be the one to hold yourself to a higher standard.

One simple way to keep yourself on track isto compile a list of all the activities you need to perform for any specific day, week or month, and to maintain that schedule. If you need to bounce these ideas off somebody or look for a little guidance, seek out successful entrepreneurs you know and respect.

If you don’t have any connections, look for a local Small Business Development Center. These centers provide free consultation and mentors who can change your attitude and mindset so you are no longer your own biggest obstacle to success.

5. Overworking yourself

The average entrepreneur works very long hours, which can lead to burnout and encourage unhealthy lifestyle choices. Constantly on the run, you’ll end up over- or under-eating, and what you do eat may actually have negative consequences on your personal health and work performance. Additionally, you may not have the time to sleep or exercise as often or as long as you’d like. The combination of this lifestyle and stress can cause serious health issues and ensure that you are rarely in a mindset for success.

To avoid this, you need to make a concerted effort to invest in yourself. Exercise each day and schedule time to get a full night’s sleep. If you’re having problems holding yourself to these standards, see a doctor regularly. Your doctors can keep you accountable to a healthy lifestyle and ensure you’re not working yourself into poor health.

The business responsibilities that come with being an entrepreneur are vast and challenging, but the personal responsibilities are just as important.

07 Ways to Handle Politics With Your Family This Thanksgiving

1. Fight your urge to shut down and disengage--it only perpetuates the problem.

With so many individuals falling into dichotomous thinking, now is an important time to model your ability to respectfully tolerate ongoing disagreement. Remaining silent on important issues--particularly when they involve oppression--allows those thoughts and behaviors to continue causing harm to others.

Avoiding difficult conversations with family members and then demanding their like-minded peers to engage in critical self reflection and tolerate your views is hypocritical and cowardly--a reflection of your privilege and a product of guilt stemming from your own participation in oppressive systems.

Take this opportunity to spend time with people you may not see on a regular basis to get in touch with different perspectives, practice being present, and challenging yourself to remain engaged.

2. Know from the start that you aren't going to change anyone's mind--so don't even try.

Your racist Uncle will still be your racist Uncle after your conversation, but that's not the point. The purpose of your engagement isn't to transform someone's way of thinking.

Your purpose is to be the spark that illuminates a room for conversation in a dark world that prevents people from feeling understood.

Regardless of your politics, positive social change doesn't come as the result of silence, it comes from difficult and meaningful conversations in which people tolerate the discomfort of disagreement and co-navigate the clashing of competing realities.

3. Instead of immediately challenging, do your best to model understanding and compassion.

The most important aspect of these conversations is your behavior--how you handle the discomfort and disagreement.

When your child screams during temper tantrum, do you respond by yelling back, or do you remain calm, help the child process their feelings, and explain the importance of putting their toys away?

Your behaviors, actions, and ability to listen will teach more effectively and have a more significant impact than any words you utter this Thanksgiving.

4. Push yourself to ask more questions that convey your interest in their perspective.

Often, when a friend or family member says something offensive or that we disagree with, we either challenge them right that second or shut down. We rarely take the opportunity to ask more questions and learn more about that person's perspective that may show us why they think the things they do.

This Thanksgiving, ask more questions to stay engaged and open to perspectives that, due to your privilege, you may not hear on a regular basis, but exists in large numbers outside of your bubble.

There's no need to waste energy yelling and trying to convince people to share your worldview--your entire visit is only you versus you--an inner battle asking you to embody the values you wish to see in others.

5. Validate their feelings while providing more information.

Even if you disagree with what a person says, their feelings constitute their reality. Convey to the person that their feelings matter.

You can validate their feelings with the hope that they will eventually learn this behavior themselves, but even if they don't, you will become a better person for developing this emotional tolerance.

Similarly, putting your privilege to work by providing additional information and resources is important, however, your intention should be pure. Make sure to avoid condescending or aggressive undertones because that tone will cause others to close off and shut down.

It's not about transforming the person's perspective, it's about planting seeds that can be nourished and eventually grow into something positive.

6. Challenge statements that are oppressive and explain the reasons why such comments are harmful.

Language is powerful and results in the harm of millions of people, so it is completely within your right to challenge hurtful statements. In fact, it is your moral responsibility to do so.

Being neutral and allowing family members to get away with harmful statements is siding with oppression. However, you also need to acknowledge your shadow.

Facing the brutality of your own flawed family members means confronting old aspects of yourself that are often disavowed and yet readily observed as coming from others.

Share your own biases and transformation story so you can level the playing field and give voice to the thoughts and feelings you aren't proud of, but need to be acknowledged.

7. Have a strong support system and other outlets in place to process the difficult emotions that arise.

This Thanksgiving might not be easy, but then again, when was the last time large family engagements were stress free? Smile, relax, and breathe--take comfort in the presence of home-cooked green bean casserole.

11 Things Successful People Are Thankful For (That Most People Never Realize)

1. Pressure

As Nascar driver Joey Logano told me recently, "It's really cool to have the opportunity to have pressure. A lot of people don't get the opportunity to have pressure. It's a privilege to have pressure. There's no better feeling than winning when your back was against the wall."

Feeling pressure means you have the chance to do something meaningful, something that matters to you, something you care about.

Embrace opportunities to feel pressure. You should only be concerned if you never feel pressure, because that means you're missing out on opportunities to truly live.

2. Failure

For most of us, failure isn't the end of the world. Failure is just the end of an idea or a possibility or a dream. When we fail, we can move on to something else, with luck a little wiser and a lot more likely to succeed.

For some, though, failure means going without--or worse, possibly forcing their children to go without.

Failure sucks, but never being able to take a chance on your skills, your experience, and your vision is much, much worse.

Be thankful you have the opportunity to fail on terms you at least partly set. Many people do not.

3. Criticism

People criticize only when they care. While people still care about you or your business, you have the opportunity to do something better, to do something differently, to change their minds--or to just meet in the middle.

Apathy is much, much worse.

4. Decisions

You might have so many options and potential choices, both business and personal, that you feel stressed and even overwhelmed.

Flip it around: Imagine how it would feel to have few, if any, options. Imagine how it would feel to have few, if any, viable choices.

Be thankful you have choices you need to make--the more choices the better.

5. Sadness

When you're sad, that means you care, and caring is the mother of changing things for the better.

Apathy is much, much worse.

6. Respect

Think of people you admire. Think of people who have earned your trust and esteem.

