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Lose your temper, lose your self

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“If you can’t control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls waiting to be attacked.”  The Book of Proverbs

business buildingLosing self-control on an individual level is problem enough, but collectively, the inability to exercise self-control is mankind’s enemy number one.  Why?  Because it inhibits the process of peace and harmony!   It leads to aggressiveness and violence with the occasional outbreak of peace.   Welcome to the world we live in.

 Once negative emotions such as anger, contempt, and disgust are out of the box, they can’t be put back in.   The poorly chosen words and behaviours that follow in an eruption of uncontrolled weakness can’t be undone.   It is a volatility that gets noticed for all the wrong reasons.

 If self-control is lacking so too is the ability to lead or to attract people to your cause.  True leaders are calm and inspirational people, not ranters or politicised mouthpieces.  And a cause doesn’t have to be a country or a campaign for change.  It could be your business, career or a personal relationship.

 Whatever the goal, wherever the journey leads, it is the inner qualities of the person that shape each and every step taken.  Inner calmness and the ability to control the self are the starting points – regardless.

Risk – the fear of loss

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Risk is fear of loss but that fear is not the same for everyone.  This makes risk a subjective concept.  What is perceived as high risk and uncomfortable by one person may be perceived as low risk and feel very comfortable to another.

When financial advisers offer advice or recommend a financial product, they must do so in written statement of advice, but not before they take into account the client’s risk profile.

Product and service providers in other industries could well take a leaf out of this book.  All vendors should show a deeper interest in what a customer is likely to be comfortable with and what is likely to keep them awake at night.

Risk analysis is one very useful tool I have taken from my financial planning tool kit and applied to my business coaching services, and with great results.

It takes a little more time and effort but it basically involves understanding a customer’s perception of risk, identify the most serious risks and introducing information or strategies that helps overcome the risks, and enables the customer to confidently move forward.

Until next time

Gary

The power of introverts

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Business building

Thank you so much Susan Cain for having the courage to so ably represent us.  Introverts have such great business ideas but also have great difficulty promoting them.  We create businesses that stay too long in the shadows, relatively unknown.  We love the technical stuff but dislike the promotional stuff.  Networking and public speaking are the hardest things we ever have to do.  The internet marketing and social media outlets have provide introverts with an alternate range attractive promotional options.  We like the elements of anonymity and solitude inherent in sitting at a computer.  But it is still difficult for us to be the centre of attention, albeit in cyberspace.  We still feel as though we are lost in the noise of spammers and extroverts.  At some time or other, we think we need extroverted sales people to do that bit for us, so we can get on with the more grippingly enjoyable tasks of generating internal brilliance.

But there is another way.  That is to join forces and hunt as a pack.  Ok it is going to be a very silent pack but a powerful network of like minds nevertheless.  Take a look at this TED video at http://www.ted.com.  Can we silently and cautiously network with each other, and share ideas and opportunities?  I think we can and together I think we can make a difference.  I hope you enjoy listening to Susan Cain.  She’s my hero.

Could you finance 30 years retirement?

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Whether we are employed or business building or both, we all face the same problem.  That is, how to finance that period of our lives from so-called ‘retirement age’ to the day we die.

For many, superannuation will only be part of the story.  For the majority of Australians approaching retirement age, work super will not be sufficient regardless of whether it is in an industry fund or a retail master trust.  Most who struggle with low super balances now would have still faced the same problem, albeit not so severe, even if the GFC hadn’t occurred.

Let’s face it!  The period of time in retirement these days could be 30 years or so.  Even a seemingly healthy $500,000 in superannuation is not likely to cut it over that time span.

We all need to accumulate enough income earning assets to see us through to the end of life.  That requires a pro-active approach to wealth building with sufficient lead time.  The alternative is to rely on work super and the age pension and hope for the best.

Those unable to be fully self funded retirees or who find the age pension inadequate, may have to keep working in some capacity, even on a part time basis to accommodate traditional retirement activities, such as travel and sightseeing.

Business owners might choose not to sell out so soon and stay longer in their businesses, perhaps decreasing their direct involvement.  Others might choose a sea-change, living and working in a different location, or a career change which could include running a home-based business, online or offline.

The point is that whatever the post-retirement strategy is, it has to be planned.  If a new career or business building are to be part of the retirement solution, common sense suggests that they should be planned and in place before existing income sources are terminated.

Follow @MyProsperityFor

Is what you do a ‘high payoff’ activity?

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business building

Most small to medium businesses have only limited resources, so you and I as owners are not only busy but have to be multi-talented as well.  There is a lot to do in a day but still there has to be a sharp focus on which activities are most directly related to bringing in business.

Two common culprits that hungrily eat into high payoff activity time and stifle business building are (a) other people trying to steal or prioritise your time and (b) problem solving and putting out fires.   They serve to distract attention from the main game.

