1. Know the impact you want to have. Connection starts long before the first interaction. Be the guy glowing with passion. Let the people around you feel your fire for the impact you want to have on the world. Prompt others to share what makes them come alive. Share in their excitement. There is no more empowering, genuine way to connect. If you don’t know the impact you dream of making, how will you know who you want in your corner to make it happen?
2. Fire toxic friends. This one’s painful, but an absolute requirement. Identify the people in your day-t0-day life who you notice constantly put your ideas down. The ones who don’t support you and leave you drained after an interaction. Make a list. You must start spending less time around them.
3. Find new surroundings. If you leave your toxic friends but have no one else to hang out with, you’ll likely go right back to them. This can start as simple as seeing one inspiring friend for an hour every week or so.
Take your passions and start to overlay them with the people in business and in life who see the world the same way. Take inspiration from everywhere: TED talks, movies, articles, local events, Google searches – anything goes.
4. Create a relationship road map. Write out the people you want in your corner. Be as specific as possible – ideally with actual names, but at least with industries and areas you want to spend more time with. Create a “Dream Connections” list of the industry leaders and game changers you’d love to meet and collaborate with. If you don’t know who you want to meet, it’s going to be pretty tough to meet them. Read More »
‘Doing it tomorrow’ has several benefits:
- Dealing with e-mails in one batch is more efficient. You can get into ‘e-mail mode’ and zip through them in one go.
- It’s more motivating to deal with a finite number of e-mails than an ever-expanding inbox. In other words, it cuts out the Sisyphus effect and presents you with a manageable task instead of a never-ending one.
- Today’s e-mails can’t interrupt you – because you’re not going to respond to them today. I experience a feeling of relief each time I look at an e-mail containing a request and then ‘let go’ of it and return to the task in hand – confident that I will deal with it tomorrow. Read More »
Make the most of customer reviews.
People always used to say that word of mouth was the strongest marketing tool. That saying is even more important now that feedback can spread across the globe in the click of the mouse. But the issue isn’t just about getting complaints in the first place; businesses are measured as much by how they deal with problems as they are by their core services.
5 key pointers
Interact
With shops we can try. Goods out, talk to the manager and know where to return to if our things are faulty. That vanishes with online purchasing, but there is a way back. Enable customers to get in touch. Talk to them and show them that their feedback is important.
Deal with it
People care more about customer service than products, which tend to be good across most big name retailers. If something goes wrong and is put right by great service, that customer may return time and again. Don’t sweep bad reviews under the carpet; deal with them.
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1. Set a time limit. Pick something important to do, and set a limited time to do it. That might be one hour, or 20 minutes, or even just 10 if you’re having a hard time getting into it. The time limit helps sharpen your focus. If you have limited time to do something, you’ll be forced to decide what’s important. It also means you’re not doing some unlimited task that could take hours, but a very specific one that will be over in X minutes. Setting a limit is good too for when you decide to process your email — only 20 minutes to get as many emails processed as you can, for example.
2. Close everything. This means everything possible on your computer that isn’t absolutely necessary for the task at hand. If you don’t need the Internet to write something, close it. Close email, all notifications and reminders, all programs not needed for your task. If you need your browser open, close all tabs — bookmark them, or save them to a read-later service like Instapaper. You can always open these sites when you’re done. Read More »
So here’s the method we’re using to declutter each room, one room at a time:
- Clear a working space, probably in the middle. We’re using our beds in the bedrooms.
- Start on one side of the room and work to the other.
- Do one drawer or shelf or spot on the floor at a time. Read More »
Next time you’re getting sweaty palms while getting feedback, try to keep the following in mind:
Don’t take it personally.
You’ve spent a lot of time on your design, put a lot of effort into it. You’ve fully invested yourself in your work. So it’s understandable that your first instinctually reaction is to take it personally. After all, it’s your baby. But feedback is about the work, not you.
Be willing to admit you’re wrong.
It’s hard to separate yourself from your work. You’re too close, biased. By admitting you’re wrong, you’ll end up asking specific questions, which will more easily ferret out potential solutions to problems.
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