February 2013

Awareness, Ingenuity & Repeated Action

Awareness chart
Photo of an “awareness chart” I created on my whiteboard

About 3 years ago I drew this illustration on my whiteboard. I was urging myself and a few clients to take meaningful action in a single direction. We can all be tempted to take a few steps in this direction, then a few in that direction, then a few in yet a different direction. All that movement is often confused with action. I’ve written about that kind of stuff before.

Awareness is hard work. It’s not merely opening your eyes or paying attention. We have to have our mind tuned to see things we might otherwise overlook. It’s a state of mind that can often demand preparation before we can see things clearly. We bring our biases and assumptions to everything. They don’t always serve us well.

Ingenuity isn’t genius. It is creativity, but that doesn’t mean it’s some super-extraordinary skill exclusively for world-class thinkers. You can do it. We can all do it. Just like awareness, it requires us to tend the soil of our mind before we can accomplish it. Awareness and ingenuity are tied together though so we can get our mind right to embrace both. They can feed one another.

There’s a really important fact that you may not have noticed. Or did you?

Taking action is 75% of this entire chart.

Seventy-five percent!

It’s a bit misleading though because awareness and ingenuity are ever present during the process of taking an idea from start to profit. Along the way, we have to make choices. We have to clearly be able to evaluate feedback. Action and reaction are sparked by thoughts. Thoughts are fueled by accurate perceptions and the ability to discern what we think is our best course of action.

Does this help you? I hope so. I often have to re-examine this chart and remind myself of the foundational elements of figuring things out.

Randy

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Episode 163 – Don’t Live One Way In Your Head And A Different Way In Real Life

balanceSomething must give.

It’s less of this so we can grab more of that.

It’s saying “no” so we can say “yes.”

Choices, choices, choices.

Many choices aren’t easy. Instead, they’re confusing, conflicting and agonizing. People chase balance, but there’s no such thing. Work, life, pleasure, faith, conviction, philosophy, family, friends. It’s all a big mashup of everything that makes us who and what we are.

It’s about more than fictional balance. It’s…

Time To Embrace Congruency

Today’s show is about regret, risk, opportunity, but most of all – it’s about being congruent. Don’t live your life one way in your head and a different way in real life. It’s high time to make the two come together. Stop fantasizing about what might be. Take a chance and try to make it reality.

So what if it doesn’t pan out exactly like it does in your dreams. It might be better. It might not. Either way, you’ll be better for the effort. You’ll also be spared the agony of wondering what might have been.

It’s time to venture out to create a better – a different – future. It’s time to make it real.

Randy

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Special Episode – Purpose, Plans And Figuring Out Where We Fit

Dr. Suess

Business people love to plan. How much revenue can we generate in the next quarter? How will we do it? What new initiatives do we want to launch? Let’s map it out and figure out how we’ll make it happen. We build a plan.

Plans are necessary, but don’t confuse them with purpose. They’re not the same, but I frequently encounter business people who think a lot about plans without ever thinking about purpose. Some confuse the two.

The plan answers what and how. The purpose answers why.

Purpose gives us direction!

Today’s show was recorded away from The Yellow Studio. It addresses some things I notice frequently, especially among managers who aren’t yet C-level. But…it also applies to each of us individually. What’s our purpose? For solopreneurs, I suspect it’s even more difficult than it is for those working in organizations because it’s lonely, personal and often daunting. Let’s see if we can wrestle some things down and learn. I know we can ask better questions. And that might just lead to better answers.

Randy

Podcast Options:
• Subscribe via the iTunes store
• Android, Blackberry & other listeners can listen on Stitcher Radio
• Right-click here to download this episode to your computer
• Click here to playback in a new window

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Episode 162 – How Can I Make My Marketing Work?

Men's Underwear Brief 3-Packs - Bright White

Years ago some male actor was on The David Letterman Show and remarked, “You know that slot in men’s underwear? Why do they have those? Do they work?” David’s reply dropped me to the floor in laughter, “It depends on what kind of work you’re doing!”

Clients and prospective clients often remark, “Marketing has never worked for me.” And I’m reminded of Dave’s snarky reply. I think, or say, “It depends on what kind of work you WANT it to do.”

Marketing is something everybody feels they need to do better, but few give it the time and attention it truly deserves. People mistake movement for meaningful action. Like a shark, they think if they just keep moving then they’ll stumble onto something that might work. And it might not.

Today’s show is about some fundamental – but very important building blocks – truths about marketing. Your marketing!

Mentioned in today’s show:

Episode 160 is about narrowing your market
My tribute to my orthopedic surgeon who could put his thumb right on my problem
The results of my Perry Marshall Marketing DNA test

Randy.Black

Podcast Options:

• Subscribe via the iTunes store
• Android, Blackberry & other listeners can listen on Stitcher Radio
• Right-click here to download this episode to your computer
• Click here to playback in a new window

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