Make sure you understand what other people mean...

...especially during negotiations.

Misinterpretation of just a single word can potentially lead to miscommunication.

If you believe there is a chance of misunderstanding, simply ask: Could you please elaborate on what you mean by "".

My down-to-earth approach to negotiations...

...may be too much down-to-earth.

At least a little preparation in order to properly leverage the 7 triggers to yes would be in its place - the down-to-earth and close relationship/trust building is however still working perfectly fine.

In any case - Be yourself!

Elaborate on stories and create feelings and emotions...

...instead of just asking questions all the time.

A secret little tip: After asking on what a person is doing, follow up with "Amazing, I really admire when people ... "

Example: Amazing! I really admire when people follow their dreams and let nothing in their way for achieving the things they dream about here in life! It must really feel great to know that you are always doing the things you are really passionate about! 

Follow up with interesting in-depth question on the persons passion.

It simple, and powerful!

But don't tell anyone about this! Not even the source of where you get these learnings from! Its a  secret!

Make it secret...

...if something is secret, and you get it, you appreciate it a lot more.

Even a free day off as I got today, which was a secret.

It is my little advice to you, but don't tell anyone! :)

Role modelling is quite smart - yesterdays learning actually

Learn by role modelling allows you to effectively control and leverage the amazing power of your subconscious mind. The conscious mind is quite limited, so we need to use it to just instruct the subconscious mind.

1) Find role models that possess the skills you wish to learn - then simply observe them.

2) When having observed them perform the skill for some time, perform role modelling visualization trick by visualizing the role model in action, doing the skill you wish to internalize, and then jump into it.

So easy, and yet so powerful.

Challenge now:

1) Find skills to learn

2) Find best role models to copy

3) Actually DO the exercise

Amazing how effective mind-conditioning is

Already feel all the benefits.

It's like an instant habit conditioner!

Spend time on ensuring that you spend time on yourself

Make sure you schedule time focused on improving your life by committing yourself to continuous improvement. (rather than just saying "I will improve my life").

It will in turn make you happier, enjoy life more, and ultimately make you more effective and productive in all areas of your life.

Today my top priority will be to:

- Complete mind conditioning to commit myself to continuous life-improving mind-conditioning to commit myself to continuous life-improving actions (yes, its not a typo)

Bulking tasks is perfect...

...even on a larger scale, like taking a week off to focus 100% on one thing.

This requires pre-planning, but the rewards are amazing, as you are focused on getting things done all the time - while at the same time really enjoying the process of course to get the most out of every second of your life.

Sick on the 4th day now...

...and the learning has been the same each day - only re-enforced and made stronger.

Don't let anything compromise your effort to stay healthy and take good care of yourself :)

Call more often than emailing...

...especially when you are uncertain of the situation and the other persons perception of it.

Remember that words only correspond to a very little part of the communication - and therefore you are at a high risk of misintepreting more complex situations over email.

Motivation Series: Continuous growth...

...is a personal key for motivation.

Having clear indications of continous growth (rather than e.g. yearly only), by indicating progress and providing courses with feedback/outcome effect is a great simple way to increase motivation (given that the learning mechanisms are in place of course).

Motivation series: Teamwork

In times where perceived impact of work is low, it appears that simple teamwork will increase motivation and output significantly.

Been observing this lately, and got indications from conversations today as well.

It has always been clear to me that teamwork is a great motivator, but it seems especially impactful for boring/less interesting tasks.

Interesting way to improve work morale for simple repetitive tasks e.g. support, administrative or sales tasks. Next question would be how to make it clear teamwork (rather than simple cooperation/splitting of tasks) for those types of tasks...

Motivation series: Public positive feedback...

...works wonders. And it is so easy to do.

Learning: If possible, keep feedback to a point where other people are present.

Direct marketing...

...is a great way to attrach customers.

Target e.g. most wealthy people and focus how to provide them with special service.

Focus on the 7 triggers to yes, and also apply the triggers to pursuation such as scarcity, special info.

Internet marketing and sales techniques is becoming a more and more interesting subject to me - will defintely attend undergroundonlineseminar next year.

Also another learning during the recent week - motivation requires that the person is aware of the importance and impact of the task they are doing.

Also explaining the entire process and focus on making the purpose of the task (use of end product) clear, are important factors to increased motivation.

Wow, big learning day...

...have literally a whole sheet of learnings filled out. Too much to cover here even.

Also the variety of learnings is amazing, and I believe the key here is back to the point of the importance of role modelling - and finding the right people to role model.

