I saw a post someone “put” (spelled s-p-a-m-m-e-d) onto my
Facebook wall last week. It was encouraging me to click on a link and see how
some doctor would show me how to take the “Law of Attraction” even farther by
showing me techniques to actually implement it.
Just for funsies, I clicked on it. As I figured, it was a really general
description replete with the compulsory big words and jargon, but no specifics.
No… for the specifics, you’d certainly have to plop down your hard-earned money
and buy the CD, DVD, book, and/or fly to Florida or somewhere warm to attend
the in-person training.
Don’t worry, I didn’t spend a lot of time on the response because I really
didn’t think anyone human would see it anyway. I felt a little bit better,
though! Cathartic, y’know?
like this. I won’t call out any names, but you’ve seen them, the motivational
gurus who claim to help you make tons of money, good-looking, big smiles,
secrets of life, get rich by listening to me, just follow my system and
everything else will take care of itself, blah, blah, blah. Well, I’m not
buying it (or anything they sell, for that manner). I’ll admit, part of my
disdain may be jealousy that I’m “missing out” by not jumping in with my own
“system” (honestly, ANY halfway competent salesperson can do it). Good PR, good
marketing, good timing, a good look, you really can do it.
money from a motivational, get-rich, self-help book is to write one. The
industry (yes, industry) and people involved prey on the helpless and desperate
and use the money gained from them to propel themselves upward and give the
impression of even more success, which, in turn, draws more desperate people.
tagline… “Just Do It.” Really! Say what you will, but big business does a lot
of things right. The techniques and lessons learned really can be made
applicable to the small business and entrepreneur. These are tried and true and
are written and used by successful people
to help successful people, or people
who aspire to be successful. They don’t involve the wishing and hoping and
hocus-pocus aspect a lot of these other books and systems tend to have, There
are no baits and switches, no training sessions in warm locations, no bells, or
whistles that do nothing more than enrich the “guru.”
The preeminent book, in my opinion, you should get, read,
digest, and implement is Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done.
See? Even the title is no-nonsense, let’s get
to work. It’s written by Larry Bossidy, former Chairman and CEO of Honeywell
International, Ram Charan, who also wrote What the CEO Wants You To Know,
with Charles Burck. I got it as a District Manager at Pfizer and have used its
tenets to make me an even better manager and leader. Apparently, I’m not the
only one. It’s been reviewed and praised by the CEOs of various and sundry
Fortune 500 companies, world-renowned business publications, and a bevy of
others, including Jack Welch.
Where this book, and thus, this philosophy, goes is far away
from the “forces of nature,” “fate,” karma,” and “spiritual forces” thing of
which I see way too much. What I like to
call “the discipline of getting things done” is just that – a focus on
discipline, accountability, metrics, and success versus failure, all aimed at
getting what needs to be done, done. You don’t see that with the standard
self-help fare. That very discipline is
one of the two main things that separate the successful from the unsuccessful.
The other is decision-making. Timing runs a close third. Look for future
thoughts on those two factors from me.
say, much less hope or wish for, it’s what you DO that counts. Let’s get away
from spending and wasting valuable resources on someone else to get you up,
motivated, at it, and successful… The only person to do that is YOU!
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