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Post words. Achieve big. Build success. Day-by-Day.

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Last year I posted four words on my bathroom mirror: FINISH, WRITE, SHAPE, and YES.

My results?

  • I finished the 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling.
  • I wrote 1,000 words a week and documented hundreds of ideas.
  • My shape is still plus 20 pounds, so that word will remain this year.
  • I maintained my YES! Attitude, but seeing the word every morning and evening in my bathroom mirror helped.

Not bad achievement results – but still being 20 pounds overweight shows a flaw in my self-discipline. Not good.

Based on last year’s success, this year I decided to create two four-word categories. One for achievement and one for improvement. Not ‘goals’ in the sense that you may be thinking about. Rather, intentions that I consciously and subconsciously work on every day to build success all year long.

By posting the words on my bathroom mirror, I consciously see them each day, and subconsciously think about them and act on them regularly. Because they’re right in front of me every morning and every evening, they are inescapable mental confrontations. Oh, and the process works!

After I explain each word I have selected for this year, I’ll provide a lesson you can incorporate as you select your word(s). The lesson is the motive behind the word so you can use the same principle as you generate your words.

On the achievement side of life, my four words are:
ADVISOR – DIGITAL – POWER – TIME

ADVISOR – I launched the Gitomer Certified Advisor program in the fall of 2013. Instant success. I’ve certified more than 100 advisors. They’re independent businesspeople who are now marketing their sales and personal development services using my intellectual property, both online and in the classroom. In 2014 I will intensify the program and the process until there are 500 certified advisors globally.

LESSON: Once you have a successful idea, program, game plan, or process – strengthen it. Pick an achievement target, and figure out what you have to do weekly to make it a reality. What’s one word that describes your biggest achievement target?

DIGITAL – Convert all paper, CD, and DVD to digital. Create financial and distribution opportunities ONLY available to digital information dissemination. The world is not quite ready for all digital, but I will be.

LESSON: Don’t stay attached to old technology or products even though they have brought success and profit in the past. Companies like Yellow Pages, Blackberry, and AOL have buried themselves by not advancing soon enough. Companies like Amazon, Zappos, and Apple have marched to the head of the class by innovating BEFORE the market did, and they set the standard for others to follow. When someone says, “It’s just like an iPad” – what they’re really saying is, “iPad set the standard.” I want someone to say, “I’m just like Gitomer.” What’s one word that describes the standard you are trying to set?

POWER – This year I intend to capitalize on the convergent power of reputation, brand, intellectual property, and online distribution. Content is more than king. It is desired and bought by those in need. And with online, on-demand video, concentration on marketing and distribution are on the top of my list.

LESSON: Your experience has given you both success and expertise. What expertise and success can you combine that will give you a market-dominant opportunity? What’s one word that describes what you’re trying to capitalize on?

TIME – My most precious resource – and yours! This year I intend to take control of it and make it my own. Not manage it, rather allocate it to things I WANT to do, rather than things I HAVE to do. I want to write, speak, travel, learn, read, and have meaningful family time. It’s the subtle difference between ‘spending’ time and ‘investing’ time. I have written about time allocation before, now it’s a matter of taking ownership of it.

LESSON: Wasted time is at the top of lost resources for most people. Don’t let that be you. In 1889, Orison Swett Marden wrote, “Do not realize the immense value of utilizing spare minutes.” What’s a word that offers you greater investment in your most precious, non-recoverable resource?

Hopefully the words I have chosen and the lessons I have provided will inspire you to write and define your words for the year. Interestingly, you most likely know in your mind what they are, but have yet to bring them to the visual surface as Post-it Notes on your bathroom mirror.

On the improvement side of life, my four words are:
INSTAGRAM – BLOG – SHAPE – BEST

Next week!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Advisor’s Corner – Does working smarter, not harder apply to leadership positions?

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Does working smarter, not harder apply to leadership positions?Question:

Can “working smarter, not harder” really be applied to leadership positions?

StrategyDriven Response: (by Roxi Hewertson, StrategyDriven Principal Contributor)

Of course! Leaders already work hard if they are successful with their teams and organizations. The heart of the question is not: “how hard to squeeze the orange,” but rather, “how, with less effort and time, one can get as much healthy juice from the same orange – and perhaps even have time left to plant a new tree.”

Time: Your use of time is first on the list because it is a significant choice point. You make many choices about how you spend yours and others’ time. Once you lose your time or theirs, you will never get it back. So pay close attention to choices around time, and make good ones.

We waste a LOT of time in lousy meetings. Make sure you are running effective meetings that actually matter. Have a goal, ensure that 20 percent or less is devoted to information sharing, have a good agenda, get the right people in the room, and plan to have the meeting facilitated well. Get people engaged and working on meaningful things. You know you’ve done well when people ask when they can get together again like this!

Conflicts: Deal quickly and well with issues that arise because unresolved conflicts drain huge quantities of energy out of the system and from you and your team. When people ‘workaround’ each other, they travel a much greater distance and these problems don’t go away, they grow tentacles and spread everywhere.