Be thankful those people are part of your life. In fact, don't just be privately thankful. Tell them how you feel.

That will make them grateful for people like you.

7. Struggle

Not unintentional struggle. Intentional struggle: like choosing to work incredibly hard or to push through a mental or physical barrier or to make sacrifices for the good of the people who rely on you.

When you struggle and fight and endure, you not only stretch the limits of what you believe you are capable of, but you also sometimes enter a state of grace that you find only when you strip away what is truly nonessential (which turns out to be most of what you worry about).

Struggling helps you learn who you really are--and who you really want to be.

8. Waiting

Remaining patient is rarely fun, but having to wait can be a good thing.

For example, research shows that where vacations are concerned, the biggest boost in happiness comes from planning to get away. And this vacation anticipation boosts happiness for an average of eight weeks.

After the vacation, though, happiness levels quickly drop to baseline levels--usually within days. Soon the people who went on a vacation are no happier than the people who did not.

Be thankful you need to wait--especially for something you really want. The anticipation alone is worth it.

Besides, waiting for what you want--not what you need, but what you want--is a luxury only those who are already blessed can afford.

9. Regret

Think about something you wish you had done better. Or handled differently. Or think about something you wish you had done but for whatever reason, you didn’t. 

Painful? Sure. And motivating.

Use that motivation today. Call a friend you've lost touch with. Mend fences with a family member. Be the bigger person and say you're sorry. Do something you wish you had done.

You'll be thankful you did.

10. Family

Take a look around the table. I know: Uncle Bob is overbearing. Aunt Ethel can't stay out of anyone's business. Your sister resents you, and your dad can't stop babying you.

They can be terrible--and you'll miss them terribly when they're gone. Smile, see the good in each of them, and be glad you have a family.

Many people would love to have a terrible family like yours.

11. This moment

Because you have the time and resources to do something like reading this post, that means you have time: to improve yourself, to consider new ideas, to try to be a better person, to build better relationships with family and friends.

Time is our most important asset and what we should all be the most thankful for. Time makes everything else possible.

Don't waste it.

15 Bulletproof Strategies for Achieving Your Goals

1. Set SMARTER goals.

Anyone that's serious about achieving their goals needs to understand the importance of the SMARTER goal-setting method. The SMARTER acronym stands for goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, evaluated and re-adjusted. It's a strategy for setting your goals that will result in a high probability of success. 

In order to set a SMARTER goal, you need to get highly specific about that goal. Describe it down to the very last detail, ensuring that it's measurable and achievable. While lofty long-term goals are okay, SMARTER one-year goals, for example, should be something that's slightly out of reach but still attainable. 

Relevant means the goal must be in harmony with your values and beliefs and attuned with who you are deep down inside. Time-bound simply means that you've assigned a specific calendar date to its achievement. And as you work towards the goal, you must evalute and readjust your plan to achieve it. 

2. Create a plan of action.

Planning is one of the most important strategies associated with the achievement of any goal. Yet, many of us fail to create detailed and intricate plans to realize our dreams. We have some abstract notion in our minds that will only get us part of the way there, but it won't help to bring those goals into fruition. 

Anyone who is serious about a goal needs to create a massive action plan and has to be willing to take action on a daily basis -- every single day without fail -- in order to reach their heart's desires. Make a plan and obsess over it, working on it tirelessly, day and night, until you reach your goals. 

3. Eliminate bad habits.

Clearly, bad habits can hold us back from achieving our goals. They stifle our progress and get in the way of our hopes and our dreams. Anyone who is intent on achieving anything worthwhile knows that they need to stamp out the bad habits that hold them back. 

While eliminating bad habits is a difficult thing to do, if you can find a reason that's stronger than the habit itself, you can overcome it. It doesn't happen quickly or painlessly. It happens slowly, over time. But, by eliminating your bad habits, you can easily illuminate a pathway for eventually reaching your goals. 

4. Instill self-discipline.

Self-discipline allows us to put our goal achievement on cruise control. To the person who is disciplined, anything is possible. To the person who lacks self-discipline, any menial task can seem too daunting to do. The surest road to becoming a self-disciplined person is through your habits. 

By instilling the right habits into your life, you can become self-disciplined. Habits such as waking up early, practicing gratitude, eating healthy, exercising and getting ample sleep help to instill that much-needed self-discipline into our lives. With the right set of habits in your life, anything is possible.

5. Mitigate your distractions.

Distractions interrupt our progress, yet the world is full of distractions. The most common distraction comes in the form of always-on pocket computers that offer an intimate connection to the world's vast annals of information. Considering that smartphones and social media have upended industries and commerce, along with how we interact with one another, it's no wonder it's become harder and harder to stay productive during the day. 

You have to learn to cancel out the noise. Consciously becoming aware of the distractions that are all around you, then working to cut them off, is certainly one strategy for achieving your goals. Turn off the phone, the internet and the television, and slip into a world where you're purely focused on the task ahead.  

6. Leverage daily goal setting.

Daily goals are a great way to stay focused and on-track towards your long-term goals that are years and years away. It's easy to lose sight of those big goals when we're struggling with a moment-to-moment basis not to drown in our own responsibilities. However, those daily goals provide markers that are easier to stick to and focus on. 

This strategy calls for setting the goals every single morning without fail. What will you accomplish and achieve today? Take your month-long goal or your 12-month goals and break them down into milestones. Whatever it is, as long as it's measurable, and you break it down into what you need to achieve that day, it's easier to stay on track. 

7. Avoid procrastination.

Procrastination is the silent killer that keeps us from achieving our goals. It stifles our progress and forces us to retreat into the clutches of comfort and habit. Everyone knows that in order to achieve anything worthwhile, you have to stamp out procrastination. Take action rather than wait another day or moment to do what should be done now. 

One strategy for taking action and avoiding procrastination is to use the 15-minute rule. Set a timer on your smartphone for 15 minutes, and commit to doing the one thing you've been putting off for the longest. Only for 15 minutes -- no longer. The commitment is too small to fail, and once you do take some action, you've just created a bit of momentum. You might just keep going after that. 

8. Manage your time.

One strategy for achieving anything in life is to become an effective manager of your time. Those that can best manage their time can achieve the loftiest goals. In order to do this, you need to institute an effective system for managing the precious little time you do have rather than squandering it away. 

