Is your career on the right path?

Barking up the wrong tree...

Talent clearly in grown based on opportunity.

Conceive Believe Win

Taken from The Guardian:

In his book, The Luck Factor, published today, he describes "luck school" - a series of exercises to help people improve their luck, which are supported by experimentation and data. Dr Wiseman, a former magician who has published books on lying, ghosts and unmasking psychics, said:

"This is the first extensive research into luck. It shows that luck is vitally important for our success and happiness and presents people with opportunities to experience more good fortune in their lives."

Based on his studies, including psychometric questionnaires, laboratory experiments and extensive interviewing, he has set out four principles that characterise lucky people:

· Maximise chance opportunities.

Lucky people are skilled at:

Creating

Noticing

Acting upon chance opportunities.

They do this in various ways, including networking, adopting a relaxed attitude to life and by being open to new experiences

· Listening to lucky hunches

Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings.

In addition, they take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities by, for example, meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts

· Expect good fortune

Lucky people are certain that the future is going to be full of good fortune.

These expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies by helping lucky people persist in the face of failure, and shape their interactions with others in a positive way

· Turn bad luck to good

Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and often even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way.

For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, do not dwell on the ill fortune and take control of the situation.

Win Win Influence Book Summary

Believe in your potential and those on your life team.

Build a moat around yourself to protect you from the naysayers.

Protect your income and brand.

Only ever three outcomes to resignation conversation.

Be prepared.

Visualisation - that's only for dreamers and the deluded...

What resources do top performing sports women and men reach for, to aid their confidence and decision making?

I have been lucky enough to meet two Olympic gold medallists. They put their success down to wanting it more than others. Being willing to make decades of sacrifice, relentless daily focus and unbreakable resilience.

No mention of ‘natural talent’.

One visualised daily to get her the other side, of a career threatening injury. She visualised the time when she has gone to her first Olympics, and had to watch whilst others picked up gold as team GB finished way off the podium. A coach told her that would be her one day, celebrating at top of podium. That image was a reminder. She worked very hard and held her dream, that she would be part of a team than won gold. She did that for 16 years.

16 years.

What could you achieve if you worked at YOUR dream (not your line managers or CEO’s dream) for 16 years?

I recall speaking with my local newsagent. He has several business interests and always dreamt of owning a Porsche 911. He committed to own one within a year. So, he cut out a picture of the precise black 911, with brown leather seats he desired. He stuck this in his stock room and looked at every opportunity. When doing a rather mundane task like sorting the Sunday papers, he reminded himself why he was doing this.

He now owns said car and is planning the next audacious goal.

What does the simple act of visualisation do? It brings a focus, it shows your brain what to work on and most importantly what not to work on. In a world, full of others noise – elimination of distraction is vital. It’s a reminder, it revs up your engine of self-belief.

This week I spoke to someone who has a winning idea in the consumer products space. He said I know there is demand for this product, because the last time I did this it was supply that let me down. I have learnt and I am ready now. But I am amazed how many British people respond with a negative – it will never work.

“If such an idea would work, then a large company would have already done it.”

This was also said to James Dyson, surely Hoover would have done that, well I know the fortunes of those two companies are somewhat different today.

Confidence is the big gift from visualization, the vital anchor to achieve any goal that is yet to be experienced in your life. It closes the gap from steps 1 and 2 all the way to step 1,007 of your goal journey. We live in an ever more aggressive and cynical world, where there are plenty of naysayers:

Live YOUR life and career dreams.

If you have everything to gain and nothing to lose, why not give it a go.

Frequent, short and intense visualisation works! I believe this is something we can all use to achieve more. I dare you to find the way that works to build your possibility of potential, as a suggestion:

• Create a vision board

• Use a single image

• Draw a mind map

• Role model the confidence of someone who has already achieve this goal

• Write a message to yourself

• Allow your favourite music to get you in the right state

• Simply close your eyes and create images of you achieving…

• Bring the daily emotions and feeling of the process of success…

As Clyde Brolin in his excellent book” IN THE ZONE” recommends:

Conceive, Believe and Achieve.

No one has a straight line to success.

One of the UK’s most successful Olympians Chris Hoy:

“In general we all underestimate what we’re capable of…A lot of people look at Olympic or world champions and think they are born to be a champion, a different breed…I didn’t stand out from the crowd…Everyone can surprise themselves with what they’re capable of doing.“

If Visualisation is only for dreamers and the deluded call me both…I am 5 days into a 30 day commitment of visualising for 5 minutes each morning on my 2018 goal.

Ask yourself:

• What do people seek my advice on?

• What would you do if I knew could not fail?

• What human problem needs solving and if I don’t solve, it won’t get solved?

• What do I want people to say about me at my funeral?

• What do I want to have achieved by the end of career?

We who live in 2018 can take control of our careers and lives.

Whose round is it anyway?

I was at a social event last December and a friend of mine and I found each other at the bar. Not unusual.

I said I will get this and Richard said no it’s my turn. Being polite British people we kept this back and forth for about a minute. Then Richard’s wife intervened and said if I know you two then you won’t be only having one drink. So, it does not matter who goes first and make mine a large glass of Chablis.

I think it spoke volumes of our desire to be generous but I then think, we are both equally generous people and can’t wait to catch up and see how each other are and whose is buying is somewhat incidental.

I recall when I work for a large business and Friday lunchtime was standard to go for a drink, many people in the company were happy to stand their round. But one individual never bought a drink, he would happily take and that is the way he was.

Over a period of time people stopped buying him drinks. I think it a universal human trait that we admire generosity and most people like to give but don’t like being taken for a ride.

Whilst these may seem like trivial examples there is a science to the subject of human giving and taking – reciprocity. Dr Robert Cialdini has spent nearly four decades of his life studying the subject. He concludes that of the six types of influence, in the Western culture reciprocity has THE dominating effect:

“In social psychology, reciprocity is a social rule that says people should repay, in kind, what another person has provided for them; that is, people give back (reciprocate) the kind of treatment they have received from another.”

Give strategically ask appropriately

A client of mine was becoming frustrated by the lack of opportunity in his organisation, so decided to move on. He is always looking to support other people. This usually involves him connecting two people who could benefit from a mutual introduction.

Alternatively, he may offer some valuable insight to help an individual reach a better decision. Either way he is always helping others. So, when it came to the time for him to call in these favours, he gained several prompt introductions to decision makers.

This led to him having seven job interviews and finally achieving four job offers. Of course, he is an overachiever at his role but ‘the difference that made the difference’ was his attitude. By investing in others consistently, he did not look needy when it came to asking for support to achieve his next role. His forward actions opened mutual giving and receiving.

How many opportunities do you miss because do don’t ask…

Adam Grant - the Harvard Organizational psychologist - advises to build relationships strategically. He admires the way serial entrepreneur Adam Rifkin organizes his time. "You don't have to be Mother Teresa or Gandhi to be a giver. You just have to find small ways to add large value to other people's lives."

I urge you to invest in giving now so you can take if you need to.

In my experience the keys to asking without looking needy or just like a taker

are:

1) Earn the right to ask by giving value first.

2) Be polite with your request.

3) Ask a person who can deliver.

4) Ask with a positive intention but hold it lightly.

5) Ask at different times and in unusual ways.

6) Make it as easy as possible for others to say YES.

Worth asking when you have everything to gain and nothing to lose…

Give strategically ask appropriately

The research and study of human behaviour and influence is an ongoing one for me. In the spirit of appropriately asking, can I request you comment below and share any questions or observations you have on this fascinating subject. Thank you.