The death of Steve Jobs rocked the world as he was considered one of the world’s most innovative men. Under his leadership, Apple has never been short of creating beautifully designed products that has wowed the world and also becoming of the world’s most valuable company (US $341 Billion as of 10 August 2011).

When I first heard the news that he passed away, in my mind I was asking my friends, “Are you kidding?” A quick search on the Internet yielded much talk about his demise and even apple website created a webpage for him.

Here are some life lessons that I have personally learnt from him:

1. Its not about how well you start in life

Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock and put up for adoption for birth. In fact, he mentioned in one of his talks that he was so poor that he had to sleep in the floor of friends’ rooms during his college days. In addition, he earned little money for food after returning Coke bottles. Furthermore, he had to walk seven miles every week across town to the Hare Krishna temple for the Sunday feast. If such a person like Steve Jobs could face adversity and still make it in society, what is our excuse?

2. Education level is not the most important.

For the man who ran the most valuable company in the world, interestingly, he actually did not finish his degree education. In fact, he dropped out of Reed College after only one semester. Steve mentioned that his short stint in college was an impactful one because “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

A little known fact about Steve Jobs was the fact that he was listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 338 US patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages.

3.  It’s not what life throws at you but how you make out of it.

The experiences faced by Steve were also rather dramatic and could be a potential storyline of a soap opera. In 1985, two years after recruiting Apple’s new CEO, John Sculley, Jobs was literally kicked out of the company out of the company he founded. This was due to deterioration in Job’s working relationship with Scully and resulted in an internal power struggle that Jobs lost. However, Jobs claimed that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him. He said, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

The time away from Apple also gave Jobs time to start a new company called NeXT, which was to develop high-end computers at expensive prices. The company did not do so well in sales but it influenced future software developments, particularly the MAC OS X.

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division for the price of $10 million. The company decided that it would give up selling its unprofitable Pixar Image Computer and concentrate its efforts into computer-animated films. This company was later renamed as Pixar.

Pixar’s partnership with Disney was a commercial success and it bought many great films such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Toy Story 3. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

None of this would have happened if he were not fired from Apple.

4. Live each day as if it was your last.

When he was much younger at the age of 17, he read a quote which affected him a lot, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” Since then for the past 33 years, Jobs looked into his mirror every day of his life to ask, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, he knew that he needed to change something.

He also mentions in his address to Stanford students in 2005, “Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Jobs also reminded them that “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” and “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

We are constantly being surrounded by people telling us what to do with our lives and also we may also at times in our lives, want to live the lives of other people. Live a life that you really want and have courage to live it.

5. Connect the dots in life.

Jobs reminds us to connect the dots in life. Every thing that has happened in our lives happened for a reason. We have to “trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Perhaps you have gone through many things in life and wondered why it had to happen? It could be repeating another semester in school, studying the wrong course, wasting 3 years in a company that didn’t improve your career or getting a lousy boss that treated you like dirt. All these ‘negative’ incidents in your life could actually be the turning point of your life from that point on!

It is my firm belief that every thing that happens to us right now is to prepare us for the future. In one of my blog articles, I mentioned about how at the age of 17, I started off as a volunteer of a youth organisation and did a lot of program planning and emceeing. I wouldn’t dare to say that every program I ran was incredibly successful but learnt a lot from the ones that failed or didn’t generate interest from participants. Later did I know that all these were necessary to prepare me for the role as a trainer and then much later to transit into being a public speaker.

Everything happens for a reason, the only thing we need to do in our lives is to make sense out of our experiences and try to connect the dots.

6. To be a trendsetter, you can’t rely on focus groups.

Steve Jobs was one of the few people that didn’t really believe in focus groups. This was contrary to most business philosophies that you had to ask people on what they wanted in their products.

“None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.” – Jobs responding to whether he did market research for the iPad.

However, most people in life don’t know what they want, especially if they have never seen it or even conceptualised a new product before. Steve relied a lot on his intuition about how people liked things and the way they operated them. This sense of intuition that he had was really ahead of his time as he could see into the future and helped created demand for products that were in his head.

For example, before the launch of iPad, most people were skeptical of Apple’s ability to compete in the market and its lack of experience in producing such devices. Even the internet was flooded with comments on the name of the iPad. However, when it was launched, it created a storm of people who wanted to own a piece of  it. It was one of the best selling products Apple has ever created and is believed to dominate the market share for the next 5 years.

7. Always acknowledge the work of your staff in front of the rest.

In most of the Macworld keynotes of Steve Jobs, I recall watching many times where Jobs will usually ask everyone in the hall to give a huge round of applause for his staff who has worked so hard to make things happen. He even thank their families, loved ones, spouses, partners for being there to support his staff in their work.