Implement the quadrant time management system, which splits your time up into four separate quadrants. Focus as much as your efforts as possible on Quadrant 2, while doing everything in your power to avoid Quadrant 4. Audit your day to see how much time you're spending in each of these quadrants.

9. Chase the frog.

Mark Twain once said, "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." He was referring to the big-ticket items on your to-do list, the ones that would provide the most benefit towards your long-term goals. We also call these our MITs, or the most important tasks of the day. 

In this strategy, you're chasing the frog by tackling your MITs first thing in the morning. Be sure to take on those big Quadrant 2 tasks at the start of the day so that you can get them out of the way. While you might not see immediate results from your actions, it does add up over time. Do it nice and early when you're freshly rested. 

10. Implement the Pareto Principle.

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20-Rule, states that 80 percent of the results comes from 20 percent of the efforts. In sales, this also means that 80 percent of the sales comes from 20 percent of the customers. However, this dives even further to show that, within the 20 percent producing 80 percent of the results, 20 percent of that subset also produces 80 percent of the results. 

The point? Focus your attention on scaling out the small set of efforts that are producing the biggest results. To engage in this strategy, you first need to identify which efforts are actually producing the biggest gains. But, once you do, all you need to do is scale out those efforts out. 

11. Welcome failure.

While some might not think this is a strategy for achieving anything, failure is by far one of the surest pathways to success in any endeavor. And, some of the world's most famous people have failed many times. The difference between them and the next person is that they didn't give up. 

Learn to welcome failure when it comes knocking on your door. Accept it. Understand it. Learn from it. Then move past it. Leverage your failures as learning experiences so that you can start fresh and do it again. Henry Ford once said, "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

12. Seek out daily doses of inspiration.

While we might all want to achieve something monumental in life, as much as we might try to stick it out and see things through, we often get discouraged. As soon as that happens, the negative-thinking gears begin turning and the what-if doomsday scenarios begin playing out in our minds. 

Fear becomes that stalker in the night, ready to suffocate us and stave us off from achieving our goals. To counteract that, you need to seek daily doses of inspiration. Reach out to others who have achieved the success you're going after. Listen to their stories, and get inside their heads. What was it like for them to endure failure after failure? How did they bounce back and achieve their goals? 

13. Find a mentor.

Navigating the turbulent seas of commerce and business can be catastrophic at best. We don't always know the right direction to sail in. And often, our ship can take on water and sink when we don't know the next steps to take to stay afloat. Finding a mentor can help you survive and reach the shores of hope. 

Mentors help to shine a light, illuminating a pathway towards success. Like a beacon in the night, shining brightly through the misty fog, they help us to reach our goals. They know which direction to travel in and how to circumvent often-perilous waters to ensure survival and ultimate success.  

14. Track your progress.

If you're serious about achieving anything, you need to track your progress. When you track, you can evaluate and adjust your progress to reach your goals. When you don't track, you have no clue where you are, how far you've come or just how much you have left to go. 

Setup a system for tracking. If your goals are measurable, then they're trackable. Track them every single day. Similar to how a plane would chart and track its progress from moment to moment, you need to track your own progress to ensure that what you're doing is working. Without meticulously tracking your goals, you're wasting your time. 

15. Welcome criticism. 

People are often critical of others, especially when they see them experience a bit of success. They try to chop you down and when you do actually fail, they're there to call you out on it, telling you that you should have never tried to achieve that lofty goal in the first place. 

You should welcome that criticism. Don't run from it. Listen to what they have to say, and allow it to fuel you to achieve your goals rather than to hold you back. We all fail. The more we fail, the more chances we have to succeed. If you want something bad enough, then it shouldn't matter what anyone has to say about it. Use it to drive and push you forward rather than to hold you back. 

10 Brutal Truths About Success No One Wants to Hear (Except People Who Hunger for Success)

1. They know their success was only inevitable in hindsight.

Read stories of successful entrepreneurs and it's easy to think they have some intangible entrepreneurial something--ideas, talent, drive, skills, creativity, whatever--that you don't have.

Wrong. Success is inevitable only in hindsight. It's easy to look back on an entrepreneurial path to greatness and assume that every vision was clear, every plan was perfect, every step was executed flawlessly, and tremendous success was a foregone conclusion.

It wasn't. Success is never assured. Only in hindsight does it appear that way.

If you're willing to work hard and persevere, who you are is more than enough. Don't measure yourself against other people.

Pick a goal and measure yourself against that goal--that is the only comparison that matters.

2. They decided to choose themselves.

Once you had to wait: to be accepted, to be promoted, to be selected--to somehow be "discovered."

Not anymore. Access is nearly unlimited; you can connect with almost anyone through social media. You can publish your own work, distribute your own music, create your own products, attract your own funding.

You can do almost anything you want--and you don't have to wait for someone else to discover your talents.

The only thing holding you back is you--and your willingness to try.

3. They help others succeed, knowing that ensures they will succeed.

No one accomplishes anything worthwhile on his or her own. Great bosses focus on providing the tools and training to help their employees better do their jobs--and achieve their own goals. Great consultants put their clients' needs first. Great businesses go out of their way to help and serve their customers.

And as a result, they reap the rewards.

If you're in it only for yourself, then someday you will be by yourself. If you're in it for others, you'll not only achieve success. You'll also have plenty of real friends.

4. They know that sometimes the best way to finish first is to be the last.

Success is often the result of perseverance. When others give up, leave, stop trying, or compromise their principles and values, the last person left is often the person who wins. Other people may be smarter, better connected, more talented, or better funded. But they can't win if they aren't around at the end.

Sometimes it makes sense to give up on ideas, projects, and even businesses--but it never makes sense to give up on yourself.

The one thing you can always be is the last person to give up on yourself.

5. They do what no one else is willing to do.

The extra mile is a lonely place, because almost no one goes there.

Go there--as often as you can.

6. They don't network. They truly connect.

Often the process of building a network takes on a life of its own and becomes a numbers game.

You don't need numbers. You need real connections: people you can help, people you can trust, people who care.

So forget numbers. Reach out to the people whom you want to be part of your life--even if just your professional life--for a long time. When you do, forget about receiving and focus on providing; that's the only way to establish a real connection and relationship.

Make lasting connections and you create an extended professional family. You'll be there when they need you, and they will be there when you need them.

7. They think, but more important, they do.

Strategy is not a product. Binders are filled with strategies that were never implemented.

Develop an idea. Create a strategy. Set up a rudimentary system of operations. Then execute, adapt, execute some more, and build a solid operation based on what works.