Not that you should take everything from the specific person, but rather specific things from each person to be inspired by.

Thus a good mix of rolemodels within different areas of your life would be ideal.

So this person from today specifically has inspired me in many useful ways, especially for his directness and ability to communicate feedback in a very precise and constructive way, while constantly calibrating with clarifications and ensuring the message comes across correctly.

I believe he must have read my earlier learning blog on communication: "It does not matter what you say. The only thing that matters is how the other person perceives it".

Also, I see the point of insecure overachievers being made here, and luckily with my knowledge of this, I am able to ensure I don't fall into the trap of taking unimportant things too seriously.

So all in all a great day! Both personally and professionally - still with a slight lack of motivation though.

Its amazingly easy to get a work permit in Switzerland...

I can easily stay here for 4 more years now.

Must be some european thing.

Ohh, and another small thing - cold water splash every morning does wonders!

I got too many things going on these days...

...and as with anything, you cannot succeed at everything, you need to focus on the most important things and finish of projects in a one-by-one manner - unless of course you like a random life where you start lots of stuff and never finish anything thing...... :)

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about A :)

Ahh, its the kitty kitty story!

Of course. 

They are all waiting for the biiig reward.

Big personal learning.

Critcal to explain process very clearly, otherwise the mere thought of not being on track or doing the right thing can heavily de-motivate.

Certainty that you are on the right track helps alot.

Can it really be so boring to not work on your own company...

...how does anyone get through life as a non-entrepreneur?

Today I learned that I don't really understand. 

I need to find out what it is that motivates people here to work so much.

If I get that, then it should help at a later point with own employees too.

Marketing is simple...

...when you understand how the brain functions.

Four steps to keep in mind:

1. Understand the pain

2. Identify the gain

3. Clarify/proof the offering

4. Deliver to the old brain

Impact = Pain * Gain * Clarity * (Old brain)^3

Isn't it just great when you can quantify qualitative stuff? :)

Ensure motivation by preventing other activities...

...that are highly likely to disturb the focus.

Also, make the future compelling and clear - clarity here is the key, and the whole process/journey should be described clearly.

Understand the individual's needs and wants, and tailor the compelling future to these.

Remember the egg timer...

...and don't get to involved in entrepreneurial activities while cooking.

Learned how to build an Iglo...

...and many interesting things about team work and how motivation can be kept up with simple regular progress feedback.

Amazing how different people's perceptions...

...of the exact same event can be.

Also interesting to see how this increases the importance of communication between people.

Remember: It does not mean what you tell the other person - all the matters is how he/she perceived what you told.

Ask the person how (not if) he/she understood/would use what you just explained, to ensure that the message was communicated correctly.

Try to avoid sitting next to a snoring man...

...when you are flying across the atlantic.

Hierarki level seems to be directly positively correlated...

...to the relaxed and down-to-earth level of people.

Atleast in the organization here - the further up I get, the more down-to-earth people are.

Interesting. Maybe because they have fewer people to worry about above them.

Today there were several learnings...

...and one small one - but important I believe - is how you can determine if people are telling the truth. I've been studying it for a while, and it's amazing how simple questions how help you determine this. Questions like: "I am sorry I was late, I had an important phone call." "Ohh yeah, you spoke with Rik right? What did he say?" (which he did not). Too much hesitation = high probability of a lie.

Also, overexplaining reasons to an action seems to be indicating that something is not being told or is not entirely correct.

Also learned that maybe Rohan was right when saying that it was too easy here... atleast the impact seems big with sometimes minimum effort.

Part of it may be that you're coming from the outside, brining a fresh new perspective on things.

In any case, it appears that many corporations are amazingly ineffective when it comes to daily operations. People tend to get caught up and loosing the big picture of what they are doing and where they are going.

Ohh, and learned the importance of remembering lunch - the cantine closes at 2:30 PM.

Learned: How great it feels...

...when you have experienced people working with/for you. 

You feel so much more productive - even when you're taking a break.

I am ready...

...to take on bigger responsibilities already, much bigger than I had imagined. 

Something needs to happen soon - the capaibilities must be used.

CELEBRATE! Today I learned how great it feels...

...when weeks of hard work starts to pay off.

This time is critical, and celebration is an absolute must to be able to make it through future tough periods with lots of work again.

So join me as I celebrate myself and the hard work I've been doing by myself over the last couple of weeks.

Well - being selfish for 15 minutes once a year should be ok ;-)

Today I learned one very important point...

