Category: Success

When everyday feels like Monday

Sometimes life in business seems like a real struggle. Each day you feel like giving up. Each day seems to be like Monday with so much to do and yet with very little evidence of progress. When embarking on a startup journey you know it isn’t going to be easy. You very well know that there will be several challenges on the way. Yet as you face those very challenges, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed. You may even find yourself a little lost in the process and struggle to see the path ahead of you. It’s in these times that you wonder if there is any point in going on.  How can one get themselves out of such a bubble?

In search of this answer, most of what I read came back down to finding your ‘why’. Remind yourself why you started on this journey in the first place. Finding your ‘why’ can reignite your passion and give you a sense of purpose that can help you through your struggles. Its just a matter of continuing to come back to your ‘why’ so that each task you undertake is done with purpose. When you seem to get lost and progress seems bleak, reconnect with your ‘why’ for motivation. You may even want to set yourself a personal mission statement in line with your business mission statement to help reinforce this.

Storms are inevitable, so why not focus on your anchor, your ‘why’!

Rejection isn’t the end. It’s the beginning!

Larry Kim in this post explains how he got 100 rejections and the lessons he learned from these.

He read his rejections and took them in his stride as constructive feedback. He used his rejection to work harder. It didn’t have to mean the end. Instead it drove him to bring about changes to his business to improve and grow it. Further more he followed up on his rejections from VC’s. This way he was able to show them that he took their advice on board and acted on them.

I leave you with this thought in Kim’s words:

“Save rejections. Value input. Act on advice.”

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Is your idea of success external to you?

In this post Nicolas Cole argues that many people are not successful because their definition of success itself is flawed. People tend to associate success with external things such as climbing a mountain or receiving an award or trophy. The problem with this is that success becomes a title, and once you have climbed one mountain to maintain such a title you have to keep climbing mountains.

But isn’t true success from within? Cole’s goes on to say that “instead of seeking validation, what you need to seek is exploration”.  Giving success an internal meaning can result on focusing on the feeling of success and the journey along the way rather than end result.

The key takeaway here being value yourself for who you are and not the title. Fall in love with the process rather than the results.

So how do you view success?

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Why most employees want to work flexibly

In this post we learn about the increasing cry for flexibility in work and how the search for flexibility led to one person going on to co-launch Timewise in an attempt to grow the part-time and flexible jobs market and campaign for change.

The below infographic highlights some of the drivers behind the increased demand for workplace flexibility. Personally, I used to love working from home when I was particularly busy just to cut down on the commute time.

flexy work

By having a flexible working strategy, organisations are able to tap into a bigger pool of talent. But more than that, it promotes work life balance and can ‘alleviate some of the causes of stress, anxiety and poor mental health’.

I’m pro working flexibly, how about you?

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Does your organisation have a powerful social conscience?

In the below image, Kerry Topp points out that thinking about social impact in your organisation is a great way to attract talent. In fact this is one of the qualities people look for when looking at organisations they would like to work for.

Is social impact intertwined in your business? In light of the difficulty faced by many businesses in attracting talented employees, it may be necessary to think about your social conscience.

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Are you creating deep connections with your people, customers and communities?

Kerry Top shared the below infographic stressing the importance of businesses creating deep connections by focusing on their ‘why’. In his words “creating purpose and positive social impact are powerful attracting, sustaining and motivating forces.” Keeping such thoughts at the core of business is said to be good business.

So ask yourselves, are you focusing on your why and creating deep connections to drive business? If not, it’s time to think about how you can bring this into your business strategy.

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5 ways to boost grit

In this post, grit is said to be the one thing that can help you on the road to success. Its all about your ability to stick with something despite things not working out.

The post outlines 5 ways to boost grit:

  1. Focus on positive self talk – this could help you get through the tough times
  2. Find people who are also searching for success and stick with them – you can help boost each other
  3. Be focused on your goal, but don’t be attached to the path that leads you there – focus on the “what” instead of the “how”
  4. Take baby steps – work towards smaller goals that contribute to a larger goal
  5. Make sure to take time to celebrate the little wins you have on a regular basis – don’t forget to reflect on your journey as you move along it and appreciate it and the little wins along the way

Give these things a try and hopefully they will help you on your success journey!

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Are you creating unforgettable brand stories?

This post talks about the 3 components that make effective brand storytelling.

  1. They ask the tough questions about what their company stands for – they ask questions like what are our values and how do we express those in our everyday business dealings?
  2. They bake their story into every aspect of their marketing – today we find ourselves constantly bombarded with marketing and being able to hold our attention becomes even more important in this environment
  3. They use lots of different mediums to tell their brand stories – using a number of mediums to construct their story results in dynamic storytelling that should have a wider customer reach

How many of these are you currently taking into account whilst building your brand story?

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