Success isn't built on strategy. Success is built through execution.

Incredibly successful people focus on executing incredibly well.

8. They know "leader" is a title that is earned, not given.

"Leaders" aren't just the guys who double the stock price in six months, or the gals who coerce local officials into approving too-generous tax breaks and incentives, or the guys who are brave enough to boldly go where no man has gone before.

(If you don't get that last reference, you're too young. Or I'm too old. Probably both.)

Those are examples of leadership--but typically the kind of leadership that is situational and short-lived.

Real leaders consistently inspire, motivate, and make you feel better about yourself than you might even think you have a right to feel. They're the kind of people you'll follow not because you have to but because you want to.

You'll follow them anywhere--and you'll follow them forever, because they have a knack for making you feel like you aren't actually following. Wherever you're headed, you always feel like you're going there together.

Creating that bond takes time.

9. They see success as an outcome, not a driver.Ever heard someone say, "If I got promoted, then I would work harder"? Or, "If the customer paid more, then I would do more"? Or, "If I thought there would be a bigger payoff, I would be willing to sacrifice more"?

Successful people earn promotions by first working harder. Successful businesses earn higher revenue by first delivering greater value. Successful entrepreneurs earn bigger payoffs by first working hard, well before any potential return is in sight.

Most people expect to be compensated more before they will even consider working harder.

Incredibly successful people see compensation as the reward for exceptional effort, not the driver--whether that reward is financial or personal or simply the satisfaction that comes from achieving what you worked incredibly hard to achieve.

10. They wish you knew there really are no dirty little secrets.

Except this one: There are no magic bullets. There are no shortcuts. There are no hacks.

Success--in whatever you choose to pursue--is always achieved through hard work and persistence.

It's easier to assume that other people succeed because they have something you don't have. But in reality, the primary difference is that they are willing to do something you won't do.

Don't Fire That Employee Before You Read This

But when all else fails, termination may be necessary. To conduct performance-based terminations the right way, it's best to follow a progressive discipline process, which generally includes a series of increasingly severe penalties for repeated offenses. Here are a few tips to protect your business.

1. Write down everything

Documentation is key. If you don't write something down, it can be argued that it didn't happen. Even informal conversations written in a notebook can be helpful and considered documentation. While it may seem time-consuming to write down exchanges, times, dates, and other details, doing so can be important should you have to defend your decision.

2. Be clear about expectations

For every job, you should have a job description. Even if you don't have anything formalized, you should have documentation that relays a solid overview of the functions and responsibilities of each role on your team. You should also know what it takes for employees to be successful in each role, and it's essential that your employees know this, too.

Don't assume that people understand what you need. People come with their own perspectives that don't always match their boss's. Each role should be clearly defined. This makes it easier to pinpoint and correct problems.

Additionally, your progressive discipline policy should be established and transparent, outlining how corrective action and termination should take place should you need to go there. This helps ensure every issue is handled consistently and fairly.

3. Be a good coach

Both new and existing employees should be coached. This is informal feedback and consists of what's right as well as what's wrong. Think of a football coach. He gives praise for a good pass or a solid tackle, but also points out the missed catches and holes in the defense.

Your employees need this feedback to understand how they are doing well before you get to the point of considering disciplinary action or termination.

4. Initiate a performance improvement plan (PIP)

So, let's say you've provided ongoing coaching, but you're seeing some major concerns with performance that the coaching hasn't affected. This would be a good time to develop a performance improvement plan (PIP).

The PIP should explain specifically what the problem areas are and establish detailed goals for corrective action. In some cases, one-on-one counseling might better help the employee, while other cases might need a written plan.

This method can be helpful in addressing issues like attendance, communication and other behavioral issues. For example, if someone is routinely missing work, you might have a conversation about exactly when the employee is expected to arrive at and leave work, as well as the fact that you expect to see immediate improvement. Explain that continued punctuality issues could result in termination.

If you have more skills-based issues, a PIP might be more appropriate. For example, you might explain:

Sally Brown has been submitting reports with numerous grammatical, spelling and technical errors. Within the next 30 days, Sally needs to complete Business Writing 101, as well as use grammar and spell checking tools prior to submitting reports. Technical data should be reviewed by the Engineering group. We will meet again on next Tuesday to review progress.

In any case, the timeline given to improve should be reasonable. Some deficiencies are quicker to fix than others. Keep this in mind.

Document the conversation and plan. Have your employees sign an acknowledgement form to confirm that they understand. If you do a verbal counseling, send a follow-up email to your employees.

Hold regular follow-up meetings. Make sure you capture the details of these conversations in writing and have employees sign documentation confirming that they attended the meeting. Give them specific feedback on how they're doing. If results are mixed, share with them what they're doing right as well as what they're doing wrong.

Now-;this part is important-;if you don't see improvement, employees are still making similar errors, address them immediately. Don't wait until your next follow-up meeting. And keep notes on what you've addressed and when.

5. Conduct a written counseling

If things are getting really egregious, you may need to move to a written counseling. A written counseling is somewhat similar to the PIP. It should outline areas that employees need to correct. Again, in writing, detail specifically what needs to improve and how this should be accomplished.

The counseling form should also express that improvement needs to be immediate, marked (noticeable) and sustained.

Employees should sign this form after you've discussed it with them. This doesn't mean they have to agree with what you've documented. Their signature simply indicates that they have received the counseling.

6. When all else fails, terminate employment

Despite all of your efforts, you still may not see the type or quality of improvement needed, and the only option left is to sever the relationship. However, by now, you should have clearly documented what you did to help the under-performing employee improve.

Performance-based terminations should never come as a surprise to your employees. Prior to terminating your employee, be sure to review all associated documentation. Also, contact your legal counsel or HR representative to ensure your case is supported, justified and sound. Confirm that you're following all state-specific wage and hour regulations. And if you use employment contracts or non-compete/non-solicitation agreements, you should ask your legal counsel to provide you with validity and enforcement guidance.

In releasing employees, honesty is the best policy. While your goal is not to make anyone feel bad, you should also not disguise a performance-based termination as a "layoff" or request the person to resign. For example, you can say, "John, as you know, we've talked a few times about your attendance, and we haven't seen this improve as we would have liked. That said, we have made the decision to terminate your employment effective immediately."

So, when is the best day or time to have this kind of conversation?

