Success Rule Book

The Difference Between Those Who Do and Those Who Might Have Done

What makes the difference between Those Who Do and Those Who Might Have Done?

1. Putting In The Hours. If you don't put in the hours, you won't get the outcome you desire.
2. Working On Things That Matter. You can do many things. But you do not have the time or money to do all things. So, work on the key opportunities available to you, the key problems that confront you, the things that really matter.
3. Actively Contributing. Spend time spent on making something happen. Merely thinking, consuming, reading, planning and learning accomplishes nothing on its own. One needs to take action.
4. Being Proactive, not merely Reactive.
5. Being Daringly Ambitious. The willingness to tackle gigantic, intimidating feats that nay-sayers protest "can't be done".
6. Completing Projects. Working till pay-off. Disciplining oneself to complete existing projects before starting new ones of a similar or lesser importance.
7. Being Narrowly Focused. Ruthless concentration on key objective. Ignoring all distractions.
8. Taking Calculated Risks. Life's uncertain. To play in the game of life, one must live with that uncertainty. Those who do not, are condemned to sit on the sidelines whilst the risk-takers collect their reward.
9. Piggybacking on Others Achievement. Using the work of others as your foundation. Seeking the help of talented, experienced and the knowledgeable experts. Entering strategic partnerships. Get the job done, without attempting to reinvent the wheel.
10. Accepting No Excuses. Never allowing obstacles, bureaucracy or lack of resources to be used as excuses. Nor letting office politics or image building divert from your main objective.
11. Being Self-Confident. You are capable of being world-class, and of thrashing your thoroughly mediocre and complacent competitors.
12. Trusting Own Judgment. Disregarding the skepticism of coworkers, industry pundits and friends who say all your new venture is pointless and doomed. They're too risk-averse, unambitious, pessimistic and short-sighted. To achieve great things, one must be willing to ignore the nay-sayers, and silently say to oneself  "no, you're wrong. Watch me and I'll prove it".
13. Always Searching For Opportunities. For under-served market niches and major new trends. For new technologies that could meet existing needs better, faster or cheaper. Drop less important tasks to seize these opportunities.
14. Being Decisive. Making a decision, then taking action.
15. Being Pragmatic. Working with the system, not wasting time and goodwill fighting bureaucracy, unhelpful people, incompetence, unfairness, limited budgets, unrealistic deadlines, office politics and government meddling.
16. Knowing How To Sell Ideas. To get major projects achieved, one must get ones boss, colleagues, investors, staff, and customers to buy into the idea. Don't leave this to luck. Sell them on the idea.
17. Picking Heroes and Mentors Wisely. Do-ers inspire and motivate themselves by looking up to those who have accomplished a great deal, raising their sights beyond the normal comparison peer-group of friends, coworkers and old school mates. Experienced, talented and knowledgeable mentors can help you avoid many pitfalls.
18. Continually Learning. Always increasing knowledge, to increase capabilities and productivity.
19. Being Reflective. Taking time for 'blue sky thinking', to identify trends and keep yourself aware of the bigger picture.
20. Working Smarter, Not Just Harder. Leverage technology, outsourcing, research, best practice, the experience of experts and commercially-available solutions.
21. Looking Ahead. Anticipating and preparing for future problems, opportunities and challenges.
22. Investing Time In Key Relationships. Your success can be helped or hindered by your boss, your colleagues, your employees and your customers. Build and maintain good relationships with all those whose help you may need. 

So, there are many factors that explain why some people accomplish far more than others. Contrary to popular opinion, high-achievers' success isn't just down to luck, backstabbing and workaholic tendencies. There are other factors at play.

The big rewards in life go to those who get things done, whilst working on things that matter. If you want that big house, that great car, and all the other trappings that go with it, you've got to learn to be someone who get things done. And you've got to systematically put that knowledge into regular use.

Grab a pen and paper, look through the 22-point list, and think about your work, examining where you have room for improvement. I suggest you come up with a list of next actions, and schedule them into your diary.

