Preparation for success is most of the victory
For many, the last day and first day of the year is a day for gathering with family and friends. For me and those I often spend this time of year with, games are an important part of the festivities. I love board games, I love the strategic nature of testing myself against the games. Some times my ideas pay off, other times I learn a really good way to not play that game… I do not mind losing at…
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The Deception of Multi-tasking
Multi-tasking is one of those things that sounds like a good idea at first glance but upon consideration loses its credibility when looking at real-world examples. The premise is that there are opportunities where two separate tasks can be done at the same time allowing for more tasks knocked off the todo list. The truth is we don’t multi-task, we task-switch and during that task-switch, we lose concentration and time. First, let’s talk about computers. Here is the ultimate task-switcher—not…
I don’t mind failure.
I read lots of thoughtful posts and memes about— “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ― Thomas A. Edison I really need to find the source on that, I like to often quote Abe Lincoln and his “You can trust everything you find on the internet” proclamation. Not that I am questioning Edison, it sounds a very Edison thing to say. Nevertheless, I want to point out I don’t mind the use of the word…
One Among Many
Emotion plays a large part in drawing support to nonprofit organizations. Often the cause supported by the nonprofit is a large one so the tendency is to let people know how large this problem is in hopes to invoke a sense of urgency and a need to act now. The problem with this is that human nature does not like to deal with massive challenges, these tend to get avoided. When we focus on the catastrophic, the one gets lost…
Goals: Failure allows our success to be attainable.
We often joke about not setting goals to avoid setting ourselves up for failure. I have failed before, more than once—and at times I earned that failure. I know how failure feels. I have succeeded before, more than once—and at times I earned that success. I know how success feels. It is true that failure, when viewed properly, can be one of our greatest learning experiences as we work toward goals. Failure, when it does not stop us, is just…
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Defined by Goals
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Defined goals are critical to any organization. How else will the direction the organization is headed be known? Goals should define where we are headed in 25 years, 10 years, 1…
Why are small business owners not using social media?
When I started my first business, not many people used the web. Google was not there for me, no Facebook Fan Pages, no Twitter, no Instagram, and no Foursquare check-in. Social media… what was that? TV ads, print ads, and direct mail were expensive for me to run long campaigns. Not a lot of inexpensive ways to get my company out in front of my desired clients. I enjoy visiting small businesses, attending farmers markets, and any place I can…
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