High payoff activities generally centre around three main objectives.  Although they are not always easy, doing them will generally have the following effect on your business:

  1. Increase sales at healthy margins (e.g. up-sell or find new products and markets)
  2. Decrease direct expenses and / or fixed costs (e.g. better negotiating, volume discounts, higher quality inputs, inventory control
  3. Improve productivity (e.g. new technology, improved systems, focused hiring)

Achieving all of these objectives will consistently increase profit which in turn increases owner’s equity.  This should remain the number one financial goal of any business.

Follow @MyProsperityFor

Practicing the art of business

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Business building

In the Japanese art of Aikido it is subtlety, timing, practiced positioning and advanced state of mind that make the art work.  We follow this philosophy when approaching the challenges of business building.  Even in the art of business, practice doesn’t make perfect.  Perfect practice does.  At first the  student merely learns the outer forms of techniques.  I say ‘outer forms’ because it is all about first principles and gross movements; about where to put hands and feet.   Over time, the inner forms begin to emerge even though plenty of mistakes are made.   The mind and body finally get it together and begin to act as one.  What used to be the outer forms now become instinctive blueprints. 

Smaller and more subtle movement begins to emerge, taking the place of bigger movements to achieve the same, if not better, result.  Principles of leading, blending, centeredness and control, all driven by strong positive Ki extension finally begin to make sense.  Individual techniques give way to a calm, relaxed and well practiced way of doing things.  Aikido is a great metaphor for practicing business.

If your business building strategy is right, be patient

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Business building aiki style 

When you start a business money is usually short and enthusiasm is usually high.  You are in a hurry and you want to get going.  You implement your business building plans and you want everything to happen immediately, if not sooner. 

If that doesn’t happen, you become impatient and a little desperate and wonder why this great idea and all your best-laid plans are not working.  Then you change something!!  That can be a mistake because too often it will be a compromise in the interest of expediency.  You have just compromised your original intention.

You need to be committed to your original plan and be patient.  If it is well thought out, it will be a logical and cohesive plan.  When you implement, your actions need time to propagate and you need to hold your nerve.  So maintain your centre and extend strongly.  That is, maintain rock solid intention.

If you believe in your original intention, then let it run and wait for the result.  If it doesn’t work, find out why and then make the adjustment.

It could be the case that your original plan may have been a great idea but for some reason it is not working.  For example, you get the best brochures printed, distribute them to your target customers and the phone doesn’t ring.  The brochure part was fine but people generally need more than one contact before they buy.  So the idea was good but the strategy may be underdeveloped.  Therefore, a good strategy simply stops short.

Deal in facts, not fear!!  You are in control of your destiny and the power lies within you.  So when you are business building, stay in control.  Don’t abdicate that power to someone else, and especially not to those success saboteurs in your head – ‘fear’ and ‘self doubt’.  Trust your instincts and maintain you centre.

If you would like to see more of Aikido-in-action in everyday life, check out my Aikido Secrets blog at http://www.aikido-secrets-to-calm-success.com/

Gary Weigh

Business Coach gary@garyweigh.com

Mobile: 0408756531

Understand your need for money

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Consider this before business building!  Nobody ever wants money for money’s sake.  Money has no intrinsic value.  Its value lies only in what it can purchase.  So there are reasons why you want money in your life.  What are they?

 It might be to buy a new house, travel overseas or educate your kids.  These are great goals and so is the desire to be financially independent.

Understanding why you want money helps create strength in your motivation for generating money. If deep down you are striving to (for example) improve the lot of your family and to make life easier for your kids than it was for you, then you are generating some very powerful motives for making money.

On the other hand, if your motives extend no deeper than buying new baubles each week, then your motivation may not be strong.  You risk being distracted by the next shiny thing dangling in front of your eyes.  But if it works for you, stick with it.

Before you can tell other people where you are coming from, you must understand it yourself.  So it doesn’t hurt to do a little bit of honest self assessment.  Dig deep!

Seek motivation deeper than simply being able to pay your monthly bills.  Why stop there!  If you can do that then you can achieve the next level of income, and the one after that.  You can keep moving forward one step at a time towards realising your dreams.

If you would like to see more of Aikido-in-action in everyday life, check out my Aikido Secrets blog at http://www.aikido-secrets–to-calm-success.com

Gary Weigh

Business Coach gary@garyweigh.com

Mobile: 0408756531

Internet marketing goes mobile

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Business building Australia

As mobile browsers become standard on future mobile phones, it is estimated that in three years, more people will access the internet through their mobile phones. A mobile website is typically less expensive to develop and it can reach more end users with one site than multiple applications. 

A mobile website will be a must for all internet marketers.  It will offer higher returns on investment than traditional channels such as opening a new brick-and-mortar store.  

This is because consumers are spending increasing amounts of time each day on the mobile web and the larger online companies (e.g. Amazon and eBay) are generating massive revenues through their mobile channels.

A mobile website is ideal for mobile shopping.  Already it is faster to scan a barcode, check a QR code or check a mobile website for product information than it is to ask a shop assistant.

More retailers will turn to platform-specific smartphone apps to deliver enhanced experiences and push marketing communications (e.g. coupons) based on the customer’s current location and personal preferences.

Until next time!

Gary