Choose your friends carefully!
Last week I decided to “cancel” a friendship I had with a guy (let’s call him Gordon,
for no particular reason) who, over the 12 years I’d known him, had always seemed
to be in a parlous financial state, despite having a succession of reasonably paid sales
jobs.
Worse, he perpetually blamed the Government, the tax-man, his divorce and recently
the economic meltdown for his feeble position and lack of tangible success.
Sometimes, if my day hadn’t quite gone according to plan, I’d found it comforting, in
a strange kind of way, to hang out with someone else whose day, year or entire life
was going even worse.
Problem was, allowing him to sympathise over my occasional disappointments had
saved me the trouble of doing anything constructive to stop the same things
happening again. Even worse, after a half-hour of his desolate diatribes, I would even
find myself starting to buy into his thinking!
Believing as I do that our success is based almost entirely on the attitudes and
behaviours of the people around us, Gordon just had to go.
Inspired by that experience, I’m now spring-cleaning and de-cluttering my whole
address book, exterminating any other Gordons who may be lurking in there
masquerading as worthwhile associates. Try it for yourself, using these 3 simple
criteria –
1: How are they fixed financially? It’s a spooky mathematical reality that if you take
the five people closest to you, add up their salary and divide by five, you’ll have your
annual earnings potential. Don’t tolerate anyone who drags down your average.
2: How much value can they bring to your life? Fruitful and rewarding associations
are about a fair exchange of value, with each party adding to the other’s success. If
it’s all their way, bin them!
3: Do they move in circles you’d like to penetrate? If they operate at a lower level
than you do and never venture out of their discomfort zones, they’re unlikely to be
capable of improving your life.
After you’ve ruthlessly culled your contact list, get to work on those you decided to
keep, and resolve to spend a lot more time with them. That shouldn’t be difficult if
you’ve done it properly; because there won’t be too many names left…
Have a question you'd like Jon Cooper to address? You can submit it by either adding a
comment to this post online or by e-mailing it to jon@jupiterdawn.com
Showing posts with label negativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label negativity. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Monday, 16 February 2009
No whine in 2009
No Whine in 2009!
I’ve been isolating myself from pessimists for as long as I can remember. As soon as I feel a negative “vibe” from someone, I always make a mental note to be in a different room next time they’re around.
That particular skill is one I’m calling on more and more these days, as finding people without the doom-bug can be quite tough.
One thing which hasn’t changed with the economic climate is pretty much a fundamental law of the universe. Whether or not you believe some of the more spiritual stuff preached by Dale Carnegie, or in recent publications such as “The Secret”, it will always be an irrefutable fact that you get back what you put out.
If you think negatively, you will get negative results.
Even more obviously, if you say and do negative things at work, those around you will mirror those words and actions, producing a spiral of bad outcomes for your business.
The fact is, thriving in 2009 is far from impossible; here’s my 3-point plan to ensure that you keep your ventures on track when others are falling off the rails.
1. Review which of your goods or services are selling best, and focus on making those even more attractive. Pricing, features and delivery can usually be tweaked if you look closely enough. Conversely, consider dropping whatever isn’t selling well or making you a profit.
2. Use PR to get your message to the market cheaply, and ahead of the competition. Standing out from the crowd as a fashionable, desirable business can cost less than you imagine. Newspapers, TV and BBC Radio offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs to broadcast interesting, recession-busting stories.
3. Banish negativity from your business. If suppliers are talking doom and gloom, agree with them and get better prices and longer payment terms. If customers are whining, find out what it would take to make them happy again. If staff or colleagues are getting you down, re-arrange your office so you don’t have to listen!
In summary, identify the key success factors which made your business great in the past, promote them and focus on them, whilst eliminating waste and negativity.
I know 2009 is going to present some brilliant opportunities; make sure you are set up to grab them with both hands! Merry Christmas.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
I’ve been isolating myself from pessimists for as long as I can remember. As soon as I feel a negative “vibe” from someone, I always make a mental note to be in a different room next time they’re around.
That particular skill is one I’m calling on more and more these days, as finding people without the doom-bug can be quite tough.
One thing which hasn’t changed with the economic climate is pretty much a fundamental law of the universe. Whether or not you believe some of the more spiritual stuff preached by Dale Carnegie, or in recent publications such as “The Secret”, it will always be an irrefutable fact that you get back what you put out.
If you think negatively, you will get negative results.
Even more obviously, if you say and do negative things at work, those around you will mirror those words and actions, producing a spiral of bad outcomes for your business.
