Investing in yourself the Best Investment?
I’m frequently asked by clients about investments. Should they invest in the stock market, mutual funds or maybe even real estate. I respectfully ponder these questions knowing full well that for any professional school is never really out of session. At the end of the day the absolute best investment that anyone can make is in themselves. I can prove it!
Seattle recently had the wisdom to enact a minimum wage of $15 per hour and the law of negative consequences is already taking place even in advance of the law taking effect. If you are an owner or an employee of a restaurant you are looking at some big changes. The cost of food has to rise to reflect the new cost of help and if you are an owner you still need to make money. If you haven’t bothered to invest in what you know and getting better at what you know the voters just made you a victim and you have little hope of fighting back. Likewise for the employee because they are an unwitting victim as well.
Had you invested in learning new techniques and new ways of operation you would have skills on board to help you navigate the new economy that was created virtually overnight. Learning new things (no matter if you are the owner or the employee) brings unusual freedom and power and the conscious choice to avoid learning brings unusual reliance on governmental programs and hopelessness.
There are books on tape, You Tube learning (I use this every week), the library and even college if you get really desperate.
Your best investment is and always will be yourself. The people I know that do well in every economy invest there first and every place else second. Not sure what to read or listen to? Give me a call at 916-230-176 or leave me an e-mail at steve@assaultmarketing.com
7 concepts Steve Jobs viewed as critical to success
Steve Jobs is one of the few actual visionaries that we have had a chance as a society to watch close up. He was open enough to allow us to see his successes and failures. It was Warren Buffett who said that he spent very little time looking at companies that do well in the short term because of what he calls dumb luck. No one who looks at what Steve Jobs accomplished in his lifetime would call it dumb luck and I use the term his life and not Apple because he would likely have achieved these goals without regard to the culture he was in because he created that culture.
Steve Job was big on street skills. This was not a polished executive, he was rather someone who got things done in any way possible. Does anyone really think the iPad was the result of a polished and reasonable approach to business? This was a product that no one knew they needed and now cannot live without. This is a product that has encouraged no end of copy cats and wannabes’, some better than others.
Here are 7 concepts Jobs viewed as critical in the world of success. I would love to hear your thoughts after you read them…
- You have not failed enough. Mediocrity can be very comfortable and mediocrity happens when you don’t try. It’s easier to talk about doing something than it is to do it. While many sat around and were afraid to try he spent his time failing as fast as he could. He failed so he could learn and then make adjustments.
- You are held back because you care what others think about you. People want to fit in and many believe that being different is only cool if you are different in the same way that everyone else is different. Jobs invested in himself and cared little what the world thought of him. What other Fortune 100 executive would open an annual convention is a ragged sweatshirt and a 3 day growth of facial care. He focused on what mattered.
- You think you are smarter than you actually are. Jobs spent precious little time worrying about how to pass societal tests. He knew that most learning happened outside of school. He studied life and learned by living. He paid attention. He knew that smart is not what you know it’s how you live. He knew that the tests of life and business aren’t graded on a bell curve or based on a percentage, they are based on survival!
- You don’t read enough. Most people read no more than the required stuff, if anything at all. Many think history is boring and philosophy is stupid. Many watch Colbert or CNN to get their news. Few respect that all the power in the world comes from those that preceded us. Instead of spending your time learning about a football team or a movie star, attempt to better understand the world around you. At all times remember that you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him think!
- You are not curious enough. Are you getting your news from Yahoo or some other form of mass media? Ever consider that what they are telling you could be a lie or just a nice distraction? Jobs thirsted for knowledge. While other people were playing video games he spent his time learning about Quantum Mechanics or how to make a beautiful dollhouse. If you went into a debate with him on any topic he could crush you because he learned multiple topics from several angles and used that information against opponents. Jobs was dedicated to seeing and learning both sides of every argument.
- You don’t ask enough questions. Jobs questioned authority and as a result he questioned himself. He knew that asking a question and them letting them talk gave him enough information to destroy them when need be. He knew that control comes from structuring the context of questions and then asking more. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it built an empire!
- You can’t handle the truth. People refuse to admit that they don’t know what they don’t know… And in most cases they don’t! If most people knew that everything would be different tomorrow they would wait until then to do anything about it. Even when other didn’t think so, he was aware of his surroundings. Many people walk around with their head up their ass, oblivious to the world around them and he knew how much fun the truth actually is. He understood understanding and knew that the only thing holding him back from the truly amazing was himself.