Build Your Team: Build a strong team and support them in doing what they do best. It is FAR smarter, cheaper, faster to take time upfront to build strength and skills within your teams – where people feel safe to contribute, know their roles and expectations, trust each other to do their jobs well, and utilize the power of group synergy to create a result greater than the sum of their parts. This is often misnamed the “touchy-feely” work. Wrong! The leader who ignores this reality, ignores it at their own peril. The fact is, and always has been – jumping to task is just not smart. It takes much more time to clean up the messes that arise, and there is far less engagement from the people meant to do the task.

Delegate Well: You can’t do it all yourself, so don’t even try. Get smarter about how and who should be doing what, when. Delegation is about developing your people through giving them NEW work that grows them and liberates you at the same time. You can then apply your time and skill sets more effectively.

Work-Life Integration: Some leaders believe working hard equals putting in long hours and making the job the biggest priority in their lives. Usually one or more of these situations/needs are in play:

  • They don’t want to go home for any number of reasons.
  • They think/assume/know the culture and the boss expects them to be a workaholic and/or think they will impress someone(s) by doing so and that impression will lead to some kind of reward.
  • They waste a good amount of time during normal working hours and have to get the work done after hours.

A truly effective leader knows how to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time AND keep her/his personal life and overall health well integrated. Of course there are special situations we all need to double-down for, but reasonable is the norm.

Founders are an exception. They often live in, through, and with their business; there is little distinction between who they are and what they do at play, work, or home. Life, for them, is ALL about their business and they chose that life consciously.

The rest of us need to take a much closer look at how we can get more good juice out of the same orange, by being smarter, by thinking in new ways, and without killing ourselves or our people.

About the Author

Leadership authority Roxana (Roxi) Hewertson is a no-nonsense business veteran revered for her nuts-and-bolts, tell-it-like-it-is approach and practical, out-of-the-box insights that help both emerging and expert managers, executives and owners boost quantifiable job performance in various mission critical facets of business. Through AskRoxi.com, Roxi — “the Dear Abby of Leadership” — imparts invaluable free advice to managers and leaders at all levels, from the bullpen to the boardroom, to help them solve problems, become more effective and realize a higher measure of business and career success.

The StrategyDriven website was created to provide members of our community with insights to the actions that help create the shared vision, focus, and commitment needed to improve organizational alignment and accountability for the achievement of superior results. We look forward to answering your strategic planning and tactical business execution questions. Please email your questions to [email protected].

What are you doing this week? Don’t waste the opportunity.

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The week between Christmas and the New Year is the biggest opportunity of your career. And your New Year’s Eve plans are in the way of next year’s success. It amazes me how much “prep time” goes into “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”

The week after the New Year will be a ‘slow one’ at best.

Below are a few things to ponder, list, write about, and maybe even take action on as you head into the unknown of next year…

NOTE: It’s unknown what will happen in THE world, but YOUR world is a lot more ‘knowable, definable, and actionable.’

And rather than me telling you what to do, let me share with you what I intend to do and you can make your own plan from there.

I am going to continue to expand on my “four words” from last year. My words from last year (posted on my bathroom mirror) were FINISH, WRITE, SHAPE, and YES.

My results?

  • I finished the 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling.
  • I wrote 1,000 words a week and documented hundreds of ideas.
  • My shape is still plus 20 pounds, so that word will remain this year.
  • I maintained my YES! Attitude, but seeing the word every morning and evening in my bathroom mirror helped.

Not bad achievement results – but still being 20 pounds overweight shows a flaw in my self-discipline. Not good.

This year’s words are divided into two categories – achievement and improvement.

On the achievement side:
ADVISOR – DIGITAL – POWER – TIME

On the improvement side:
INSTAGRAM – BLOG – SHAPE – BEST

I’ll define those eight words next week. Hopefully they’ll inspire you to write and define your words for the year. Interestingly, you most likely mentally know what they are, but have yet to bring them to the visual surface as Post-it Notes on your bathroom mirror.

The balance of this week and next will be spent (actually invested) by thinking about, doing, and documenting the following:

  • Making one plan to make a longtime dream a reality. For me, it’s traveling to The Great Wall of China.
  • Solidify one big idea. My big idea for 2014 is the continuation and solidification of the Gitomer Certified Advisor Program. It will emerge in 2014 as the premier independent licensee program in the world.
  • Intensify the improvement of your major strength. More and better writing for me.
  • Celebrate life and plan a few celebrations. Several on the list – follow my Instagram: @jeffreygitomer for continued details – and inspiration for you.
  • Celebrate family and plan a few celebrations. August in Paris! Getting to know my family below the surface. Spend less time in idle chit chat and more time talking about life and intentions.
  • List grateful acts of 2013. My brother’s continued hearing recovery. My health. My partner Jessica for her untiring dedication to the financial health of our business. My children, grandchildren, and extended family. My dedicated staff of smart, real-world people.
  • List cool things that happened. Some of mine were: 50-year high school reunion, lifetime achievement award from Haddonfield High School, the fourth summer trip to Paris in four years, launch of GitomerVT.com, launch of my Gitomer Certified Advisor Program. ACTION: Listing your cool things will make you happy and proud, and provide inspiration for this year’s cool things to be achieved.
  • List intentions for 2014. What are you REALLY gonna do? Beyond goals and resolutions, your intentions are the key to successful achievement outcomes.
  • Read one book a month. Start with these two: The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan and The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. ACTION: Read on a Kindle app and learn my secret of faster reading.
  • Write 1,000 words a week. My weekly column, Sales Moves, enters its 22nd year. I’ve written and published more than a million words. (The average business book is 50,000 words.) ACTION: Wake up and WRITE.
  • Think by yourself for ten minutes a day. Make a hard appointment for yourself. NOTE: You can combine thinking and writing!

