This is a great article from Richard E Goldman who offers ideas on the best self improvement strategies by Managing Yourself First.
To help you learn to manage yourself, I offer a set of dont’s: habits and traits to watch. If you find them in yourself, learn to take control of them, and make sure that you manage them to best advantage. Conquer these dont’s with the recommendations given here and you’ll be a better person, a better manager, and a better leader.
Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Teach You. Practically whatever the task, if you teach it to yourself, you’ll learn it better. The easy way out is to have someone sit down and parse information to you, kind of how toddlers are fed before they learn to manage using spoons on their own. The harder way is to go out and figure it out by yourself. This might require a bit of research on your part; you may need to end up asking a bunch of questions. It may be time consuming — and it’s the right way to go. Just keep in mind that the only “stupid” question is the one that you don’t ask.
When you’re done asking and researching and when you’ve figured out something new, whatever it is, the next thing that you have to do is to share the knowledge — pass it along. Learn to be a mentor and to be helpful in having the next person gain the knowledge.
Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Give You a Choice; Choose for Yourself.
If you have to wait for someone else to make choices for you, in likelihood, you’ll have poor ones to choose from. If you’re unsure about your choices, make the best possible choice given the information you have in front of you. Whether the decision is right or wrong, making your own decision will still be better than letting someone else make the decision for you. It’s part of the process of learning.
Don’t Settle for Less; Follow Your Dreams. Every dreamer pays a price, but so does everyone who fears to dream. The price for not dreaming or ignoring dreams is much higher. Every now and then, sit down and let yourself imagine. Let your mind go, and let all of the inner voices have a rest. Think about what the world might look like if your contribution to it was unfettered, if it was pure and simple and unbiased. Daydreaming is an important part of your creative process; allow yourself to do it often. It is the way to open your heart and to shut down your head. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. Your head has all the “what ifs” — the obstacles, the speed bumps, and the warning signs. And yes, it’s important to be conscious and present, with your eyes open and in protective mode most of the time. But it’s equally important to do the exact opposite: to let go and put no limits on yourself. After all, it’s only a daydream.
Here’s a good way to encourage yourself to daydream: every day, spend at least five minutes looking at something that’s several miles away, or even better, looking into infinity. Most of our day is spent looking at objects that are merely a few feet in front of us — like computer screens and cell phones. For many of us, the farthest that we might be looking over the course of the day is the distance that we look while we’re driving. You don’t have to live in the mountains or on the beach in order to look out at nothing — sit back and look at the sky. Let your eyes focus on nothing; it will help open your mind to doing the same. After your mind has done this, daydreaming becomes much easier.
Don’t Sell Yourself Short – Ever! Don’t doubt your abilities, and don’t doubt your talents. Forget about what you’ve been led to believe by the media or people in your life. That’s a journey that’s not productive. As the American psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, “Learn to become independent of the good opinion of other people.” Recognize your strengths, and listen to your inner voice; believe your inner voice over the voice of advertising or of others. Eliminate “I can’t” from your personal lexicon.
Don’t Accept or Expect Mediocrity expect excellence of yourself to begin with; then, with others. The minute you expect less of yourself is the same minute that your inner self will get the compromised message and start delivering less. Push yourself — always.
Push others, as well, in a gentle, affirming way. Push yourself as a consumer out in the marketplace. Let’s say you walk into a fast-food restaurant. You’re probably hungry and not expecting a lot. Does that mean you have to put up with something less than courteous service, a clean environment, and a warm meal? Absolutely not. As a consumer, you are entitled to great service wherever you go, and when you don’t get it, speak up! The people running any business you frequent can’t be at every location every day, and they can’t always see what’s going on, so they really want and need constructive feedback.
Don’t Worry about Being the Best. Believe it or not, you just have to be better than the people around you. Do you think that Men’s Wearhouse assembled the smartest and the best retailers on the planet? Not quite. The company did assemble the people who demonstrated the want and the desire to succeed. And the company did everything just a little better than the competition. There’s a wonderful joke that relates to this:
Two men were walking through the forest when in the distance they saw a bear approaching them. The first man started to run away. The second man stopped and put on his running shoes. In disbelief, the first man called, “What are you doing? The bear is running after us!” The second man answered calmly, “I don’t have to outrun the bear; I only need to outrun you.”
Just learn to outrun everyone else. Instead of trying to be the absolute best, strive to be the best that you can be at that particular function on that particular day. It’s the experience of trying that really counts.
Worrying about being the best can also prevent you from even trying new things or taking on new responsibilities. Let new things just be that — new — with no personal judgment attached and no preconceived notions of how they’re going to proceed or work out and with no worries about how you might look.
Don’t Ask for a Favor; Bring an Opportunity. A long time ago, my gut told me not to accept Bob Day’s opinion that I wasn’t ready to be hired by his advertising agency. In a nanosecond after hearing him say “No,” I was able to come up with a “yes” scenario and an opportunity that cost him nothing and ultimately helped both of us. The next time that a problem comes up, stop and look at it and let yourself contemplate the first solution that comes to mind — no matter how crazy. The worst thing that’s going to happen is that you’ll ultimately decide against it. Learn to look at problems as opportunities for learning and for expanding your universe.
About the Author:
Richard E. Goldman, author of “Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World,” started working on the sales floor of a small clothing store; it had annual sales of only a few hundred thousand dollars. Over the years he helped grow that one store into the emerging and now omnipresent Men’s Wearhouse. By the time Goldman retired early in 2002, there were 680 Men’s Wearhouse-affiliated stores across the United States and Canada; the business was known nationally and internationally, and had annual sales in excess of $1.27 billion.
Widely recognized as the marketing mastermind behind the success of Men’s Wearhouse, Goldman has also been a quiet force in business, education, and volunteerism. His luck — luck that he has actively created — has expanded his life in ways and directions well beyond anything he might have imagined as a child in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, or later, as he began contemplating the larger world and his future in it.
To learn still more about “Luck by Design,” how you can incorporate luck into your future, and to share your own “lucky” experiences, visit http://www.richiegoldman.com
http://www.experienceseekerstravelclub.com/blog/feed
