September 1, 2012
It’s Labor Day weekend; I hope you’re all enjoying it, before the school year starts up again in earnest. Thoughts of Labor Day tend to remind me that it’s labor that bears fruit. Success and results are rarely attained without the labor behind it. So if you’re considering a business method that sounds like “success with only 3 hours a week”, “6 figures with push-button software”, or “no experience necessary”, then it sounds too good to be true. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Get your R&R this weekend, and resume your labor next week, to work toward your goals!
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August 9, 2012
The Olympics has offered many stories of athletes from all walks of life, all with the singular goal of leaving London with a medal. As different as all the stories are, I noticed yet again that there is one thing that stood out to me. Regardless of whether an athlete is favored to win or not, they all have their naysayers.
If the athlete is favored, there are people who will say that he or she is overrated. If an athlete is not favored, lots of people say that he or she has no chance, so why even bother. So, even athletes who are best in their own countries have to put up with this kind of talk from people who aren’t even athletes. Yet those athletes still go about their business, doing what they came to London to do.
Don’t let any naysayers in your business or personal life sidetrack you. Just go about doing what you’re supposed to be doing. That puts you in the same boat as Olympic athletes!
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April 29, 2012
There’s an epidemic of “busy busy” going around. A lot of people are saying how busy they are. Sometimes, they’re using that as an excuse for not doing something they should have done, like answer an email that contained a specific question. Or returned a call left in their voicemail box.
Some of these folks think that this makes them look good. It’s anything but, because it’s not how busy you are, it’s what you get done. I’ve met many people who say how busy they are, yet they don’t seem to get much done — they’re not that productive. I’ve also met some folks who I know are very busy, yet if I call them and leave a message, or send an email, they always have time to respond in a timely manner. And these folks always seem to be unhurried, like they have all the time to spend with me.
Of course I wouldn’t take any more of their time than I should, but boy does that make me feel special. Think about it. Try not to catch the “busy busy” going around.
Posted in Gary Lim, Humor, Strategy |
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March 9, 2012
Come Sunday morning, we’re going to have to set our clocks ahead one hour again, bringing to mind the phrase used when I was a kid, “spring forward.” And that’s the story of all of us trying to make something happen … to spring forward toward our goals. But what if you’re springing for something that’s not in reach?
I hear lots of workshops and seminars talk about having big ambitions and creating big goals. There’s an acronym I’ve heard from several different places, BHAG, for big hairy audacious goal. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Unless you don’t know how to get from where you are to that big hairy goal.
That’s probably the biggest issue. There are plenty of people who can think up the big goal (“I want to become a millionaire, a billionaire, financially independent, well known and famous”, etc.). That only takes imagination. The reason why very few people make it to the big goal, is because most folks can’t connect where they are with where they want to be and develop an action plan. Some do develop the action plan, then never execute it.
That’s why I’ve always said, “Great ideas are abundant. Great execution is rare.” You must execute, and in order to execute, you must know what your steps are to get to your goal.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Gary Lim, Motivation, Taking Action |
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January 29, 2012
Ever run into the situation where you screwed up, and created an issue for a customer? Well, maybe you never have, but others certainly have, including yours truly. What to do? Should you act like it never happened, and hope that time heals and forgets? Or should you bring it out in the open, risking it getting bigger than you want it to?
The answer is, it depends, but it’s somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. In any case, you shouldn’t act like it never happened, because if you caused it, the customer is bound to point that out to you sometime. And if you didn’t take care of it first, he could think you’re trying to cover it up. That customer will start telling other folks, who might have been thinking of becoming your customers, too, until they heard from the unhappy one.
So if you’re in the (unlikely) event where you caused a mess for a customer, here are 3 things to do, in the form of 3 “A’s”.
- Acknowledge it. A simple statement will do, like “I realize I misspoke during our last conversation, and didn’t mean to say what I did.”
- Apologize for it. Again, keeping it simple, as in “I regret that, and apologize for being out of line.”
