A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish

Would you still want a "job" if you were married to royalty?

In honor of the recent royal wedding between William and Kate, I posted a question on my Facebook page, “Would you still want a "job" if you were married to royalty?”

If you were married to royalty, having enough money for your wants and needs would likely not be an issue. So, how would you spend those 8-12 hours a day you use to spend working? If money were no barrier, how would you like to spend your time? Would you travel, write books, start a business, or do volunteer work?

Are thoughts of actually spending your time the way you want to too far-fetched? If you don’t think you have any chance of doing the type of work you dream of and having the life you want, you’re not going to put much, if any energy into trying to make it happen. Your self-fulfilling prophecy will come true: you won’t have a chance and your dream won’t happen.

Unless your own royal wedding is around the corner, you will probably have to rely on yourself to create the life you want.

So, how do you go about creating the life you want? First, you decide what you want. Once you have a clear vision, put time and action-oriented energy into taking steps towards your vision. What you water, will grow.

Do you know what business you’re in?: *Biz Building*

 Do you know what business you’re in? If someone asks you, can you articulate it to them? This is why a Unique Positioning Statement otherwise known as a “UPS”, is vital to your biz success.  

I suggest making your UPS as concise as possible, at least for conversational purposes. On your website and other materials you can feel free to elaborate.

If someone were to ask you “so what do you do?” You’d want to be quick, clear, and exclude confidence. Your response to this question is what your UPS should be.

Most of your prospective customers don’t care HOW you do what you do. They care more about what BENEFITS you give them, so explain your benefits upfront. When creating your UPS, think about what makes your business unique.

For example, one option could be:

“I help businesses increase productivity and improve their bottom line by increasing employee morale through humor, chocolate, and Anime.”

This works for any kind of business you're in. If you bake cakes for friends and family on occassion, if you sell artwork or photography, if...whatever! This one sentence takes effort, but it's absolutely worth it; so put in the time to make it fit and feel just right.

Even if you're in the business of yourself, it works. For example, let's say you've been an IT specialist at a company ABC. The new Head-Honcho is making his or her rounds and has asked to be introduced to everyone in your department. When asked for their name, the person next to you says, "Oh, I'm Luke Lame and I do cyber security. Nice to meet you."

But ooooh no, YOU have a UPS. YOU aren't going to waste this opportunity to make a great first impression to Head Honcho. When it's you're turn, you look Head Honcho in the eyes with confidence and say, "I'm Alisa Awesome and I help this place save money and reduce expenses by making sure the integrity of our network security its upheld."

Wow, that's powerful. And memorable too. Once you write yours down, practice it until you can say it comfortably and confidently. It shouldn't sound fake or too "formal".

Good luck!

President Donald Trump: Leveraging His Transferable Skills

If you haven’t heard already, The Donald (Donald Trump) is “seriously” considering running for President in the next election. This is the most fascinating thing I've heard all week. I actually think he has the business expertise (budgeting, negotiation, management, leadership skills etc.,) and lack of BS (baloney stories) going on to actually be an effective President.

Think about it: almost all of politicians are trained in law and government; but in this economic time of scarcity and painful decision-making we may need the business perspective to get us where we should be. Someone who’s trained to make an organization successful and efficient, not to argue their personal opinions backed by “facts” (they pay organizations to create on their behalf) to the point that important decisions can’t be negotiated and don’t get made. When I finished college, I thought long and hard on the decision to go to Law school versus Business school. In retrospect I would have made the exact same decision: Business.

Donald Trump is much too conservative for me. We don’t agree on some basic, fundamental rights (a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body, equality in marriage, etc.). His opinion on Immigration is tolerable, but not ideal as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately it’s hard to get 100% of what you want when it comes to a leader. Sometimes we have to choose the best of what we’ve got.

When it comes down to it, despite my difference of opinion, I can’t deny that…even without knowing the background of other potential candidates that they will be HARD PRESSED to have the overwhelming expert level of business savvy and management competence that Trump could bring to the table. He may not be what we want, but he just might be what we need. My mind isn’t made up of course; I’m interested to learn more about other Presidential candidate’s platforms. But I'm not going to rule out The Donald anytime soon.

He won’t have any problems developing a strong marketing campaign and raising money. He’s a master marketer (or has masters at his beck and call). He already has money to get his voice heard. Being President will actually mean a pay cut for him, I’m sure.

In any case the main points I’d like to emphasize are his transferable skills and personal brand that’s been decades in the making. Do you see how he could make a (an arguably) convincing case that he’s the best person to run the country during our current economic crisis? He'll likely emphasize his international business mastery and expert negotiation and critical thinking skills. He can upsell his unique style of management in discerning unproductive people/organizations and getting rid of those that simply don't work, literally and figuratively. Unlike the status-quo, he has no problem saying, "You're Fired!" when someone (or some program/initiave) doesn't meet expectations.  He may find it more difficult to get "his way" in a purely political environment, but I'm sure he's capable of finding a way out of no way.

His brand of being “no nonsense”, blunt, get-it-done type could be leveraged to connect with the qualities people look for in a leader.

What are your transferable skills? You may be surprised at where they take you.

And by the way: Do you think his transferable skills are too far-fetched or a great match? I want to hear from you!