In a lot of the team building activities that I run with my corporate clients, I ask members of the team to publicly acknowledge and give each other praise. This meaningful activity has helped team members to express what they always wanted to say but yet have no opportunity for it. This also created a moment where some people actually cried and hugged each other. It created a sense of belonging and appreciation for the work that they have done.

8. Show passion in what you are doing

Steve has always showed passion in what he does. In all his keynotes, he always  talks about Apples products and “hopes that you will love it as much as we do”. You realise that they are not sharing just a product, but a labour of love that resulted in a product.

9. Set out to change the world

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” – Steve Jobs

 

“People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he ever set for himself.” - Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, on Steve Jobs

 

“Here’s to the crazy ones,

the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers,

the round pegs in square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules,

and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them,

because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones,

we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.”

Apple’s 1997 ‘Think Different’ ad

I believed that Steve completely managed to fulfill his wish of changing the world. Many of us today are living so much differently with how much he influenced society with its gadgets.

My question to you is whether you have found your purpose in living and made up your mind to change the world. Well, if you think you are crazy enough to think you can, you might just be the one to do it.

Change the world, one step at a time.

Popularity: 11% [?]

In my previous blogpost, I mentioned that I was featured as an invited speaker over the Radio Channel 938LIVE on the topic of “Do Motivational Talks Really Work?”

Honestly, I have been engaged to speak/train in over 6 countries to thousands of people so far and there have been mixed responses. There are basically 2 camps of people, one group saying that it works big time and really changes their lives, while there is the other side where they say all the motivational fluff does not work at all.

Anyway, despite which side you are, let me share with you what I think and also the motivational theory behind it. It will really make a difference once you understand its concept.

Here are some photos that I have taken during my time in the Mediacorp, the leading media station in Singapore. The best part is that I have recorded what I have said over the air and is made available to my loyal subscribers like you. The link is below. Enjoy my conversation with Show Host, Eugene Loh.

Eugene Loh and me talking for a few minutes before the radio interview

Getting ready to speak just before the traffic news segment

The interesting thing about going on this segment is that Eugene prefers not to have the session scripted. I was rather surprised that there were no prepared questions before hand since he wanted it as natural as possible. So the radio segment what you hear will be pretty much me speaking from my heart and mind on how you can make the most out of motivational programs and also how you constantly stay motivated in your life, especially when the daily problems of work plague you.

Do Motivational Talks Really Work with Kenneth Kwan

Popularity: 5% [?]

I will be interviewed over Singapore’s 938FM LIVE on 19 Apr (Tues), from 2-3pm. My topic will be on “Do motivational talks really change you?”

Since I have been invited to speak in many companies on such topics of motivation and personal growth, I hope to dispel some wrong ideas about motivational seminars! I hope to be able to record the talk and share with my subscribers after the radio show.

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I am one of the 7 speakers who will be speaking for Raise Your Game 2011. It is an entertaining and content rich seminar where you will learn from professional speakers on how to make significant changes to your life!

If you want to quickly jumpstart this year productively, grow personally and professionally, this is an event that you can’t miss. All it takes is one great idea from this seminar that will totally change your life, business or relationships.

In this seminar, you will learn:

• Productivity Mindset: Three keys to accelerating team performance by Tim Wade
• The Positive Virus: How to be the best you and influence others by Andrew Bryant, CSP
• Presenting to Win: Pitching your ideas to any audience – and win every time by Tina Altieri
• From Resistance to Irresistible: Learning to take positive charge of your life by Santhanaram Jayaram
• New Ways of Conquering Critical Challenges: Think smart to work smarter by Tremaine Du Preez
• Becoming Fabulously Successful: How dressing like a leader can propel your career into the fast lane by Sharon Connolly
• Master Your Inner Self: Master your habits or they master you by Kenneth Kwan

This is a Seminar where 10% of all profits will go Operation Smile. It is a mobilised force of medical professionals who provide safe and effective reconstructive surgery for children born of facial deformities.

Here are the details:

Date: Thursday, 24 Feb 2011

Time: 0845-1730

Place: Hotel in Central Singapore

Investment: $268 (before 8 jan 2011), $368 (from 8 Jan onwards)

For Registration, click here.

The great news is that as one of my readers, I can bring 3 of my readers in at 50% off the price. I hope you will quickly take action and email to me directly at

kenneth(at)deepimpactonline(dot)com

(I have given this email address to prevent spam, please edit it accordingly).

