The Inner Voices, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Your Life

When you consider all that you are capable of achieving, nothing is more exciting than imagining who and what you can and will become in your life. To do this, you must first learn to ignore that voice inside your head that may tell you otherwise.

You have the ability to become happier.

You have the ability to become more successful.

You have the ability to become healthier.

You have the ability to become a better friend.

You have the ability to become a better wife or husband.

You have the ability to learn new things.

You have the ability to get a better job.

You have the ability to get a raise.

You have the ability to live where you want.

You have the ability to work how you want.

You have the ability to do what you want for a living.

You have the ability to pursue the hobbies you want.

In fact, pretty much whatever you want out of life is yours for the taking.

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Relationships, Inefficiency, and Your Career

One of the greatest obstacles for efficient businesses is the influence of relationships. In fact, relationships are sometimes so strong that they can ultimately end up crippling a business.

Conversely, some of the greatest powers you personally have in your own career and in business are relationships. Relationships are a powerful force that you can use to your advantage in your career. Inefficient and top-heavy organizations are everywhere, and they become this way mostly due to the power of relationships between the people working there. People often get hired and stay employed–due almost entirely to their ability to connect with their employer–and develop strong relationships at the workplace. I would go so far as to say that probably 20% to 30% of the people inside of most organizations are not actually needed at all. These people are kept employed and are allowed to collect salaries, benefits, and so forth because of the power of the relationships they have developed inside the organization. [Read more]

Self-Help Means Helping Others

There is a simple concept that separates those who experience great success from those who do not. I am going to tell you all about this concept in a second, but first I want to talk a little bit about self-help. I have read countless books that discuss various methods of improving one’s life and career. I have always found it interesting that these books are almost always classified as self-help. The first self-help book ever written is generally considered to be Samuel Smiles’ Self Help, originally published in 1859. The book begins with the sentence “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” The principle that self-help seems to be founded on and seems to revolve around, is that people need to take charge of themselves in order to improve their lives. Most books that fall within this classification generally offer the same prescription for improving any area of life:

• Discover what you want!
• Have a positive attitude!
• Create big goals!
• Have discipline!

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Over Deliver Because It’s Not About You

Several years ago, I was in the midst of opening up various legal recruiting offices around the United States.  In my sheer enthusiasm for the business, I would bring new recruiters from around the country to Los Angeles and have them live with me for several months while training them in my method of recruiting.  The new recruiters would sit in my office and I would observe them recruiting and critique their performance.  I would have dinner with them each night and discuss recruiting as well. While I am not good at a lot of things, I [Read more]

Why You Should Never Miss a Company Holiday Party or Invitation to Your Boss’s Home

A few years ago, I spoke with a man (now retired) who had worked in a large corporation for forty years and in his last twenty years, he basically did nothing. He was paid very well and was more or less forgotten—doing very little of anything. He would show up at the office at 9:00 a.m. each day, try to look busy—do a task now and then—and then get in his car at 5:30 p.m. each evening and drive home. When he finally retired from the company, he felt as if he had achieved a great victory. For the past [Read more]

Bad Manners, Rumors, and Your Career

One of the risks you face as you progress in your career is rumors. People may make up various falsehoods and share incorrect (usually negative) information about you. These falsehoods can spread like wild fire and can literally destroy your career overnight. It is even more dangerous when there is an element of truth to these rumors and you do not speak out against them. Rumors can be created by your competitors, by someone who does not like you, or simply by a colleague for seemingly no reason at all. Regardless of the source of information, once [Read more]

Don’t Be Dead Weight–Contribute More than You Take

One of the most important things you can do for any employer is produce value far in excess of what you receive as compensation. When you look at a highly compensated salesperson, for example, the chances are very good that he or she is producing a lot more value than he or she is paid for. A salesperson who makes $100,000 a year is probably producing at least $500,000 in revenue for the company he or she works for. It is like this with every profession. Lawyers who bill clients $700,000 a year for their services inside [Read more]

Sympathy, Morale, and the Importance of Being Organized

In every job I have ever had, I have been happy for the most part. When I was an attorney, for example, I liked many aspects of being an attorney. When I worked in the asphalt business, I loved many aspects of that business. Most people are able to find some level of enjoyment in every job that they do. What is interesting, though, is that in every job I ever had, there were always people around me who were more than happy to stop by my office and go out to lunch with me, just to give me the [Read more]

Concentrate on Your Product

When I was growing up, I used to spend most weekends with my father. Like most fathers I knew, my dad loved to watch sports. Football was always on during the season, and he always seemed most interested in college sports. I have always been amazed by college football because of the high level of enthusiasm that students, alumni, and others have for it. My mother went to the University of Michigan, my father attended law school there for some time, my grandfather went there, and my grandmother got a master’s degree there as well. My grandparents liked the school [Read more]

To-Do Lists, Tactics, Strategies, and Going to the Moon

Companies, governments, and other organizations are typically organized in the following way: At the top of the pyramid are people whose job is to strategize for the organization. These are the people who set the entire tone for a group and define what it is supposed to accomplish.

• In the case of a war, for example, the president might declare that an overall strategy is to extinguish terrorists in Afghanistan, to make the world a safer place.
• In the case of an organization, a strategy may be to legalize something that is currently illegal.
• In the case of a company, a strategy may be to create a product that dominates a given sector.

Every group needs to have a strategic objective that is promoted by its leaders if it plans to survive in the long term. “Without a vision, the people perish.” The reason this [Read more]

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