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Productivity

Are You as Effective as You Want to Be?

Two lumberjacks were competing in the finals of the annual lumberjack competition. One was older and more experienced, the other a younger and stronger lumberjack. The rules were simple: Whoever can fell the most trees in a day, wins.

The younger lumberjack, full of enthusiasm, immediately got to work. He could hear the other lumberjack in the distance. At regular intervals, the sounds of trees being felled would stop. The younger lumberjack grew even more confident, because he knew that meant the older lumberjack was taking a rest, while he had the stamina to keep going.

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Employees: Know Your Value + Grow Your Career

Most of my articles, as you’ve probably noticed, are geared toward business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs. But if you’re an employee at a company who wants to know how you can grow professionally, advance in your career, and boost earning potential, this one’s for you.

(And if you’re a manager who wants to understand how to help your employees grow, this one’s also for you.)

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Don’t start fresh in 2019

It’s 6:15. Your alarm clock goes off. But you have zero desire to hit snooze.

You are ready to tackle the day. Energized to unlock its opportunity and potential. When you sit down at your desk, you feel confident and hopeful. Unstoppable.

There’s a name for this experience. It’s called Momentum. Like rolling a boulder down a hill, beginnings are tough and slow, but once you start going down that slope, you can go faster and faster, progress becomes easier and easier, and it’s nearly impossible to stop.

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Why Isn’t My Salesperson Closing Enough Sales?

When is the last time you hired a salesperson that you think is absolutely perfect for the job, only to find out they can’t close a sale if their life depended on it?

If this has happened to you, you’re in good company.

For a long time, I wondered why this is such a common scenario—why is it that someone can seem like a great salesman, but when it comes down to it, they have a hard time gaining the full trust of clients?

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Procrastination: You’re Doing it Wrong.

I have a question for you. Be sure to answer honestly.

Do you ever struggle with procrastination?

If you answered yes, then welcome to the club. And if you answered no, then, well, you may want to double check that you’re human. Because the truth is, we’re all guilty of it. We all don’t get the things done that we want to get done as quickly as we want to get them done.

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“Can I Just Have Two Minutes of Your Time?”

There’s a knock at your office door.

Your employee peeks their head in innocently.“Do you have a quick second?” “Can I just have 2 minutes of your time?”

OK. It’s just two minutes, you think.

How many of you fall for this on a daily basis?

Though the person doesn’t usually intend it as such, it’s a trap—and we know it. A second is never a just second. A minute is never just a minute. Even if it were, all those second and minute interruptions really add up … to more than you might think.

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How the 80/20 Rule Will Change Your Business

Have you ever met someone who always seems busy—but if you asked what they’ve accomplished in the last day, or the last week, they couldn’t give you a straight answer?

Maybe, if you’re being totally honest, this happens to you, too?

Let’s face it. Being truly productive in today’s business world is more difficult than ever. Yes, technology has made us much more efficient in many ways, but it also comes with great challenges: The constant bombardment of dings and notifications and emails and phone calls and texts can throw even the most type-A, goal-oriented businessperson out of focus.

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What I Learned from the Story of the Fish

A little girl was watching her mother prepare a fish for dinner. Her mother cut the head and tail off the fish and then placed it into a baking pan.

The little girl asked her mother why she cut the head and tail off the fish.

Her mother thought for a while and then said, “I’ve always done it that way. That’s how grandma always did it.”

Not satisfied with the answer, the little girl went to visit her grandma to find out why she cut the head and tail off the fish before baking it. Grandma thought for a while and replied, “I don’t know. My mother always did it that way.”

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