My list of things to do between now and the New Year should keep you busy, productive, and inspired to achieve more this year than you did last year. It’s not just a goal and it’s not just a resolution; it’s your intention, your drive, your work ethic, and your consistency that will create genuine achievement.

Happy New Year!

Free GitBit: My secret for reading faster with greater comprehension is here can be found at www.gitomer.com. Enter the word READING in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Best Jobs Go to the Best Educated People and Here is Why

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Quite a bit of debate exists about whether education is obtained in school or through life experience. Looking at homes and families, the latter may reign supreme. However, universities, and the job market, often argue that a college degree is necessary to succeed in life and obtain a high paying job. Assuming that people can be educated in more than one way, what are some of the reasons why the best jobs go to the best educated people?

Education Blended with Common Sense
To succeed in the work world, people need to have a strong background in their field, but they also must exercise skills in common sense. Knowing the discipline provides the appropriate background information and the technical skills that are needed to succeed. However, the application of that knowledge often comes in the form of common sense. Exercising a blend of these skills allows workers to be confident, determined and strong in their decisions.

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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.

Santa Claus and Google. The same or just a coincidence?

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After nearly 60 years of a wavering belief in Santa Claus, I have come to a major AHA! Santa Claus is actually Google.

Think about it:

  • Google knows when you’re sleeping.
  • Google knows when you’re awake.
  • Google knows if you’re bad.
  • Google knows when your good.
  • Google has lists, and she checks them twice.
  • Google knows who’s naughty.
  • Google knows who’s nice.
  • And Google reads all your letters!

Holy cow! How can this be? It sure clears up a lot of mystery. I’ve always wondered how Santa Claus knew all this stuff. How did he find my house? How did he know what I wanted? It turns out Google knows everything about everyone. Especially you.

  • Google knows where you live.
  • Google knows where everyone lives.
  • Google knows what you want.
  • And Google can make it into your home and everyone else in the world’s home on Christmas Eve.

Pretty cool, huh?

Finally, the real of Santa Claus is exposed! The Clark Kent of our time has been revealed. THE QUESTION IS: How has Santa, er, I mean Google, rated you this year? Is she going to bring you everything on your wish list?

And maybe a bigger question is: how are you taking advantage of the Santa Claus elements Google presents to help you build your personal brand and reputation.

Actually, I wonder if your Christmas wish list contains a wish for you to have a better personal brand next year? Or a better reputation next year? Or a higher Google ranking next year? Or maybe to occupy the entire first page of Google next year? Probably not.

Your Christmas list probably contains material things like an iPad, or a smartphone, or an Xbox, or some clothing. Too bad.

Like Santa Claus, mother Google keeps track of you all year long. You can’t just all of a sudden become nicer at Christmastime! You have to be nice all the time. You have to be good all the time. You have to be ethical all the time. And you have to take reputation-building actions all the time in order for mother Google to look upon you favorably.

And just so we understand each other, mother Google doesn’t make a list and check it twice. She already has the list, you are already on the list, and that list gets checked every day.

If you’re trying to harvest the bounty that Google offers, the free bounty that Google offers, you have to take the appropriate actions that will move you up the list, and keep adding to the list on a consistent basis.

  • Write something and post it online.
  • Have an article published someplace.
  • Tweet something meaningful.
  • Speak someplace.
  • Join a business group.
  • Lead a civic group.
  • Participate in a charity.
  • Start a personal website.
  • Tweet something profound.
  • Create a blog and post an entry every day.
  • Post on your Facebook business page.
  • Put a video up on your YouTube channel.
  • Do something noteworthy in your community.
  • Tweet something that helps others.
  • Invite people to your LinkedIn page.

Do all of these things consistently. Some daily. Some weekly. But each of them at least monthly. The key to building your Google reputation is consistent action, consistent writing, and consistent posting.

The week between Christmas and the New Year presents an amazing opportunity to any person who is B2B, and many B2C. It’s the time to make your plan for next year. The time to make your Christmas list is not December 1st, it’s January 1st. That’s the day you begin to earn your gifts from mother Google for the next year. Or not.

Okay, so Google may not really be Santa Claus. But the similarities are remarkable, and the results are the same. If you’re good, you get toys. If you’re bad, you get coal.

The reality is you have to be on the good side of Santa Claus, and you must be on the good side of mother Google.

How important is your Google ranking? If you want material things, a great Google ranking, a great Google personal brand, and a great Google ranking, and a great Google reputation will ensure that you get all the things on your list, and a new house, and a new car.

Happy, healthy, wealthy, family holiday and New Year!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].