Honestly, there really is no "good" time. It's never an easy conversation. However, there are some times that are less desirable than others. For example, Friday afternoons are typically not ideal because the released employees have the weekend to dwell on their new reality. Opinions on when to terminate can vary widely, but ultimately, earlier in the week is preferable, as well as earlier in the day.

07 Things Highly Likable People Always Do

1. Develop a friendly greeting.

When you meet somebody face-to-face, your smile, handshake and eye contact should be top quality. Rehearse these with a colleague who'll give honest feedback. Your phone greeting should be equally top-notch. Rehearse that, too.

2. Get names right.

Since people tend mispronounce my own name, I can say from personal experience it's irritating (and feels unprofessional) when people get my name wrong. Be fanatical about pronunciation with unusual names. It will be appreciated. Trust me.

3. Focus on the other person.

While it's OK to talk about yourself, if you find yourself talking too much about your weekend, your golf game, your family or your job, then you're probably not listening enough. Ask a question; then listen carefully. Ask a follow-up. Repeat as necessary.

4. Remember personal details.

Take note when a business contact reveals something personal, like the names of family members, birthdays, and special events. Bringing them up when appropriate lets the other person feel special.

5. Speak well of others.

Whatever the temptation, avoid criticizing anyone, especially a competitor, in front of a business contact, especially a customer. Criticizing others makes you seem underhanded, insecure and small-minded.

6. Stay upbeat and positive.

Likable people are typically genuinely interested in others, enthusiastic, and eager to help. A positive, upbeat attitude, along with honest curiosity, plays a big role in creating mutual respect, which is the basis for friendship.

7. Consider other people important.

Building rapport and strong relationships requires more than just exhibiting common courtesy and a friendly attitude. It means treating the other person as if they were one of the most important individuals in your world.

In my own experience, it's this last rule that really makes the difference. People can tell when you're just going through the motions. It's when you really focus on the other person and believe that he or she is important that people warm to you.

5 Ways to Keep Your Productivity High All Day

1. Start your morning right.

How you start your morning sets the tone for the entire day.

Waking up earlier and getting into full activity mode can help you get more done the entire day. You should also start your day on a positive note. While most people tend to focus on what they've not been able to accomplish the previous day, resetting your priorities and attacking the new day’s goals is key to making the best use of your time.

Keep the phone and emails aside and start with some mind-stimulating exercises such as lifting weights and doing yoga. The workouts will get your blood flowing  and pump you up for work, while yoga will help you clear your mind. 

2. Employ the Ivy Lee productivity method.

This an old productivity strategy recommends that you close each day by writing down a list of six important things you want to do the next day. Each task is listed according to its level of importance. The most important one comes first, the least important, last.

Your aim is not to clear your tasks as soon as possible but to focus only on completing the first task. Move on to the next task only once you've completed the first one. Do this until everything is done.

James Clear, productivity expert and author, explains in a blog post how in 1918 Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant, counseled Charles Schwab, then the president of Bethlehem Steel, to adopt this plan for his employees. Schwab did just that, saw productivity soar and presented the consultant with a $25,000 check -- a princely sum back in those days.

3. Try polyphasic sleep.

According to research reported in the New York Times Magazine, sleep deprivation costs businesses in America more than $63 billion annually. While it's in our nature to sleep only at nights -- which for most people is insufficient -- taking short naps or siestas during the day may be just what you need to keep your productivity high.

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep hack that aims to boost productivity by disrupting the normal straight seven-hour sleep (monophasic sleep). With polyphasic sleep, you sleep only 30 minutes every six hours. This approach gives you roughly five hours' extra sleep in a day, while your body still gets the rewards of a normal six-to-seven-hour sleep.

4. Always wear a cheerful outlook.

Our productivity seems to be connected to our mood. That statement seems obvious, but now there's proof: A University of Warwick study found that happy employees work harder. The study established that by working alongside cheerful people, employees studied were 12 percent more productive.

If you yourself aim to see increased productivity at your business, stick with employees who are cheerful and happy and stay away from those who tend to share negative stuff. You can also contribute to the productivity levels of others by staying happy yourself -- which is great for everybody.

5. Drink coffee.

Hey, all you java fans, multiple studies show that drinking coffee can boost our productivity levels. Jeff Bickley, founder of Gayo Kopi, an exclusive coffee brand, validates this in a chat.

"Coffee can play a powerful role in boosting our productivity," he says. "Throughout the day, a compound known as adenosine is produced, as neurons in the brain are fired. We end up feeling tired and worn down as a result of its  continuous production.

Coffee helps combat this by impersonating the A1 receptor, which helps block adenosine."

5 Reasons Not to Become an Entrepreneur

1. Because you hate your job.

I have very little patience for people who hate their jobs -- if you hate your job get another one and quit (in that order). As I’ve said previously, it’s generally not like you were a runaway and a stranger picked you up at the bus station, fed you and gave you shelter, and then one day told you that you had to earn your keep and beat you until you agreed to become an accountant. If hating your job drives your decision to turn in your notice and start your own company, you will fail. Of this I am certain. You see, if you hate what you do for someone else you will probably hate what you do for yourself, only more so. 

Become an entrepreneur because you love your job; because it excites you and fills you with passion. If you love what you do you might as well reap the benefits of your labor.

2. Because you hate your boss.

Hate is such a strong and ugly word that it should be reserved for only the most loathsome bottom-feeders in our society. Unfortunately, I’ve worked for a couple of truly reprehensible lying, dishonest, amoral, steaming piles of iniquity; but still, I can’t even bring myself to hate these members of Satan’s entourage. I’m convinced that the only reason that one of them in particular is still alive is because Lucifer is keeping him safe—he hasn’t been the CEO of Hell for all this time to have this clown usurp his position because he fell down a flight of stairs and suddenly find himself fetching his new boss coffee and answering his phones. No hating your boss is a bad reason to become an entrepreneur because there is so much you can learn from a truly imbecilic boss or manager. You not only learn what NOT to do in business, but when you ultimately decide to become an entrepreneur you will know your competition’s weaknesses and be positioned to capitalize on them. It may sound Machiavellian but who better to put the screws to than someone who has mistreated you, cheated you, or otherwise made your life a living well…Hell?

