This is a straighforward bit of advice to get you past the one thing that's keeping you from the success you so desire. I'm taking this to heart!
A good article for reflection.
What's the One Thing Limiting Your Success?
The other day I was half listening to an interview of a famous actor when something he said got my attention. The guy apparently immigrated to this country with his parents and he realized that, to get a good job, he’d have to improve his ability to speak English.
So he thought, what better way to do that than to take acting classes. And that’s how his acting career began.
Address your weakness. Sounds sort of obvious, doesn’t it? But it got me thinking, how many people really 1) know what’s limiting their success and, 2) force themselves to do something about it?
You know, I’m willing to bet that half the people reading this right now are saying to themselves, Wow, I should do that about [fill in the blank]. But will they … actually do it? Probably not.
I’d also be willing to bet that the other half are in denial, blaming everybody and everything for why they didn’t get ahead instead of doing something about some fear or limitation they were almost surely aware of at one time but have since buried under layers of jealousy and anger targeted at all the wrong people.
Whichever half you’re in, we all have at least one major fear or limitation holding us back. Facing or improving that one thing will almost surely open the door to new opportunities and success. Here are a couple of stories to inspire you to do just that:
- One of my former CEOs told me a story about how, when he was younger, he was so shy that just the idea of speaking in class and, later on, in a meeting, was so terrifying that he almost passed out from fear. So he got some help, faced his fear every day of his career, and went on to become a senior executive at a Fortune 1000 company and then a successful CEO of a public tech firm.
- Another successful senior executive was, at one time, stuck in middle management - engineering management, to be specific. And while he’d become adept at presenting to groups, he marveled at the ease with which his sales people interacted and negotiated with customers. So he gave up his 10+ year engineering management career and took a step back to become a salesman and learn the skills he felt he lacked. It worked. That was over 20 years ago. That guy was me.
So the next time you find yourself exploring the blogosphere or Amazon for your next quick-fix of advice, or feeling sorry for yourself or jealous of someone else because she made it and you didn’t, put down the computer, simmer down, relax, and ask yourself: What’s the one thing I need to face, address, or improve to get ahead?
If you do that, I guarantee three things:
That you know, on some level, what that one thing is. It will be the highest probability thing you can do to open up new opportunities and increase your success potential. No, it won’t be easy. Yes, it will take work. But the reward will far outweigh all that. Guaranteed.
I'm not particularly concerned that the web is threatened by this, If you don't like it, don't use it.
Will Apps Unravel the World Wide Web?
Speaking at Bristol University in the UK, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, had some less than positive things to say this week about the direction the web is taking - the app direction. As quoted by computing.co.uk:
On the open internet anyone can develop software and give it away or sell it. "But in the apps model, you have to get Apple's permission," said Wales. "That choke point is very dangerous. It's not theoretical like a network operator potentially shutting out Skype, it's real and it’s happening now."
The words somewhat echo a recent report from the inventor of the web himself - Tim Berners-Lee. Here's a sample from that:
Other companies are also creating closed worlds. The tendency for magazines, for example, to produce smartphone "apps" rather than Web apps is disturbing, because that material is off the Web. You can't bookmark it or e-mail a link to a page within it. You can’t tweet it. It is better to build a Web app that will also run on smartphone browsers, and the techniques for doing so are getting better all the time.
Smartphone usage continues to skyrocket. Usage of the iPhone in particular is about to as it comes to Verizon. And of course 2011 is the year of the tablet as iPads continue to sell well and all of its competitors come to the market - many powered by App market places.
In other words, don't expect the app model being criticized by these guys to go away anytime soon. Berners-Lee's report also criticized social networks like Facebook for walling off data, which is part of the same issue - a fragmented web, which could hardly be considered a web at all in the traditional sense of the word.
The first definition of "web" listed in Google's definition results is "an intricate network suggesting something that was formed by weaving or interweaving". While there is certainly plenty of room for interweaving within the app model, there is also plenty of room for disconnecting. Of course, when you take the second definition Google provides for "web" perhaps the web is in no danger at all: "an intricate trap that entangles or ensnare its victim."
There are a lot of great apps. There's a reason the web is going in this direction, but will we reach a point where the apps that are supposed to bring more convenience to our lives end up creating an incredible inconvenience? Many of us are bound to reach that point repeatedly.
Luckily, the web as we know it is still here too. It's not really going anywhere, and is readily available from all of our smartphones, tablets, and connected device. It's just that more of the innovation and development may go to serve these fragmented ecosystems rather than focus on the web itself.
News Corp. is getting ready to release its latest publication called The Daily. Want to read subscribe? I hope you have an iPad.
This lady, a 98 year old pensioner, got charged the obligatory £30 fee for going overdrawn on her bank account and decided to write a letter to her bank manager.
Below is the letter in all it's awesomeness!!!
thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to
pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have
elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of
the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly
deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for
only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief
window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of
penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me
to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally
attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am
confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity
which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal
with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be
automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and
confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware
that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such
an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I
require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight
pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows
about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or
her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory
details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and
liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.
In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must
quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28
digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses
required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As
they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press
buttons as follows:
1.. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment..
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is
required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the
Authorized Contact.)
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on
hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this
may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the
duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an
establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.
Your Humble Client
(Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman; DOESN'T SHE MAKE YOU
PROUD!)
