Building Doors

You’ve heard the expression “when opportunity knocks, answer it.” It’s great advice. What happens though, when that knock isn’t coming? Sure you should generally take a look at every opportunity that comes your way, but that doesn’t mean if there are no opportunities at your door you should just sit back, relax and wait. According to Milton Berle, you should be a little more aggressive when it comes to finding opportunities.

 

Milton Berle was one of the first TV stars. Through the late 1940s and 1950s he was the most recognized person on TV. During “The Texaco Star Theatre” nearly 80% of people watching TV, were watching Berle, who hosted. He knew how to find his own opportunities.

 

If you find opportunity isn’t knocking, it’s time to start building doors. If opportunity still doesn’t knock, just walk through the door. Don’t get caught sitting on the couch staring at the wall hoping that something magically falls into your lap.

The Perfect Moment

Planning What You Are Going To Say

 

All of us have conversations all day long, but when we have an important piece of information to convey, rather than just diving in like with any other conversation, it’s better to plan ahead.

 

The importance of the beginning

Whether speaking to a group or an individual, how you start is of utmost importance because it’s the first impression of that conversation. Those first few seconds are going to set the tone of what follows. They’re going to be a huge determinant of whether the person or persons you’re speaking to are going to pay attention and care about what you’re about to say or whether they’re going to mentally check out.

 

Before you start speaking you should know where you want to start and where you want to end. By the time you’re into the crux of what you want to say, you want your listeners leaning forward mentally, and emotionally prepared to take it in.

 

There are several ways for you to grab the audience or person you’re speaking to.

 

Well thought out compliments

A sincere, well thought out compliment shows them that you’ve been paying attention to them and they will reciprocate by paying attention back to you.

 

Attention grabbing facts

Get the most important or riveting fact about what you’re going to say out right away. Capture their attention. We broke sales records last month and I know exactly how we can do it again this month.

 

If there’s recently been any news related to what you’re about to say, have a tangible, physical copy of it there with you, so  you can show it to the person, let them hold it in their hands or pass it amongst themselves as tangible proof of what you’re saying.

 

A smiling face

Pay attention to what your face is doing. Some people naturally smile all the time, others don’t. It doesn’t mean the smiling person is always happy and the more neutral faced person only rarely feels enthusiastic about anything, it’s simply where their face naturally falls. If you want to engage the person or people you’re speaking to, make a conscious effort to smile. Welcome them into your space. You already know what you want to say. Instead of focusing on yourself, focus on the person or people in front of you. Look confident, build up positive expectations, take charge while staying authentic and humble.

 

 

Find common ground

Find commonalities between you and the ones you’re speaking to. Personal or professional, it doesn’t matter. These commonalities are a bridge to close the distance between you and them, while also serving as a conduit into the main topic of discussion you’re about to go into.

Are You Getting Paid What You’re Worth?

As an employee, it can often feel like you have very little power, especially when it comes to asking for a raise. However, if you’ve been doing good work, and you’ve made yourself a key part of your company, you have more power than you might think. It’s important that each person is getting paid what they deserve. That goes for you as well. If you want to get paid like you should, here are a couple steps that will help you get there.

 

Deserve It

If you do the bare minimum at your job, rarely looking for opportunities to do more or grow your position, you can probably stop reading right now. To get paid, you have to do work that deserves the money. If you do the bare minimum and ask for more money, your boss will realize that they can just hire someone else who will also do the bare minimum. You want to be someone that your supervisor fears losing.

 

Find Out What Others are Making

Websites like Glassdoor, PayScale and Salary can help with this. Talking to coworkers, friends or mentors can also offer insight into what someone in your position should be making. Having a clear idea of what you want to make, and knowing the common salary for your role will give you the confidence to approach your boss and ask for the right amount.

 

Recognize Your Value

Your value is more than just the work you do at your job. Consider that hiring someone new – the time it takes to interview people and the time it would take to train that new person is a cost your employer isn’t eager to spend. You don’t need to bring this up in contract and salary negotiations, but have it in the back of your mind. A lot of employees assume that they can’t ask for a raise because they are easily replaceable. This isn’t the case. If you want to get paid, you need to realize that you are a valuable asset to your company.

Time To Kick Ass

Finding The Job That Suits You

Maybe you want to be an extraordinary sales person. Maybe you want to head an IT department, maybe you want to be everyone’s favorite airline attendant.  Before rushing headlong in pursuit of your ambition, make sure it’s something you would actually be happy doing.

Assess your strengths

To help you clarify whether or not this thing you want to do is actually something you can excel at, and something you’ll enjoy doing long term, you should start by asking yourself a few questions:

1. What do I most enjoy doing?
2. If I could have any job in the world what would it be?
3. If money was out of the equation what would I choose to be doing?
4. What do I excel at?

Hopefully you can use the answers to these questions to determine the right direction for your life. You want to find something you’re motivated about committing yourself to.

Ask yourself where you want to be in five years. In ten years. What kind of people do you most admire? Who would you like to emulate?

Create a personal mission statement

Creating a personal mission statement will help ensure this plan you have for what you want to do actually jibes with the things you find important in life. If you want to be an entrepreneur, but you also want to be home for dinner every night, with defined hours so you can pursue extracurricular activities, you’re going to run into some problems.

Your mission statement should be a clear description of your end goal and the person you intend to be in the process of accomplishing it.  For example, you might say. “I intend to be the most successful salesperson in the North East. I will accomplish this through my intense focus on customers, my infectious positive attitude and my continuing efforts towards self improvement.”

Use the mission statement to constantly asses how your actions and interactions measure up to your stated goal.

Define long term and short term goals

Don’t simply think of this as a wish-list of things you’d like to accomplish. Think of yourself in terms of resources (time and energy) that can be allocated in different directions to achieve your objectives. How do you maximize each of those resources in pursuit of those goals? What unique talents can you bring to a situation that will lead to successful results? If you don’t feel like you already have that unique talent, what will you do to create it?

Your talents will be put to best use when you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses then use what you learn to get really good at doing something you really like.

Productive All Day Long

Better Mondays

 

The weekend is over and it’s Monday morning. Is there a worse time of the week? It’s pretty common for people to dread Monday. You’re looking at a long week of work until the weekend comes around again. If you find yourself getting caught up in the dread of Mondays, you might find that your whole week gets bogged down by this fear. However, if you can make Mondays suck a little less, you might find your whole week brightens up.

Plan for It

Rather than just stare in dread as the weekend trudges towards Monday, plan for it. Have a project that you’re looking forward to and plan to start it on Monday. Give yourself some relaxation time. If you have enough work for a Monday, the day will go by faster.

Monday Playlist

Give yourself some pump up music to start the day. Listen to music that gets you going on your way to work. You’ll be in a better mood when you arrive and you’ll be ready to start your day off right.

Eat Right

On Monday, more than any other day, make sure you have a good breakfast and don’t forget to snack throughout the day. This will keep you from hitting that terrible 3pm tired wall. Getting back into routine is hard enough, you don’t want a lack of energy to drag you down even further.

Have Something to Look Forward to

What do you have going on Monday night? Nothing? Change that. Give yourself something to look forward to on Monday night. A TV show, a nice relaxing bath or a drink with friends are all great ideas. Having something to look forward to will help make Monday a little more bearable.

 

Don’t let your whole week get torpedoed by a bad Monday. It might be the worst day of the week, but with a little forethought, it can be at least a little bit better.