3. Because you hate working for anyone.

A fair amount of people become entrepreneurs because they just can’t stand having a boss. In these people’s minds the best way to not have to answer to anyone is to become an entrepreneur. When you are an entrepreneur, everybody is your boss -- most entrepreneur enterprises live or die by word of mouth and it might make you feel powerful telling someone that you don’t need their business, or that they aren’t welcome back in your establishment, but when you do so you aren’t just barring one person from doing business with you, but that person and probably everyone they know. If you become an entrepreneur because you can’t stand working for someone else you generally end up having a social maladroit for a boss. 

4. Because you dream of doing something new.

I am going to pick on restauranteurs for just a moment. Yes I know that there are many terrific restaurants run by shrewd business people, but for every one of these, I know 15 restaurants that are poorly run by husband and wife teams who have always wanted to own a restaurant. They retire and blow their entire savings on a business because their sole qualification for running a restaurant is having eaten at one once. I’m not saying you shouldn’t follow your dream, but if your dream involves doing something about which you know next to nothing, invest some time learning the ins and outs of the business before striking out on your own.

5. Because you’re lazy.

Lazy people become (mostly failed) entrepreneurs far more often than you might think. Entrepreneurship sounds downright easy: you are your own boss, you set your own hours, and you call all the shots. While all of these are technically true they may not mean what you think they do. You are your own boss, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t answer to people; customers, creditors, vendors, regulators, and employees, all have the power to shut you down so you do have to answer to them (or at least be prepared for the consequences).

Near my home there is a corner liquor/convenience store. It was owned by a great couple one who worked opposite shifts. It reminded me of Drucker’s Store from Green Acres; the neighborhood regulars would pay 30 percent more for snacks or the odd can of soup and hang around talking to the others. Unfortunately, the couple burnt out on running the store (which for the record was more than just a little successful) because it meant they never got to see each other, could never take a vacation, and both of them working two jobs was just too much. They sold it to a retired policeman who never quite made the adjustment from having the authority and power of an officer of the law. I would walk my dogs and stop in and buy two bottles of Diet Pepsi to drink on the walk. I did this twice a day. One day he was out of Diet Pepsi, and I asked him what was going on. “Soda comes in on Thursdays,” he barked back. I explained to him that I bought it every day not just on Thursday, and what’s more I had been doing it for over a year. “Soda comes in on Thursday,” he said in his best, “If I tell you again I’m taking you to jail" cop voice. I went to another store and bought my sodas. The owner, also a friend, asked why I didn’t just come in to his store when I was on my walks, and I told him I had my dogs.  He said, “bring them in -- I don’t serve food so there is no reason that they can’t come in." I went there every day after and the other store went out of business. 

You do set your own hours, but if you don’t keep regular business hours you will fail to attract a clientele, and as far as calling all the shots, this is true, but it also means responsibility for all mistakes and bad business decisions.

10 Unmistakable Habits of Utterly Authentic People

1. They help others to be their authentic selves. 

Authentic people don’t expect others to play a role either. They don’t make people feel as though they have to fit into a certain mold or to project a certain image to be a part of their lives. Their commitment to being authentic gives other people the freedom to live authentically too.

2. They let go of negative people. 

Authentic people have too much self-respect to put up with people who treat them badly or have ill will toward them, and they have too much respect for other people to try to change them. So they let go -- not out of anger, but out of their need to be true to themselves. 

3. They express their true feelings and opinions, even when they’re not popular. 

Authentic people don’t live a go-along-to-get-along lifestyle. They’re simply not capable of acting in a way that’s contrary to what their principles dictate, even if there are repercussions. They prefer not to lie to other people, and they especially can’t lie to themselves. This means that they’re willing to live with the repercussions of staying true to themselves.

4. They are confident. 

Much social anxiety stems from the fear we have of being “found out.” We’re afraid that somebody is going to discover that we’re not as smart, experienced or well-connected as we pretend to be. Authentic people don’t have that fear. Their confidence comes from the fact that they have nothing to hide. Who they appear to be is who they really are.

5. They prefer deep conversations to meaningless chatter. 

Eleanor Roosevelt nailed this one. She once said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” You won’t find authentic people gossiping about others or giving their opinions on the latest celebrity scandals. They know all of that stuff is nothing more than cultural trappings, and they choose to talk about things that matter.

6. They don’t take anyone’s advice without evaluating it carefully first. 

It’s not that authentic people aren’t willing to take advice; they are. But they don’t put that advice into action just because other people have. First, they’ll run it through the wringer from a critical perspective so that they can be sure it makes sense for them.

7. They don’t complain about their problems. 

Complaining is what you do when you think that the situation you’re in is someone else’s fault or that it’s someone else’s job to fix it. Authentic people, on the other hand, are accountable. They understand that they -- and no one else -- are responsible for their own lives, so there’s no point in complaining.

8. They’re internally motivated. 

Authentic people don’t sit at their desks thinking, “Well, if my boss would just make this job worthwhile, I’d do a better job.” The carrot-and-stick approach just isn’t relevant to them. They’re motivated from within.

9. They make the best out of any situation. 

Authentic people have a very firm grasp on reality. When things don’t go their way, they don’t get trapped in denial and they don’t sit around whining about how things should be different. They simply take stock of the way things are and, if there’s nothing they can do to change the situation, they figure out a way to make the best of it. 

10. They don’t get stressed or upset when someone doesn’t like them. 

It’s never fun accepting that someone doesn’t like you, but a lot of times that discomfort comes from trying to figure out what you did wrong or how you can fix it. Authentic people don’t have that anxiety because they would never try to change themselves to influence someone else’s opinion. They accept that other people have a right to be authentic about their own feelings, even if those feelings are negative toward them.

10 Things Truly Confident People Do Differently

1. They speak with certainty. It’s rare to hear the truly confident utter phrases such as “Um,” “I’m not sure” and “I think.” Confident people speak assertively because they know that it’s difficult to get people to listen to you if you can’t deliver your ideas with conviction.

2. They seek out small victories. Confident people like to challenge themselves and compete, even when their efforts yield small victories. Small victories build new androgen receptors in the areas of the brain responsible for reward and motivation. The increase in androgen receptors increases the influence of testosterone, which further increases their confidence and eagerness to tackle future challenges. When you have a series of small victories, the boost in your confidence can last for months.

3. They exercise. A study conducted at the Eastern Ontario Research Institute found that people who exercised twice a week for 10 weeks felt more competent socially, academically and athletically. They also rated their body image and self-esteem higher. Best of all, rather than the physical changes in their bodies being responsible for the uptick in confidence, it was the immediate, endorphin-fueled positivity from exercise that made all the difference. 