- Ask what you can do. “I hope I didn’t cause any undue harm. What can I do to rectify this?”
Then just do it, assuming it’s a reasonable request. Make it right, then move on. Don’t pine over what happened, or seek forgiveness. Even the best and most successful people make mistakes. A professional apology quickly delivered can help both of you move on and let time help the healing.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Gary Lim, Taking Action |
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January 12, 2012
I hope the holidays and the ringing in of the New Year were good to you. I also hope you are off to a good start, for what you need to do to start the year. To be sure you’re off and running, look at what you need to do, or were planning to do, and do something. Not sure which of the 3 or 4 things you’re considering to start with? Just pick one — any one.
You could always change course if you need to. Just get rolling. More people miss their goals, not because they take the wrong action, but because they take no action.
As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Gary Lim, Motivation, Perseverance, Taking Action |
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December 31, 2011
Here in the Eastern time zone of the U.S., we’re a little over an hour away from ringing in 2012 as I type this, so I’ll keep this short. I hope the coming year will bring you closer to your goals and ambitions, whatever they may be. Remember that goals and ambitions start with dreams and are realized with actions. In 2012, strive to do something every day, every week, or at least every month, that gets you closer to your goals. Just DO something … take SOME action. Don’t just dream about it.
Happy New Year!
Posted in Gary Lim, Motivation, Taking Action |
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December 6, 2011
No one likes to make mistakes, but as it turns out, you learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes. Why? They cause more pain, and in general we remember pain a lot longer than we remember pleasure. A mistake also generally causes us to make some kind of change. It should, anyway, because if we don’t change from a mistake, we didn’t learn from it.
According to John Caddell in an article on the99percent.com site (I don’t think this has anything to do with the recent “Occupy” movement), when you make a mistake, one of the most important things to do is to own up to it — take responsibility. Don’t look for others to blame. Look in the mirror and see what you can do to fix it.
Caddell outlines five other things you should do after your mistake: fix it, apologize, reflect/learn, change things, share the knowledge. Remember, if nothing changes after you’ve made a mistake, you didn’t learn anything. If you’re going to make a mistake, you might as well make it worthwhile.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Gary Lim, Perseverance, Taking Action |
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November 30, 2011
In a recent article on CBS Moneywatch by blogger Penelope Trunk, she discusses her secrets of financial success. Her #4 secret: invest in yourself. Trunk writes that she once paid her remaining cash to hire a career coach, when she most needed it. That coach helped her solve major issues that she was grappling with at the time, and allowed her to change things that led to breakthroughs in her career.
And so you, too, should consider well-placed investments in yourself. You don’t necessarily have to hire me as your coach (though if you’re wondering, you can hear more about how I can help you here). Hire somebody — just please don’t ask your mom, dad, neighbor, aunt, uncle, former co-worker, spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. That is, unless they have the right type of experience to help you with your challenges.
You need someone who can get you to see from different perspectives, so you can see your way to the possible solutions to your problems, and doors to opportunities.
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Gary Lim, Strategy, Taking Action |
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November 16, 2011
Like it or not, we all pitch. I don’t mean a baseball, I mean pitching to convince someone of your particular point of view. Whether it’s pitching them to accept your suggestion, buy your product, bring you in for an interview, or extend an offer of a job, at some point you pitch. But whose pitch is it? Yours?
Nope. It’s theirs. The pitch has to make sense to them. It has to make them realize that it’s about them — what they can gain from what you’re pitching. If you want them to offer you a job, they need to know how they benefit from you taking that job. Or, if you want them to buy your product, they need to visualize how your product makes their life easier/better/cheaper/whatever.
They’re thinking in terms of the famous FM radio station that too many people forget: WIIFM, or what’s in it for me. When you think of what’s in it for them, you stand a greater chance of them coming to the conclusion that whatever you’re pitching is right for them.
Even though you’re giving the pitch, it’s all about them. Remember that.
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