Hope to see you there! Be Awesome!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Have you been hitting the snooze button?

You are sleeping very soundly and comfortably in your bed. All the sudden, a loud ringing sound is activated and you slowly drag yourself out of the bed. You reach towards your clock and look for the button to activate the snooze.

“Just five more minutes”, you tell yourself and crash back towards the bed. This ritual repeats itself for another three times before you realise that you really need to wake up. Need to wake up before you are late for work.

Has this ever happened to you?

Honestly speaking, I used to be like this. In fact, I really loved to sleep but ever since I have decided to take complete control over my habits, I noticed that this scenario has dramatically decreased. I realised that snoozing is a bad habit and I need to take control of this area of my life. In fact, I began to see that in the earlier part of my life, I have been snoozing away. Let me explain to you what I mean.

We tend to live life in a snooze mode. This means that in most cases, whenever people want to make significant changes in their lives, they tend to think…

“I’ll should just wait a little while more…”

“Just one more week of this before I really start doing something about it…”

“Wait till I have more time/money (delete where applicable), then I will finally get down to it.”

They tend to hit the snooze button in their lives. They figure out that they need to ‘sleep’ a little more and put things off. They decide to just wait a little while more and delay to enjoy the comfort of their current lifestyle. Every time I hear someone who wants to make a significant change in their life and that he/she wants to start next week/month/year, I shudder. That is because I know that it will probably not happen or that person will inevitably give up after some time.

You see, all of us have significant dreams and desires that we have always wanted to do. It could be the work-out that you needed, the change of work scope that you wanted or the promotion that you desired. Why don’t you make it happen, rather than wait for the ‘right’ moment to occur?

Do you hit the snooze button in your life?

Honestly, I have done it so many times that I confess that it is really harmed me. The best part about running my business is that every action that I take, I can see almost immediate effects of my actions. If I am sloppy, my business will be sloppy and so will my staff. However, if I am on top of things and demand that we do a job well, my business will be like that and my staff will react in the same way. The good news is that I have repented and have decided to be aggressive in eliminating the snooze effect in my life.

So, if you really need to change your habits that are killing you, work on it right now. Don’t hit the snooze button.

If you need to work on your health, eat right and treat your body well, do right now. Do not snooze over it.

If you need to make your relationships enduring and exciting, work on it now. Do not snooze over it.

If you have been losing money in your investment decisions, educate yourself right now. Do not snooze over it.

I am convinced that you will start to see changes, if you constantly ask what are the immediate actions you can take in a particular area of your life and be relentless to make it happen.

Making a change in your life needs momentum and you have to first overcome the huge inertia. Once you start seeing small steps of success happening because of your fierce determination, put even more effort into it. The cycle of success will then continue and you will start seeing significant results. Remember, for a fire to be big, you need to fuel the fire. I hope you will repeatedly fuel the fire within you. Motivation is not a one day thing, it is an everyday thing that you need to regularly talk to yourself.

So, what are you going to stop doing and start working on?

Leave me your comments.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Future Past sign post by www.saidaonline.com

People are always concerned about the future and have invested heavily to ensure that the future is as bright as possible. Some people even get involved in different instruments, techniques or a name change to ensure that they have a bright future.

However, I have found one way that we can relatively predict the future (with some levels of success). Here it is (drum rolls… please):

The best way to predict the future is to create it!

I know, it isn’t a sexy statement, but I seriously think that it is possible.

My questions are …

What kind of future do you envision for yourself?

What are you doing right now to create it?

Only when we have the clarity of what it looks like, we will be able to work towards it. There are many people who are highly unmotivated in their work because they do not know what is the purpose behind their work.

“You don’t just stumble into the future. You create your own future.”

Roger Smith

When you deliberately design and massive action towards it, you will start to notice that results will slowly appear. This does not happen in a mysterious way, but because you take consistent action in making it happen. I will be lying to say that everything will turn out the way you want it to be, but I can assure you that you much closer to your dreams.

Remember, design your future! Create it and work hard towards the goal!

PS: Do let me know how you have been creating your future.

Popularity: 20% [?]

© istockphoto.com/ Urban Cow

I see dead people every day in my life.

They are dead and they still walk among us.

I am not joking and really mean it.

The living dead that I am referring to are people who just exist in today’s society with no aim or purpose in their lives. They are living, but yet dead at the same time (ironic isn’t it?). When you ask them what makes them excited or passionate, a large number of people have forgotten about it. They cite reasons that when they were younger, they had dreams. Some even had ambitions. The sad thing is that after many years of working and climbing the corporate ladder, they looked back and asked themselves “Am I happy and is this life?”