4. They don’t seek attention. People are turned off by those who are desperate for attention. Confident people know that being yourself is much more effective than trying to prove that you’re important. People catch on to your attitude quickly and are more attracted to the right attitude than what, or how many, people you know. Confident people always seem to bring the right attitude.

Confident people are masters of attention diffusion. When they’re receiving attention for an accomplishment, they quickly shift the focus to all the people who worked hard to help get them there. They don’t crave approval or praise because they draw their self-worth from within.

5. They don’t pass judgment. Confident people don’t pass judgment on others because they know that everyone has something to offer, and they don’t need to take other people down a notch in order to feel good about themselves. Comparing yourself to other people is limiting. Confident people don’t waste time sizing people up and worrying about whether or not they measure up to everyone they meet.

6. They get their happiness from within. Happiness is a critical element of confidence, because in order to be confident in what you do, you have to be happy with who you are. People who brim with confidence derive their sense of pleasure and satisfaction from their own accomplishments, as opposed to what other people think of their accomplishments.

7. They listen more than they speak. People with confidence listen more than they speak because they don’t feel as though they have anything to prove. Confident people know that by actively listening and paying attention to others, they are much more likely to learn and grow. Instead of seeing interactions as opportunities to prove themselves to others, they focus on the interaction itself, because they know that this is a far more enjoyable and productive approach to people.

8. They take risks. When confident people see an opportunity, they take it. Instead of worrying about what could go wrong, they ask themselves, “What’s stopping me? Why can’t I do that?” and they go for it. Fear doesn’t hold them back because they know that if they never try, they will never succeed.

9. They aren’t afraid to be wrong. Confident people aren’t afraid to be proven wrong. They like putting their opinions out there to see if they hold up because they learn a lot from the times they are wrong and other people learn from them when they’re right. Self-assured people know what they are capable of and don’t treat being wrong as a personal slight. 

10. They celebrate other people’s successes. Insecure people constantly doubt their relevance, and because of this, they try to steal the spotlight and criticize others in order to prove their worth. Confident people, on the other hand, aren’t worried about their relevance because they draw their self-worth from within. Instead of insecurely focusing inward, confident people focus outward, which allows them to see all the wonderful things that other people bring to the table. Praising people for their contributions is a natural result of this.

6 Habits That Turn Dreams Into Reality

1. Materialize your dream using visualization. 

Visualization, or what Shakti Gowain calls ‘Creative visualization’ in her book of the same title, is a technique in creating what you want from life using the power of imagination. Using some common visualization techniques can help participants convert their dreams into future possibilities. Sportsmen and women, for example, use visualization to inspire them toward excellence and success in competitive events. Visualization techniques are also widely used in business contexts for people to create goals and aspirations for themselves. 

2. Prioritize your dreams.

One of the habits in Covey´s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is to begin with the end in mind. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and being able to prioritize sundry aspirations into a single sustainable “highest goal,” as Michael Ray terms it, is a way of beginning to work strategically with your dreams. Goals should have a degree of tension --not too removed from current reality (which will make them impossible to achieve), neither should they be easily attainable. Consider an elastic band. A slack elastic band has no tension. An overstretched elastic band can snap. Fixing a goal which is challenging, but not impossible, motivates us to work toward our vision. Fritz says in Creating, “In fire building, a log on top of the pile will drive the flames upward. In the creative process, a place that is bigger and higher than where you have gone so far can increase momentum, energy and creative power.” 

3. Set key milestones. 

Warren Bennis once said, “Mountain climbers don’t start climbing from the bottom of the mountain. They look at where they want to go and work backward to where they’re starting from.” It is the same for goal setting -- when you begin with the end in mind and set an action plan, you can begin to work backwards and set interim goals which advance you toward your vision. Achieving things in small incremental steps has great power. Professor Stephen Morris posited a theory that if dominoes were lined up starting with five millimeters and increasing in size by one and half times, it will take just 29 dominoes to knock over the Empire State Building. Best-selling author, Ramit Sethi, applies this principle to goal setting in his domino strategy which advocates starting small and creating momentum through incremental steps. 

4. Monitor progress. 

One of the benefits of a structured approach to goal and vision setting is that individuals can clearly see how each action and effort propels them toward their highest goal. This helps build momentum and motivation. Dreams, on the other hand, are wispy by nature and it can be baffling to know how to get a handle on them.

5. Enlist support.

Dreams that are not anchored in reality and lack structure or outcome can be crushed by “dream stealers.” In his poem, "The Cloths of Heaven," WB Yeats writes: "I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

A realistic, goal-orientated vision withstands all these negative forces and increases the likelihood of people sharing their vision. In his book Synchronicity, Joe Jaworski explores the positive outcomes of openly sharing structured goals and visions -- people begin to understand your aspirations and priorities and how they can contribute to your success.

6. Know when to give up.

I know we are taught through motivational stories that we can achieve whatever we put our minds to and make our dreams come true; but as Robert Fritz says, goal attainment is linked to current reality. Give up on those unrealistic dreams that suck up your energy and creativity and set achievable aspirations -- otherwise that elastic band will keep snapping in your face.

10 Super Simple (and Random) Acts of Kindness to Celebrate 'World Kindness Day'

1. Take Care Of Yourself

Kindness starts with being kind to yourself. RAK suggests any of these items for pampering oneself:

• Take a nice bubble bath and enjoy time to yourself.
• Go to futureme.org and write an encouraging letter to your future self. The site will send you your letter on the date you specify.
• Congratulate yourself on something you struggle with, like losing weight or finishing a tough task. Tell yourself how awesome you are.

2. Write Someone A Letter of Gratitude

RAK makes this exercise easy by providing a sentence. Just fill in the blanks.

"I'm so glad you're my ________. Every time I think about you, I feel ________. You probably don't know this, but I've always admired ___________ about you. I wanted to take the time to tell you, because ___________. Just know you have a fan out there in this crazy world and I appreciate you so much!"

3. Donate to a Charity

Don't have one? No worries. RAK kindly (what else?) points us to charitynavigator.org to find worthy causes to support. Or, if you prefer, go to freerice.com and play fun quiz games. For each right answer you give, they donate 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger.

4. Send Flowers to Someone You Love

When was the last time you sent your wife, mother, aunt, or grandmother flowers? Hop down to your local florist or order online from your couch. Nana will love you for it.