Learning to accomplish more isn't just about the money. Your time is finite, and every hour you invest in your work takes you one hour closer to your death. You owe it to yourself to make that time on this earth count.

Sell To Your Boss

Selling skills aren't just for sales people. You too can benefit from learning and applying them in your home life, and at work.

In a must-read article, Michael Hyatt, the Chief Operating Officer of a large publishing firm, offers tips on getting your boss to agree to your plans:

I urge you to read the full article, now. Here's an abridged version:

   Selling your boss is critical to your success. If you can’t get your boss’s approval when you need it, you are not going to go very far in your career.... Here are six keys to getting your boss to say yes.

1. Meet your boss’s needs. The boss doesn’t care how this will make your life easier.... He’s concerned about his needs and the needs of the company... frame your proposal in these terms.... if your proposal promises to [aid those]... you’ve got [his] ear. If not, you’re likely dead before you start...
2. Pick Your Battles. Don’t take a swing unless [you're] confident [you'll] hit the ball. You will develop a reputation [that] will actually make it possible to pre-sell your boss before you ever say one word. He’ll be thinking, If John is recommending this, it is worth seriously consideration... he has thought it through and asked the tough questions.
3. Do your homework. [think through and summarise the recommendation, the background info, the rationale, the timetable for implimentation, and the financial impact.]
4. "Bullet proof" your proposal. First, think of every question your boss could possibly ask...Make sure each key question is answered in your [briefing]. Play devil’s advocate. [Plan how to handle every objection. Write it on a crib sheet.]
5. Make the pitch. Schedule a time to make the pitch ... when your boss is likely to be the most receptive. Maintain eye contact. Stay alert to the signals. Re-state the recommendation. Know when you are done.
6. Accept responsiblity for the outcome. If your boss says, "no," go back to your desk and engage in a little post mortem analysis. What went wrong? What could have been stronger? Where were you unprepared? How can you do this better next time?

What Are You Willing To Sacrifice?

Do you want to avoid work that's difficult, tiring, stressful or boring in favor of the easy, relaxing and interesting work?

Well, of course you do. So does everybody else.

Most people choose the easy path, the one that avoids voluntary study, working late, coming in early, applying self-discipline, and seeking new challenges that force growth. Instead they spend their spare time watching TV, socializing with friends and going to the gym.

Of course there's nothing wrong with that. It's their life to live as they choose. Or to waste.

Those who take the easy path would like the extraordinary life, the big house, a great salary, a thin and toned body and a job where they get to do what interests them. But they aren't willing to make any meaningful sacrifices to get it. So they unwittingly push their dreams out of reach, and forgo their potential.

It's such a waste. By sacrificing just some of their time outside work, watching a little less TV, spending a little less time socializing, they could have radically improved their life. They had a dream life that waiting for them, just there for the taking. But as they continually neglect the pursuit of their dreams, those dreams edge out of reach, leaving a mediocre life that's comfortable, but one tenth of what it could have been. A life that's merely 'okay'.

Are you making the same mistake? Are you betraying yourself and your potential?

Here's how to tell. In the past year, how many times have you come in an hour early for work, or worked past 8pm? How many hundreds of hours have you spent voluntarily learning new skills and gaining new knowledge since you finished school/college? Has your salary doubled in the past five years? Is your job more senior than it was four years ago?

If the answers are disheartening, it's time you realized that the success to which you aspire is always going to be a pipe dream, unless you buckle down and make some sacrifices.

Hell, isn't your dream worth that sacrifice?

If your not the sort of person that is willing to make significant sacrifices to make your dream life a reality, this blog isn't really suitable for you. You're not serious about success.

If you are the sort of person who says they're willing to make sacrifices, it's time I called your bluff. What are you going to give up, in order to make your dream a reality, starting from today. How much extra time will you spend each day learning new skills and gaining new knowledge? How many extra hours will you be spending at work, to get on top of your workload, speed your delivery of results, and turn the quality of your work from 'good' to 'fantastic'?

