Here are three personal success tips to keep you building personal momentum.

1) Avoid Ignorance

“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.” – Elbert Hubbard

What you don’t know can hurt you. Whenever an individual or  company ceases to learn or reduces its storehouse of knowledge, decline swiftly follows. In today’s climate, change happens too quickly for businesses and individuals to fore go learning. Unless individuals make a concerted effort to gather information and re-educate themselves, their organizations will suffer the negative momentum of ignorance.

2) Guard Against Negligence

“Negligence is the rust of the soul, that corrodes through all her best resolves” – Owen Feltham

Executives at Philip Morris were well aware of the health hazards of smoking,  yet they chose not to warn customers about the harmful effects of their products. When the truth about tobacco became widely known, the public was outraged at the company’s negligence. Scads of lawsuits were filed against Philip Morris, alleging that it deliberately withheld information from customers. To date, the company has paid out millions of dollars in court-ordered settlements, and is on the hook for millions more.

When companies refuse to act on important information – then they are said to be negligent. Philip Morris failed to respond properly to the information at its disposal, namely that its products fostered addiction and had adverse health effects. In the end, the company paid dearly in financial penalties and lost significant momentum.

3) Take Action

“An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” – Jack Welch

In 1987, Merck realized it had a drug that could counteract river blindness, a disease endemic to impoverished regions. At great expense to its pocketbook, Merck agreed to provide the drug to all who needed it, as long as they needed it. In the 20+ years since making that commitment, the company has provided over 600 million treatments.

Merck’s public image was boosted exponentially as a result of its generosity. The best and brightest minds in the pharmaceutical industry flocked to Merck to associate themselves with an organization that genuinely seemed to care. By putting its knowledge to work in such a benevolent way, Merck enjoyed a surge of momentum.

Wishing you a larger life,
BB

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Thankfully, most of us are not facing life or death battles, but the idea still holds true. You need to understand fully both the great gifts with which you have been graced and the inherent shortcomings that accompany those gifts. We must understand that the things we do well and the blind spots that often accompany our gifts. When we understand both our gifts and our shortcomings, we can move beyond the shortcomings, leverage the gifts and motivate ourselves to success in our chosen goals. Always remember that all gifts are double edged swords – they have both a light and dark side.

Wishing you a larger life,
BB

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Take a deep breathe, relax. Review what behaviors lead to your present situation. Then, do the opposite of what put you in the hole.

Credit card bills killing you – only use cash for purchases

Sending too much time watching sports and not participating in them. Turn off the TV and use the time to play.

It’s a simple technique, although not necessarily an easy one.

Try it the next time you find yourself in a hole.

Technorati Tags: career success, mindset, personal success

To Ensure Success – Spend More Time Thanking People

There was a time when I thought that just because I signed someone’s time sheet or paycheck they had to do what I said when I said it. I can tell you from painful personal experience that just isn’t true. My youthful arrogance was quickly tempered by people predictably ignoring me. We human beings have free will and that will needs to be encouraged rather than forced in a constructive, positive reinforcement. I’m not suggesting you give phony compliments or to invent situations with positive outcomes.  What I am saying is be truly grateful when you say thank you and be aware of all the good things going on around you.

Want to be a better teacher? Encourage every single one your students.

Want to be a better parent? Catch your kids doing something “right” and be sure to tell them how proud they make you.

Want to be a better manager, supervisor, employee? Let everyone you work with know what a great job their doing.

Just plain want to have a better day? Thank those you come in contact with for doing whatever it is they do. Show gratitude for those around you who make your success possible.

Remember, moma said “you’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar”.

Wishing you a larger life,
BB

Technorati Tags: Charles M. Schwab, encouragement, gratitude, tips for personal success