Tag Archive: Flow

Are You a Victim of Your Own Success?

stress You’ve made it! You’ve arrived! You’ve reached that next level of success! You’ve achieved your dream!

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But you’re swamped. Now, you have a seemingly endless list of things-to-do. And it all just keeps coming. Minute after minute, day after day, week after week. It’s sheer chaos.

You find yourself busier than ever. You’re more successful than ever. But are you happier than ever?

It seems that you’re a victim of your own success – too much to do, too many clients, too many constituents. So what can you do about it?

Congratulate yourself

Take a deep breath and a little pause. Enjoy it for a bit!

Get away from it all for a day

We know … you’re too busy. But here’s the thing – you’re too busy not to get away because, on your day away, you’re going to contemplate. What’s most important? What’s least important?

After you’ve thought about those two things:

Hire an assistant, outsource, partner, joint venture … you get the idea

Delegate – in some way, shape or form – those things that aren’t most important.

You might be asking, “Can I afford to hire someone?” But you’re asking the wrong question. The question really is, “Can I afford not to?”

Because the most important things – the people who are most important for you to spend time with, the projects that only you can and should do – will get pushed aside by the less important things if you don’t take this step.

Set the expectations for the people in your life

You need to establish boundaries for all your people. You may set certain times when you’re available to employees, vendors, and even customers. We think customers can’t be trained, but even they can. 

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georgeIn one of my early businesses, my second biggest customer was constantly calling with demands for immediate service. Finally, I presented them with an option – they could work within our time frame for the price we negotiated or I could offer them quicker turnaround for a higher price. They chose the better price!

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Finding your model

Now you’re only working on the most important things and you’ve communicated your boundaries to the most important people in your life. You’re ready to do those things you do in the most efficient way possible.

So let’s look for a model. Think about a manufacturer’s assembly line with products coming down it. What are your products?

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marylynnFor us, it is shows to produce. Articles to write. E-mails to return. People to reach out to. Products to create. Services to deliver.

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Your production cycle may flow over an hour, a day, a week, or a month. Think about all of the important things you do – that’s your product – and engineer your processes to move that product down the line in the most efficient manner possible.

Engineer your processes

What is the best way to do it? Think about it logically. Step back and look at it again. Walk yourself through the whole process, step-by-step as it exists today. Now, start looking for ways to save little bits of time.

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georgeOne of the guest speakers for my class became a billionaire by turning his little business into a Fortune 500 company. One of his secrets was finding ways to get more done with the same people. For example, they discovered a way to change how they labeled packages for shipment. It saved them 55 seconds. That’s time they could spend on something else!

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So if you find yourself a victim of your own success, start with effectiveness – make sure you’re doing the right things. Then work on efficiency – doing those things the right way.

Doing the right things the right way … before you know it, you’ll be an even bigger success without being victimized by it!

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Next time, we ask, “Are you afraid of success?” Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Add Fireworks to Your Next Presentation

We’re celebrating the 4th of July here in the United States. Fun, friends, and …

 
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"Fireworks! I love the fireworks. Watching them always makes me feel like a kid."

 

"One of my favorite stories is about a fireworks show gone wrong. I used to be in a service club called the Jaycees. Many local Jaycee chapters put on the fireworks show, particularly those in small towns. I heard about one chapter’s show, in particular. One year, at the beginning of the show … not more than a few fireworks in … they lit one that misfired. It hit the pile of all the remaining fireworks! BOOM! An amazing display … but their whole show was over in less than a minute!"

Nothing like having your grand finale at the beginning!

There is an art (and some luck) to putting on a good fireworks show. As we were talking about this, we thought it was interesting how it relates to storytelling.

The start

It kicks off with a little burst that grabs your attention right away. Then you get into the flow. There’s a certain rhythm to the fireworks, often synchronized with music. The rhythm changes throughout the show. At times, they’re firing off quickly; at other times … a    little     more     slowly.

When you tell a story, start with an attention grabber and then get going. Vary your pace with the action of your story. Talk faster to imply that things are developing faster or slow down when it’s called for. Make your timing fit your story.

The pseudo-finale

Usually you’ll see a pseudo-finale about half way through the show. They give you a taste of what the grand finale will be like. 

"Sometimes it’s so good that you think it is the finale! You get bummed that it’s almost over."

 

As you tell your story, depending on its length, think about how you can get them to anticipate the climax as you near the middle. This will keep them engaged and wanting more!

The grand finale

This is what everyone’s been waiting for. It’s almost sensory overload with so much going on at once – the sound, the sights, the colors exploding in the sky … one right after the other, sometimes on top of each other.

"You feel your heart start pounding faster … that rush of adrenaline. You’re in awe and you don’t want it to end."

 

"You don’t want your story to be like the Jaycees’ fireworks show I mentioned earlier. You want it to build, and build, and build …to your final line – the point of your story. You want your audience on the proverbial edge of their seats. Leave them wanting more … realizing why they should listen to you."

5 additional ways to get the most bang out of your next presentation

It’s unlikely that you would use all of these in a single presentation. However, variety virtually guarantees a better response from your audience.

  • Start or end with a good joke. People love to laugh. It gets them fired up!
  • Think more graphics, less text. It gives your message more pop!
  • Blend video in. It gives you a break and can get your audience to react.
  • Have a running theme – a key word or phrase – that you keep coming back to. This provides a little spark throughout your presentation.
  • Finally, use sound effects.

"In case you haven’t heard our show today, listen in to see how we used sound effects to make it more fun. At least we think it is!"

 

Keep in mind … you’ll get the biggest bang if you mix it up!

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