Don't be gutless, here. A sacrifice has to made, whether you like it or not. Either you're to sacrifice the big opulent house, great salary, fit sexy body and the fantastic life, you dream of having. Or you're to sacrifice things that aren't even in the same league of importance to you, things you enjoy but that don't really matter.

You've got to sacrifice one or the other. You can't have both. You will frequently kid yourself that you can, but a quick glance at your previous attempts to have both will confirm that it's not been possible. A quick calculation of the yearly cost (in time, money, etc) of your 'enjoyable activity' will show that your 'harmless' activity seriously impacts your ability to reach your desired goal, that it slows you down significantly.

Visualize the activity you'll be cutting back or giving up, and put it side by side with your dream. Which will you choose? Which matters most? You can't have both. So which will you sacrifice?

That put things in perspective. The decision of which to sacrifice is simple and it's necessary.
So, get a piece of paper, and write down the following,

By sacrificing I'll make the following goal a reality for me:
... by the following date:
To help me achieve this, I'm going to give up the following activity/past-time/hobby:
And this one:
I'm going to reclaim the following number of hours / dollars I spend on these activities each year:
I'm going to spend this much time / money learning new skills and gaining new knowledge including the following topics that will help me reach my goal:
I'm going to spend this much extra time at work:
I will put in the extra time to turn the quality of my work from 'good' to 'fantastic' on these tasks that await me:
I'm going to volunteer to do the following tasks that will stretch my abilities and force me to grow:

I'm going to make these changes, starting right now.

If you haven't got a piece of paper in front of you with the above on it, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, and get one RIGHT NOW. You need to commit yourself, on paper, to what you're going to do. A vague aspiration in your head (that you'll forget about) just won't cut it.

Pick up a pen, write the commitment. Then sign it. If you're committed to making the sacrifice, you'll be willing to sign a written commitment to make it. If not willing to write a simple commitment, the chances that you'll be willing to make the sacrifice are minimal. You'll just drift, continually sacrificing your opportunities to realize your dream, in favor of enjoyable time-wasting. But, hey, it's your life to fuck up.

If you haven't got a written commitment in front of you, within the next three minutes, I don't want you to ever return to this web site.

Got a Problem?

You're not alone.

You're rarely the first person to encounter a problem. Often millions will have faced the same problem before.

There is someone out there who has a solution, a product, a set of rules or a service that can help you.

Sure, you could ignore that help, and instead try to reinventing the wheel. I guess that would save you money. But it would waste your time, and worse, it would dramatically increase your chances of failure.

Next time you hit a problem, promise you'll investigate and use the help that's available.

So, need to lose some excess weight? Buy bags of diet food and sign up to a weight-loss class.

Need to increase your performance in your job? Buy and read a couple of books on your field.
Sign up for a training course that'll teach you facts, working methods, and skills to dramatically increase your capabilities.

Need to find Mr Right or Miss Right? There are countless dating agencies, Internet dating sites and personal ads out there just waiting to help you.

Need more money? There are people out there who can help you improve your marketability, your skills and your knowledge-base. There are intensive courses will help you get professional qualifications as quickly and as easily as possible. The web is full of sites that will save you money on your mortgage, your utility bills, and many of your purchases.

Life is too short to learn everything the hard way. Resolve to seek help next time you need it. Not because you have to, but because you want to. Don't choose to stumble along on your own.

Success is worth its high price tag. Embrace help to hasten your victory.

Go The Extra Mile

Your many skills go unused, your knowledge goes untapped and your creativity has been muzzled.

You desperately need a solution. And that solution exists. You must 'Go The Extra Mile'

'Going the extra mile' lets you get to these really important things. The things that make the difference between Mediocrity and Excellence. It's not altruistic, there's a great deal in it for you.

These tasks have the biggest pay-off, they the most difference to your life and those of others, and they utilize your skills, knowledge and creativity to the full.

