Your Friday Lesson with Richard Branson

The Customer is Always Right, Most of the Time.

The customer is always right... unless they’re wrong. After all, they’re only human too. Your customers’ opinions are important, but “you should not build your customer service system on the premise that your organisation will never question the whims of your clients," says Richard Branson.

Branson warns that many entrepreneurs think if they provide 'the-customer-is-always-right' service that it will improve their businesses. This is only sometimes true. Beware not to damage relationships with customers or staff with your customer service policies.

Have You Laid Out Your Plan for Success?

The most important thing you can have for any development, including your own self-development, is a plan. Your plan for personal growth and development needs a few specific inclusions…

Commitment

Consistency 

Consolidation…the three “C’s”. 



These three things can make or break your development. While it seems pretty simple, you might be surprised at just what each of them requires from you in order to work together as a whole.

Exercise Your Brain

Think of your brain as a muscle: It gets stronger with exercise. Your everyday mental tasks are like walking, but how about a real workout? Try this simple exercise to boost your brain power and clear away the fog of forgetfulness.

Use your non-dominant hand

Tackling new tasks improves brain capacity in younger people and has a restorative effect on mental faculties that are declining. Boost your brain power right now by performing everyday activities with your non-dominant hand. If you're right-handed, use your left hand to eat, drink, comb your hair, and brush your teeth. Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand or put your mouse pad on the other side of the keyboard.

Why does this work? The human brain starts declining after the age of 30. By exercising your brain through the use of non-dominant hand, you are stimulating the opposite side of the brain and activating blood flow, which slows down the brain aging process and improves mental capacity. Evidence from functional brain imaging shows that the process of neuroplasticity - the brain's natural ability to form new connections - can be enhanced by studying new things, especially hand-eye coordinated exercises like developing the use of your non-dominant hand and practising visualisation meditation.  

Stimulating communication between the two hemispheres even helps physical balance. Mind-body exercises like tai chi coach people to use the right and left side of the body equally. Try switching it up in sports. For instance, in tennis, switch the racquet to your non-dominant side and play.

Your Friday Lesson with Richard Branson

Explore Uncharted Territory

Richard Branson compares exploring new territory in business to exploring new territory in science or geography. “We will find new species and better understand the make-up of the deep-level waters,” says Branson.

Business translation: There are still many things out there that haven’t been discovered, invented, achieved. Exploring little or uncharted areas can spark new ideas and innovations.

Ben Bernanke's Advice to Graduates

US Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke has given his 2nd commencement speech of the season. Today he delivered a speech to graduates of Princeton, where of course he was an economics professor before becoming taking his position with the US government.

His speech is short and simple, offering 10 pieces of advice and wisdom to the graduates. Here is a summary of the pieces of wisdom from Bernanke in bullet form.

1. Almost everyone ends up along a different life plan than they intended. You can try to map out your life, but it probably won't end up that way.
2. That being said, it's still wise to think about goals, and the people you want to be around.
3. A meritocratic system is the best, but no system is truly meritocratic. And within meritocratic systems, many are successful due to pure luck (i.e. background, upbringing) and so those successful have a duty to work for the betterment of everyone.
4. The people who best use their advantages, or overcome adversity, and work honestly are those most worthy of admiration.
5. Cynicism is bad.
6. Economics isn't good for predicting the future, but it can help people to avoid horrible, illogical ideas.
7. Money matters, but making big decisions based just on money is a bad move.
8. Failure is essential. If your uniform isn't dirty, you weren't part of the game.
9. In picking a life partner, think beyond beauty and sexual attraction.
10. Call your parents.

And if you are interested, here is the whole speech:

http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-bernankes-10-suggestions-to-college-grads-2013-6

What Will They Think?

Here’s a wake-up call for you:  When you’re worried about what others think of you, you’re really just worried about what you think of yourself.

At times you may flatter yourself indirectly by thinking that every little fault you see in yourself is also present in the minds of everyone around you, as if these people are constantly contemplating your personal strengths and weaknesses.  But the truth is, 99.9% of the time, they aren’t. 

I will quote Eleanor Roosevelt, who said. "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realised how seldom they do."

And regardless of whether others are judging you or not, you can’t control what they think.  The only thing you can control is yourself.  

Some people will look down on you for your decisions in life no matter what they are.  You can’t do anything about that.  The only thing you can do is live in such a way that brings peace to your own heart and mind.