The fact is, thriving in 2009 is far from impossible; here’s my 3-point plan to ensure that you keep your ventures on track when others are falling off the rails.
1. Review which of your goods or services are selling best, and focus on making those even more attractive. Pricing, features and delivery can usually be tweaked if you look closely enough. Conversely, consider dropping whatever isn’t selling well or making you a profit.
2. Use PR to get your message to the market cheaply, and ahead of the competition. Standing out from the crowd as a fashionable, desirable business can cost less than you imagine. Newspapers, TV and BBC Radio offer great opportunities for entrepreneurs to broadcast interesting, recession-busting stories.
3. Banish negativity from your business. If suppliers are talking doom and gloom, agree with them and get better prices and longer payment terms. If customers are whining, find out what it would take to make them happy again. If staff or colleagues are getting you down, re-arrange your office so you don’t have to listen!
In summary, identify the key success factors which made your business great in the past, promote them and focus on them, whilst eliminating waste and negativity.
I know 2009 is going to present some brilliant opportunities; make sure you are set up to grab them with both hands! Merry Christmas.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com - business consulting that works!
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries.
Let them moan!
Let them moan!
Regular readers will know I have a magnetic repulsion to negativity; in particular to anyone who tries to drag me down into their whine cellar with them.
Something happened this week though, which made me think we should be grateful for those people who constantly find things to moan about.
Maggie, one of my clients in the contract catering industry was waiting for a call from a big potential customer after she’d put in a rather large tender. Sure enough, the phone rang and her contact at this firm asked her how she was. Maggie replied in her usual cheery way that she was fantastic and that business was great, thanks! He seemed taken aback by her upbeat mood and when she told him that she had loads of work lined up, so she was now focussing on delivery rather than sales, she heard him take a big deep breath.
“Well”, he said awkwardly, “I was calling to tell you that we had unfortunately decided to go with your competitor on this job”. Maggie hid her disappointment professionally, until the customer continued, “But, you know what? I’ve been dealing with this guy over there who always goes on about how bad things are. In fact he said his firm would give me a discount because of the recession, and to be honest, he always sounded desperate to get the work. Give me ten minutes and I’ll call you back!”
When she picked up the phone a short while later, she was greeted by the same customer confirming that he’d talked to his MD, who’d agreed to give Maggie the whole contract, worth over £120,000 in the next 12 months. He added that the other quote was for around £20,000 less, but they just couldn’t face the prospect of dealing with this miserable guy for another year!
What’s the lesson here? Well, apart from the obvious “People buy from people”, there’s another more subtle message.
If you emit positive thoughts, words and deeds in everything you say and do, you will actively attract success.
In fact, these days, the moaners’ predictions of doom and gloom are far more likely to be self-fulfilling prophecies, and you will, like Maggie, find it even easier to steal their business with a smile on your face.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
Regular readers will know I have a magnetic repulsion to negativity; in particular to anyone who tries to drag me down into their whine cellar with them.
Something happened this week though, which made me think we should be grateful for those people who constantly find things to moan about.
Maggie, one of my clients in the contract catering industry was waiting for a call from a big potential customer after she’d put in a rather large tender. Sure enough, the phone rang and her contact at this firm asked her how she was. Maggie replied in her usual cheery way that she was fantastic and that business was great, thanks! He seemed taken aback by her upbeat mood and when she told him that she had loads of work lined up, so she was now focussing on delivery rather than sales, she heard him take a big deep breath.
“Well”, he said awkwardly, “I was calling to tell you that we had unfortunately decided to go with your competitor on this job”. Maggie hid her disappointment professionally, until the customer continued, “But, you know what? I’ve been dealing with this guy over there who always goes on about how bad things are. In fact he said his firm would give me a discount because of the recession, and to be honest, he always sounded desperate to get the work. Give me ten minutes and I’ll call you back!”
When she picked up the phone a short while later, she was greeted by the same customer confirming that he’d talked to his MD, who’d agreed to give Maggie the whole contract, worth over £120,000 in the next 12 months. He added that the other quote was for around £20,000 less, but they just couldn’t face the prospect of dealing with this miserable guy for another year!
What’s the lesson here? Well, apart from the obvious “People buy from people”, there’s another more subtle message.
If you emit positive thoughts, words and deeds in everything you say and do, you will actively attract success.
In fact, these days, the moaners’ predictions of doom and gloom are far more likely to be self-fulfilling prophecies, and you will, like Maggie, find it even easier to steal their business with a smile on your face.
Jon Cooper is the founder of JupiterDawn.com business consulting.
Email jon@jupiterdawn.com with feedback and business strategy queries
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