...how great it is to have a friend like Antoine, who helps you makes sure you get the most out of life - and reads your daily learnings ;-)

And Yes, this even despite his very funny French accent.

Know where you are going...

...to not get overwhelmed and keep the focus and motivation.

Always remember and re-enforce the purpose behind your actions - I was reminded of that today.

Outsourcing is time-consuming...

...as quality needs to be assured.

Perhaps you can outsource the outsourcing process?

Wow... can't let go of my new venture...

Somehow I am overly excited about being back in the real early stage entrepreneurial venture, and simply can't let go of it, working late until I can't keep my eyes open anymore every day.

The corporate world is definitely not my place...

Habits habits habits - they rule our lifes!

...if only there was an easy way to "install" the coolest and best habits any person would want - such as exercise on a regular basis, eat healthy, and generally make the _right_ decision in any situation.

But wait... there IS! Next challenge is is that habits needs to be re-installed/repaired once in a while, as you everyday install all kinds of strange new habits without knowing it - e.g. when watching advertisements or other people doing various stuff.

So... ahh... First step before installing habits, would therefore have to be to install the habit of re-installing habits on a regular basis. There you go :)

Lean expert in one day...

If you need advice on lean management, just let me know - I'll reduce your lead time in no time :)

Wonderful to see how kids can change people's lifes...

...to a much more relaxed and down-to-earth life, where caring about themselves and their kids is first priority. Nothing else seems to really matter that much suddenly, such as an angry boss or a financial crisis.

It could be a lesson to all of us.

VAs can be much better...

...than I anticipated. Very positively surprised about the potential skills and creativity of these VAs.

Finding these high quality VAs at an affordable price is the next challenge. Already looking forward to it.

Confirming: Being ill is Gods way of...

...telling you to relax just a little tiny bit Michael. You can do it!

Explain feelings and thoughts more clearly...

...do not always try to wrap them up in a nice package that may end up never being opened.

The receiver always wants the learning from you, rather than just getting pure positive/petting feedback.

Pay yourself first!

Is a great thought. 

Whenever you find yourself spending time on yourself, e.g. exercise, self development, training etc., make sure you pay yourself for the effort you spend on improving your life.

How much is each hour you spend on yourself worth? That would be the hourly rate you should pay yourself.

Finding truly inspirational people is a challenge...

...so make sure you hold on to and connect to all those you do already know.

Every single person I meet always has something inspirational to share...

...you just have to look for it and guide the conversation to help the person finds his/her inner passions for life.

Apparently you can MS.NET for BlackBerry's...

...which may not sound that amazing, but will actually save me a ton of money and time :)

Always make your master shine...

...never outshine your source of inspiration!

Daily habits in the morning and evening are amazing...

...and makes life so much better.

The concept is simple: Take care of yourself, and make sure the machine (your body) is oiled, polished and always in its prime condition!

You deserve it!

Motivation various from person to person...

...and could be defined by a motivation profile on Achievement, Affiliation and Influence.

Interesting this is that my profile should be strongly driven by Achievement and Influence/Power as a dedicated entrepreneur... well... I could not agree more :)

http://www.minnpost.com/minnov8/2009/01/06/5602/why_executives_dont_get_social_media

Motivation is so much stronger...

...when you feel competition is there, and could potentially take something away from you.

And you therefore need to complete things quickly!

Somehow, not sure exactly how, this also relates to Parkinson's Law of complexity.

It seems that with competition, you also force yourself to simplify the task (because you have less time), thereby reducing the complexity and allowing you to complete the task faster. Thereby competition also makes you do more in less time, in addition to the motivation.

So as always, competition is a great thing - that is, IF you want to accomplish many things here in life and develop yourself! Do you?

Set a few simple goals each morning...

...and do them. This is a simple effective way to get started doing more, and procrastinating less.

Just do it :)

Commit to your 2009 goals...

...by telling your best friends about them. The more they trust you, the better. In case you happen to not walk your talk by ignoring your commitments, your friends will loose faith in you, which is must tougher, than just not following through on your commitment.

Rereading books is a great idea...

...especially when you pick those good ones. It quickly reminds you of all the great learnings you got out of it, and you can relive the feelings of motivation and inspiration you had when first reading the book. 

Vermont just keeps on getting better...

...and might soon be _the_ place for virtual companies: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080701/a-haven-for-virtual-companies.html

Make sure the battery on your car...

...is always fully charged, by un-plugging any device from the car power supply when leaving the car all alone for several weeks.