The floor is yours…

What would you add to the list?  What negative questions do you sometimes ask yourself?  Please leave a comment below and let me know.

Start Every Day Better

Great athletes put the odds in their favour by having a routine that helps them start each day right. Why don't you? Here are three tips to do just that.

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Most top athletes go through a preparation routine before every game which starts long before they get on the field. The best ones usually start the moment they awake. They follow this pattern with a fierce devotion because it activates all sorts of subconscious and autonomic systems that put that athlete "in the zone." "In the zone" describes a condition of readiness and awareness that helps prepare that person for success.

As a business owner and leader, you set the pace for the rest of your organisation. Your company, even if it has just a few employees, is a reflection of you. Sharpen your company by first sharpening yourself at the dawn of each day.

Start with awakening. Let's take the first 30 minutes to get you in the zone.

1. Body - Coming out of bed, your body needs three things for certain - water, protein and movement. Without being indelicate, your systems were all working through the night and they need to complete their cycles. Starting with 16 ounces of water gets you started on the eight glasses you already know you need to get anyway and begins the benefits that moving fluids through your body starts.

You need protein in your first food of the day, even if you are going for a run or a workout. A protein shake will do. The rest of the food pyramid is open, but even if you are a very light breakfast eater, protein is important.

Movement gets blood moving, clears the mind and releases energy. Workouts with weights or cardio are great - but sometimes ten minutes of stretching is all you have time or space for. Regardless, don't let the first 30 minutes of the day get started without moving.

2. Mind - Your mind needs focus or you will waste time and energy in your morning and in your day. The most effective business owners and CEOs that I know actually focus on very few things. Those that receive their focus, receive all of their focus. Most of us measure our days in volume, not in scale. How many checks on our list, not how important one big check might be. Pick the one BIG thing to accomplish and let your morning open up with that as the focus for your first thoughts.

3. Spirit - Part of putting yourself in the zone is achieving alignment of your core energy and your positive emotions. A proven way to do this is through a simple reflection of gratitude. It starts your day with energy and calm. When you greet your employees, clients, and suppliers throughout the day knowing that you included them in your reflections, they will feel that in your interaction and it will make for a better exchange regardless of the circumstances.

The top performers in most fields put the odds in their favour by putting themselves in the zone. Figure out your Body/Mind/Spirit routine and follow it for a better day every day. 

Self-Respect (Conclusion....at least for now!)

The more important our values, the more they will affect our self-esteem. Sometimes we have values that clash. Sometimes they clash because they are the opposite of each other and sometimes because we can’t honour both at the same time (e.g. doing a great job at work and spending quality time at home).

When there’s a rift between how you’d like to honour a value, it leads to a loss of integrity. That loss of integrity is the cause of lowered self-esteem.

If you have low self-esteem, that means you need to go back to your values and reassess them and then reassess how you can rearrange your life to feel like you are living with integrity based on what matters to you.

If you’re like me, you might wonder you can possibly live with integrity based on all your varied values. What helps me is to challenge all-or-nothing thinking. Sometimes it can seem that if you can’t do things right or all the way, it’s a non-accomplishment.

Integrity is built from a pattern of small and consistent actions. Little changes can indeed build into big changes. One step at a time, a little bit each time, really does work magic.

How Can I Work On Living My Values With Integrity?

•  Firstly, KNOW your values.

•  Keep your values at the centre of your awareness. Know when you have an internal conflict between values.

•  Walk the talk. Try to make sure you have integration between your values and actions.

•  Learn how to give things up. Ask yourself, “What am I really willing to sacrifice?” And if you do decide to give things up, do it without feeling bad about it or feeling guilty. It is simply a decision.

•  See yourself as a unique person who has many resources.

•  Use the words: “I choose to_______” instead of helpless phrases like “I can’t because_________” or “I am like this because of_________”. You have a choice. You decide the circumstances.

•  DON”T listen to the voices in your head which give you a litany of excuses why you can’t do something. Those voices don’t want change. They want to keep the status quo. Evict them.

•  Be assertive. If you don’t want to do something, say you don’t want to do it.

•  Don’t beat around the bush. If something is important, go for it.

•  Visualize and plan. Know what you want and plan for it.

Self esteem is like a bank account. When you live your values with integrity, you are making deposits into the bank of self esteem. Would you rather be rich or poor? You are the one who decides how many deposits you make.

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