A New Tool to Improve Focus and Time Management
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Even the most disciplined people have times when they procrastinate, get distracted or zone out. Here is a new tool to help you stay focused and on track.
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Seven Ways a Personal Brand Can Help Your Career
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Heard of personal branding but not sure why you should bother? This article explain how branding yourself can help you move your career from good to great.
Read MoreFive Tips for Hiring the Best People
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People are the most important factor in your firm’s success. Focusing on the hiring process in a systematic and thoughtful way increases profitability. See how.
Read MoreAre You Swimming Upstream?
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Where are you fighting your nature in an attempt to fit in with professional expectations? Consider the alternative…
Read MoreHow to be Direct AND Improve Relationships
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Direct communication can seem scary and even potentially counterproductive. Here are some tips for getting what you want from your staff or colleagues.
Read MoreMaking It Happen
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Accomplishing your goals takes more than just inspiration. Find out how to keep yourself on track and actually achieve those goals for the new year.
Read MoreCreating a Business Plan for the Year: Be Like Santa, Check it Twice
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Have you written your business plan for the year? Or maybe you haven’t started yet. Either way, here are important things that most lawyers forget to include.
Read MoreReviewing Last Year? Approach it Like a Bullfighter
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Successful individuals and organizations regularly review progress and evaluate how to do better. Here are some tips for improving that process. Plus, it’s more fun!
Read MoreDecision Making Mistakes to Avoid (Part 2)
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A discussion of the three decision making flaws that Chip and Dan Heath wrote about in “Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.”
Read MoreDragons, Fire & Miracles
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Context is everything. The attitude and underlying beliefs with which we approach projects or circumstances determine the outcome far more than any specific words we say or actions we take. When we put on green glasses, the world looks green. Red glasses turn it red. Whether you succeed in your business development efforts (or any other goals you may have) will depend largely on the lens through which you are viewing the situation. Consider this example. The other day, I was talking with a client about her business development plan, and she was terribly uninspired. Sometimes, we can focus on the activities that inspire us, but sometimes we just need to buckle down and take the actions that we would normally avoid like the plague. In this particular case,
Read MoreTurkish Riot, Humor & Business Development
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Turkish Riot is an online video game in which the goal is to send as many tweets as possible before the police beat you up. It was created last summer, presumably as a lark, to mock the role of police violence in the Gezi political protests in Turkey. I’m not usually a fan of video games, but as someone living in the middle of Istanbul at the time, I thought it was hysterically funny. I’ve never made it past 17 tweets. Maybe you will do better. You can try it here:
Tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and political intimidation take their toll on everyone, but the Gezi protesters did an amazing job of using humor to stay energized and motivated.
Read MoreThe 20/200 Rule: A Rule To Increase Productivity
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Are your perfectionistic tendencies leaving you exhausted and overwhelmed? Here is a simple solution to help you manage your valuable time.
Read MoreKick 'em to the Curb: When to Fire Bad Clients
/This article focuses on business relationships, but really the same exercise is applicable for friendships, romantic relationships, etc. Just think of the “bottom line” as your happiness, contentment and achievement of your life goals. The only place where I do NOT recommend using this approach is for evaluating close relatives and spouses. You are busy. You don’t have time to waste on people (and businesses) that don’t add significant value to your bottom line. Do you have trouble making enough time for all your clients AND marketing? Are you having trouble deciding for which potential new clients you should offer special discounts? Then this exercise is perfect for you. This month I am introducing a quick trick to help you decide which of your clients you should “kick to the curb.”
Read MoreAre You Using Your Time Well?
/How much is your time worth? If your hourly rate is $400, $200, $95 or even $35, why are you spending time on activities that are worth $10 per hour, such as managing your contacts, book keeping, cleaning your house, etc. I know, I know, I do it too. It feels like a hassle to find someone to do the work, or no one does it well enough, or it's something you procrastinate about, and then you are in crisis mode so it seems easier to just do it yourself. Or maybe you feel that a “good mother” or a “responsible business owner” would do this task herself. If this represents you, take a minute, go find a mirror and try to tell yourself with a straight face that this is a good use of your time.
Read MoreTop Six List: A Great Tool for Planning Your Day
/You can’t do everything. No one can. It is the illusion that we can (and should) do everything which prevents us from prioritizing and actually taking the actions that are most important. This tool from Accomplishment Coaching allows you to replace an endless to-do list with a focused list of priorities. Each day, take out a clean sheet of paper and
Read MoreHappiness - Part One
/On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you? Some of us don’t even pursue happiness because it either seems too far out of reach or it seems trivial, not worthy of our time and energy. But is that true? Enjoyment generally accelerates productivity and improves the quality of human connection. When we are genuinely happy we are less stressed, more pleasant to be around and respond more effectively to daily frustrations and unexpected challenges. As grown-ups, we tend to focus on being mature and responsible. Sometimes just surviving one’s life can feel challenging, and so actual happiness isn’t even on the radar.
Read MoreAccountability Buddies
/One of the most effective ways to keep yourself on track with a new commitment is to get a buddy to check in with on a daily basis. Most of us are pretty unreliable to keep promises to ourselves, but will go far our of our way to honor commitments to other people.
Read MoreOde to Persistence
/You may just need more time for the results of your efforts to start manifesting. So, when is persistence worth it and when should you just go home and eat ice cream? You first need to identify whether you are experiencing temporary setbacks or if there is a fatal flaw in your goal.
Read MoreHow to Design a Powerful Project
/The following are ten steps to create an effective plan. Whether you are trying to lose weight, write that novel, or increase revenue, one simple way to help yourself achieve the intention quickly is to write out a project plan. The following are ten steps to create an effective plan.
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