In the book Halftime, it describes that for most people in the first half of their lives, they really work hard to pursue success. Everyone has a different idea of what success looks like. For some it will be money or career, while others it could be about places they have travelled or people they have met.

However, when they enter the second half of their lives, they look back at the work of their hands and ask the following fundamental questions:

“What have I done so far?” and the usual “Am I contented with it?”

They realise that their lives are no longer about pursuing success, it is about pursuing significance.

Image from freelanceapple.com

Here’s my story and journey of how I started my entrepreneur journey:

I started off my career working in an engineering company that was extremely established in Singapore. I was into building automation and served as a project engineer handling building projects. It was something that I could do, in fact, it was something that I was trained well for. I mean, my early years in life was spent on preparing for a job in the engineering sector.

Until something happened.

At the age of 26, I started to ask myself a question which all adults actually ask at one point in their lives and that is “what do I really want to do with my life?” It was astonishing simple but yet, it could not be answered at all. I was dumb folded.

This question kept ringing in my head. I actually ignored it, thinking that it will go away. It did go away, only to resurface again a week later, then another week and a couple of days later. It just kept coming back. For some adults, they ignored it to a point where their dreams were drowned by the immediate concerns of providing for the family. I acknowledge that all of us have a responsibility to fulfill to our families, but what has happened to our dreams in the process? Can there be a way to fulfill both at the same time?

It took me a year of soul searching and to constantly ask what I am passionate about? And I finally found it. I discovered that I really love to teach and inspire people towards fun, loving and supportive relationships. Not only I found it, I took massive action towards it. I started asking myself how can I do more of what I am passionate about? Are there groups that I can join to do just that? Is there a career decision that I have to make for that to happen? Can I change my attitude towards life and start taking personal responsibility for all the results that I have been getting? Will I make a firm decision to change my life right now?

Fast forward into the present now. I have traveled to 7 countries so far, conducting training and giving talks on motivation, mindset change and building teams. At a young age, I have spoken to CEOs, directors and people twice my age. I have given keynote speeches in conferences and learning seminars. I have personally trained or spoken to 5400 people. Everything started because I started to find out what makes me excited and alive.

So, my question to you is what makes you excited? What makes you feel alive? Will you take some time to list them down? Don’t do it for me, but do it for yourself!

Do read my questions that I have posted earlier here and reflect on it.

Take time to clear the clutter off your mind and another 30 minutes to reflect upon it. Do share with me on what you have discovered!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Image from www.psychcentral.com

Dedicating to yourself to your personal development goals is a great step in the right direction. When I talk about personal development, it means dedicating time to learn work on your mental fitness, health, skills and knowledge.

Upon completing these goals, you may notice that you have gained some sideline spectators as well. In most cases, you are catching their attention because of the changes you are making. I frequently think that success breeds more success. This means that when we have achieved a small level of success with our work, we tend to have people attracted to what we do. For example, when I started gaining small successes in the speaking industry, I started to get more offers to speak in different countries and seminars.

By gaining someone’s attention, you are serving as an inspiration to others. This often happens naturally and is another big commitment. You have committed to be consistent with your actions and to serve as a role model for others to follow.

If you want to make the most out of this occurrence and really impact other people’s lives positively, you can use the steps below. These steps are designed to create an amazing life:

1. Passion and excitement: A person will usually only serve as an inspiration to others if they are passionate and love what they do. It is a known fact that the more excited someone is about something, the more they will excel in their work. What makes you passionate? Does it excite other people to pursue theirs as well?

2. Goal Setting: Always set goals for what you are looking to achieve. The use of goals has proven to be very effective and allows for a greater commitment factor. It is important to make them detailed so you know when you have actually reached the goal. You can then celebrate the accomplishment of that goal and move on to create another. This will not only keep you motivated, but show others that goals are attainable. In addition, this will get people to draw their inspiration from you and desire for more out of their lives.

3. Go big or go home! You need to set goals to push your limits. By doing so, you will achieve more and really shine to yourself and others. The important thing to keep in mind is to make sure you are not creating goals that are unrealistic. There is a distinct line between goals that are challenging versus those that are just not plausible (eg. walk on the moon without a breathing apparatus).

Another aspect to keep in mind with very challenging goals is to make sure you measure them by performance. In other words, the outcome might not have been the outcome you wanted but you gave your best performance in achieving it. This means that you might fail at times, but knowing that you have given your best shot at it, it is alright to fail. You just need to change completely or modify your strategy and take massive actions on it. Which leads to the point 4 below.