5. Send a Positive Text

Pick a few people from your contact list and send off a text praising or thanking someone you know. Research actually states that doing this for 21 days will lead to long-term happiness.

6. Record a Birthday Greeting Video

A 30-second personal message is all it takes. If you want to go all out, record a birthday party and email it to someone house bound. This can be a lifelong treasure that will be replayed over and over.

7. Pay It Forward

Head down to your local fast food or coffee shop and randomly pay for your own order AND the order of the person in line behind you. Or pay the parking fee for the driver in line behind you. This will make someone's day. It could also start a chain reaction of paying kindness forward.

8. Thank a Veteran

You could write a gratitude note and put it on the windshield of the car owned by a veteran. But the best way to show kindness is simply to walk up to one, shake his hand with a warm smile, and say "Thank you for your service."

9. Tip Big

So many restaurant servers or pizza delivery drivers live entirely off their tips. This act of kindness works wonders for someone struggling to make ends meet. On this day, give your server a tip that will literally make her/him do a double take.

10. Put Change in a Parking Meter

Head into town and purposefully walk up and down the sidewalk looking for cars with meters about to expire. Then, drop some kindness coinage in there.

10 Networking Mistakes Will Get in the Way of Your Success

1. "I don't like to make contacts"

Making contacts is "the conscious and voluntary activity of establishing and maintaining genuine and long-term relationships with persons who we appreciate and respect." It's a part of living and interacting within a community and we do it every day.

2. "Contacts are useful only to find work"

It's a fact that 9 out of 10 jobs are landed, whether directly or indirectly, through contacts. But networking is about making those relationships worthwhile, renewing the bond, and mutually redefining our identity, image, and reputation with each interaction. (And asking a contact for a job is a serious mistake!).

3. "I network only when it's convenient for me"

This is tantamount to saying "I remember you only when I need you." Networking solely for your own benefit is self-centered and may be even manipulative. It's the perfect way to destroy a relationship. We can smell manipulation miles away!

4. "I'm too busy"

Although nothing beats face-to-face interactions to build relationships of trust and affection, digital alternatives are effective to prevent us from vanishing from the face of the earth, a deadly sin in the professional world.

5. "It distracts me from serious work"

Networking takes time and energy, but it is key to employability-it is the "salesforce" of our image and reputation. Without contacts, our accomplishments and progress remain unknown and our personal brand ends up being worthless.

6. "I don't like to go to social events"

The professional world also provides alternatives to interact with new and diverse people and expand your thinking patterns. Hanging out with the same people every day shows disregard for others, and we may end up being left behind.

7. "Have you heard the latest rumor?"

Using our contact network to harm reputations or to gossip destroys our credibility and our own reputation as serious or loyal individuals, even if we only become involved by listening. Is it worth it? You never know what tomorrow may bring...

8. "I can only afford to build relationships with important contacts"

It's a serious mistake to think that only high-level contacts are valuable, and look down on others or to be arrogant. All people are worthy regardless of what they work on. There's no such thing as a small contact!

9. "I have very few contacts"

As adults, we usually have 500 to 1,000 friends and acquaintances between school and college classmates, current and former work colleagues, people we know from our club, gym, the neighborhood, church, from our business, and the relatives and acquaintances of all of the above. Suppliers and clients, former suppliers and clients. Parents of our children's friends... Make your list and protect it-ideally, in the cloud.

10. "I must impress my contacts"

The essence of every good relationship is trust, not impressing others. Acting appropriately, and being genuinely warm and authentic opens the doors to trust and credibility. Being polite to everyone and listening to them with a real interest benefits your personal and professional image and reputation. The secret is to inspire others and always leave something valuable for them in every interaction!

10 Tips to Turn Your Brain Into an Idea Factory

1. Start an idea notebook.

Always carry a notebook and write down everything. An idea is like bait, once you get a glimpse of one, you use it to catch bigger and better ideas. Write down everything that you think might be a starting point. 

2. Hold intense brainstorming sessions.

Here is when you go fishing. Let your mind wonder and go from one idea to the other. Brainstorming sessions will get your mind into creative mode. 

3. Write 10 new ideas every night. 

Think of this as a plan for tomorrow. Write down ideas before you go to sleep and wake up the next day with the basis for your work. It will give you direction and can prevent a creative block. I do this every night. It's easy to come up with the first six, and the last four take a little extra brain power. Try it. 

4. Draw ideas.

Let your hand scribble on the paper and your mind will wonder. Try expressing your ideas into drawings and sketches. And remember, you don’t have to be an actual artist to get the most of the benefits picture has to offer. It's fun. I like to draw out websites I build. 

5. Seek experiences.

Lead an experience-driven life. Experiencing new things will widen your perspective and will give you a bigger "inspiration pool." People with full lives are better at being open, creative and producing new ideas.  

6. Turn off your electronics.

Get away from the computer. Even when brainstorming or taking notes, use good old pen and paper. Turn off your electronics and remove your mind from distractions. You will find that not only you are more awake, but you will be better at directing your attention and maximizing the production of new ideas.  

7. Drink coffee.

Coffee wakes up the brain and sparks creativity. Think of it as fuel for your idea generator. Combine it with any of the previous tips, and you'll feel limitless. I only drink caffeine a couple times per month, so when I drink it, it has a profound effect on me to the point I feel like I can walk through walls and see into the future. 

8. Surround yourself with creatives.

Hang out with creative people, those who can inspire you and give you feedback. Network and bounce off ideas with each other. Get inspiration from people in your social group, and then expand your social group. And if the idea calls for it, by all means, collaborate.  

9. Finish things.

Get in the mode of finishing things. Once you start thinking of an idea, think it through and don’t abandon it. Feeling accomplished will provide a dopamine boost, and help establish a craving that in turn develops a habit. Yay, habit loop! 

10. Don’t put yourself down.

Never think that you are not creative enough or don’t have what it takes. Creative is a mood, not a brain type. Give yourself a break if things don’t come as naturally in the beginning and take it light. Rather than forcing it, create a habit of producing ideas and realize that habits take time.

Whether you need it for your job or want to lead a more creative life, transforming your brain into an idea-generating factory can be life-changing on all levels.

Word of caution: create ideas at your own risk, the effects could be a more focused, enriched, creative way of living. You may find more time and joy in the things you already do, and discover newfound opportunities and experiences. Not everyone will be ready for the profound effects. So "idea" wisely.