Workloads often vary according to customer requirements and in-house deadlines such as promotion schedules. If you're usually busy, these temporary increases in workload will create a backlog of work. A little bit of extra work will save you the anxiety the backlog would cause you, and reduce the risk of confrontations and loss of credibility arising from missing deadlines and work delivered late, caused by the backlog.

Working a few extra hours occasionally frees up time during the working day, allowing you to cope with urgent work that may arrive. You'll be able to give your coworkers a better idea of when the work they have asked you to do will be done, as the answer will no longer be contingent on the end date of 3 or 4 more important or urgent pieces of work. The extra time in the working day helps you answer coworkers emails more quickly, and deliver on minor requests with minimal delay.

You can do what you want outside working hours. So when you work late you can ignore urgent but unimportant work, and concentrate on the non-urgent important work that gets shunted to the back of your to-do list. This non-urgent important work is often more interesting than the 'day to day' stuff that clutters you working hours.

Outside working hours you're be able to work in peace, without constant interruptions by coworkers and customers.

Being seen to work longer hours flags your commitment to your coworkers and bosses, and due to their feelings of sympathy/guilt they will tend to reduce what they demand of you, leaving you with a greater degree of autonomy.

You need not justify anything you do in your own time. So you can spend time on unrequested and speculative projects which could improve your company's products or services, or your own efficiency. You can spend time brainstorming, and engaging in 'blue sky' thinking. You can spend time on tasks and projects for which the pay-off is hard to predict, and making the business case would prove problematic.

You can spend extra time 'polishing' things. Many people spend hours researching and analyzing, leaving themselves little time to work on their PowerPoint Presentation or an Excel spreadsheet. Had they chosen to spend a little more time after work their presentation could have gone from mundane to memorable and remarkable. Half of success in business is in the presentation and communication.

Salary and Responsibilities are strongly related. If you want a good salary, you will need to gain responsibility. You will only gain responsibility within the workplace if your Boss feels you have the skills, knowledge, character and motivation required to handle any extra responsibility. In addition, they must be confident that you're coping well with your existing workload, and that the extra-responsibilities are not going to be neglected, or fulfilled at the expense of your existing work. No-one wants to delegate responsibility to someone who doesn't have the time to do the necessary work.

Volunteering to help others outside your area of action adds to your experience and understanding, but is rarely justified within the specialization-of-production / division-of-labor operated during working hours. If you do it in your own time, you don't need to justify it to your boss or others.

If you work long hours, no-one minds whether you are a bit late occasionally.

While scoffers may prefer to let work pile up and deadlines pass, I believe that do to so would be stupid and irresponsible. You cannot be a success in life if for 40 hours each week you are a failure.

Going the Extra Mile is a choice all life's winners make. And you can and must join them, and grab the great opportunities work offers you.

Schedule Your Goals

Most people do not have goals. Instead they have vague aspirations.

They'll start their own business. Some day.

They'll live in a much bigger house. Some day.

They'll travel the world. Some day.

They'll lose the weight, and keep it off. Some day.

Only 'some day' never arrives.

You can avoid their mistake by following a simple rule: Ensure that each of your goals is added to your diary/schedule, with the time and financial resources required for success clearly noted.

We all know people who write new year's resolutions only to give them little thought to them till the next New Year's Eve. By scheduling your goals, you force yourself to plan for their delivery, and set tasks in your diary that remind you of the goals.

Goals compete with one another for your time, energy, money and enthusiasm. Scheduling forces you to recognize this, and to prioritize your activities and your goals.

Woody Allen once said that 70% of Success is in just turning up. If you haven't been successful in reaching your goals in the past, it may be because you didn't dedicate enough time to the necessary work. Scheduling helps ensure the time is made available to do that work.

You don't need to schedule all your goals into the near term. For large goals the 'first chunk' is often sufficient for now.

Those 'goals' that aren't listed aren't real goals. They're aspirations that comfort those who are likely to fail. Thanks to scheduling your goals, you won't be one of them.