Steve Jobs often said that death was one of the greatest and least appreciated aspects of life. Death places a time limit and encourages urgency. What could you accomplish with these seven ideas from a true visionary?
Americans Want More Spending And Lower Taxes.
A survey recently conducted by the research team NORC at the University of Chicago showed that Americans want more government spending and they also want lower taxes. The same survey showed that support for spending more tax dollars on health care has dropped dramatically! Could anything be less surprising? Who else wants more for less?
This is the customer we are working with. They want more, more, more and are willing to do precious little to get it. These are some of your competitors in business today as well. And I thought they knew better.
I met someone last week in a profession where sales skills matter. They have never invested in a sales class and never even listened to a sales training tape. They were doing ok until 2008 when there was a particularly nasty recession as you may recall. Most people I know weathered it with ease while some just fell apart. This man fell apart and wants to put his business back together. He wants to hit the “Easy” button and solve his problems. No customer list, no testimonials, never visited his business Yelp Account and while he gets a few calls from Angie’s list and has no earthly idea why. In short, he doesn’t have a business… he has a job and that explains the panic mode.
His solution requires some old fashioned roll up your sleeves and get focused work. He says he is ready to get that done. For the sake of him and his family I hope he is being honest with himself.
Success is seldom bestowed on anyone who wants more while giving less, and when it does happen its’ typically a short term win. No one wants short term by the way!
The early indications are positive. His next 24 years will contain a level of focus the last 24 lacked. Time will tell what happens next. As the player said in Jerry Maguire… “Show Me The Money!” his base is saying “Show Me Why I Am Using You”. When we move from a job into a business we show them why. Everyone needs to focus on showing them why!
Is Disneyland The Cheapest Place On Earth?
6 ways to Improve your Business Productivity Starting Now.
I am a to-do list junkie and find myself dedicating more and more time to specific client services. During this time the phone is shut off, the e-mail is disabled and I just work off of my to do list and get stuff done. During this time I waste very little time because my white board serves as a reminder of what’s important and what’s next. This is a system we could all use.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that in a 10 hour day the average executive (that means you!) has less than 3 hours of productive time. Here are 6 ways to expand that by 20% or more and not spend a single second longer at your desk!
- Manage Your Mood… Most productivity systems I have seen assume we’re robots – most forget the enormous power of feelings. Starting the day calm makes it’s easy to get the right things done and focus.
- Don’t Check Email In The Morning… To some this is heresy. Many can’t imagine not waking up and immediately checking email or social media feeds. I’ve interviewed a number of very productive people and nobody said, “Spend more time with email.” Why is checking email in the morning a cardinal sin? You’re setting yourself up to react. An email comes in and suddenly you’re giving your best hours to someone else’s goals, not yours.
- Before You Do It Faster, Ask if It Should Be Done At All… Everyone asks, “Why does it seem impossible to get everything done?” The answer is actually easy: You’re doing too many things. Want to be more productive? Don’t ask how to be more efficient until you’ve asked “Do I need to do this at all?”
- Focus Is Eliminating Distractions… Ed Hallowell is a bestselling author of the book “Driven to Distraction”says we have “culturally generated ADD.” Has modern life permanently damaged our attention spans? Not necessarily. What we have done is to have more tantalizing, easily accessible, shiny things available to us than human beings have ever had. The answer is to lock yourself somewhere to make all the distractions go away.
- Have Your Own Personal System… I’ve talked to a lot of insanely productive people. None of them have ever said “I don’t know how I get stuff done. I just wing it and hope for the best.” Not one. Routines can be formal and scientific or personal and idiosyncratic – but either way, productive people have a routine.
- Define Your Goals The Night Before!!! Wake up knowing what’s important before the day’s defined and expected emergencies come into your life and your inbox screams new commands. Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before!
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Taking these actions has a lot in common with going to the gym or dieting. Not easy to do at first and in the long term you will develop habits that begin to serve you for the long haul. Gaining 20% or more from your week is worth working toward. Still not sure? When you get home tonight ask your spouse or kids if they want you around more. If they say yes you should consider this… If they say no you should have started on this weeks ago!
Go Forward And Kick Some Ass This Week!