4. Consistency and Persistency: To be truly exceptional, you have to make sure you are reaching goals. Be continuous in your efforts in reaching challenging goals. The harder you work for the goal, the more you will appreciate it. Moreover, persistence, as seen from an outsider, is what really motivates and inspires someone. This persistency in handling problems is what is termed as Adversity Quotient (AQ), where you demonstrate resilience in tough situations. It is not talented people who succeed all the time, but people who have strengthened their AQ over time and are able to keep moving forward even when situations seem bleak or rough.

In my life, I do not always have all the answers, but I know that it is just a matter of time before I find the answers that I seek. I just need to be consistent and persistent in my quest. In my line of work, I never knew it was possible for me to be invited to speak in seminars or even give keynotes because I started out doing small group training (I first started out with only three people in front of me and now it has grown to hundreds) The question I feel is never whether you can or cannot do it, it is always “how can I do it?”. Persistency will pay off if you keep at striving for different ways to make it work. Will you decide to be relentless?

5. Share what you know: It is important, as an inspiration to others, that you share knowledge you have. Let people know how you did it and encourage them just the same. I have personally found that some people just need you to light the fire in their hearts and they will start their search for greatness.

It is important to remember that you need to keep a positive attitude and always look to the future. With doing this, you will not only enrich your life, but you will do the same for others. No man is an island, everything we do affects another person.

Make a decision to inspire someone today! Who will they be? Do leave your comments.

Popularity: 12% [?]

My son is 15 months old and I asked myself what I would tell him when he is growing up to be a man. It will probably be a letter of hope, encouragement and resilience. I hope that when he grows up, he will keep these words into his heart. I do this to share about the need to influence people towards greatness.

Isaac Trying To Climb Up Daddy's Leg

Do read my personal letter to him:

—

25 Aug 2010

Dear Isaac,

I just want you to know that you are really the apple of my eye. Do you know that every time I look at you, feelings of fondness and love for you will flow out from me? Whenever you lay on your bed and sleep, I will endeavour to steal a glance and watch you slowly drift into sleep. I will walk up next to you, crawl onto the mattress and give a kiss to tell you that you are a beautiful gift that God has blessed mommy and me.

I pray that you will be a man of character, standing strong in a world where values are constantly shifting and eroding. I pray that I too will be such a man that can lead and teach you to do what is right. Sometimes the weaknesses of my soul and flesh will betray me. Even my words may not match up to my actions, but I hope that you will forgive my fallen nature and know that I am a father who is giving his best to teach you life lessons within my capabilities. Focus on building integrity and acting on good intend rather than the outward appearance of looks and impression.

If you handle your inner world in a correct manner, your outer world will be great as well.  Your inner beauty will radiate outwards when you hold fast to the values you are taught. Remember that situations do not make a man, but they merely reveal the size of character in a man.

The world awaits you with much excitement and snares. I am excited for you on how you will handle this journey and yet at the same time concerned for the snares of unpleasantness it can hurl at you.

Whenever life throws you disappointments, failures and heartaches, remember that everything has a season. When you are suffering in coldest winter, remember that spring is coming. When darkness is at its fullness, remember that dawn will break forth soon.

Your perspective and resilience in handling what it can throw at you will set you apart from the rest. Never give up on dark situations, but instead ask how you rise above it. When you keep asking the right questions, I believe that you will find the right answers. Emotional resilience is important in an uncertain world where everything happens so fast. Hold on to God and allow Him to guide you through.

Isaac, I also pray that you will grow in wisdom in handling situations around you. I also know that wisdom comes from making wrong choices. Therefore be courageous in making mistakes because there is always a gem of wisdom that we must learn from every one of them. Mistakes are also a gentle way of reminding us that we are still human and not as invincible as we think we are.

Let love for mankind and God guide your every action. Let it also be the guiding principle of your decision making. People around you may not respond or reciprocate in the same manner, but do it anyway. Love is an intelligent willingness to do what is the best for the other person. It is not a feeling, but an action. Do not let others influence you that love is a feeling and is only there while it lasts. There will be many times you will not feel like loving, especially when you are hurt by others, misunderstood or even hated, but do it anyway. Love need not be done in an extraordinary manner, but just you being faithful in loving people around you, is already extraordinary.

Isaac, remember that your mommy and I will always love you. We want you to know that you are precious and that having a resilient character is important. Be the man you are supposed to be and be a person after God’s heart.

With the sweetest love,

Daddy.

P.S.: I still look forward to watching you fall asleep.

Isaac sleeping on his favourite boaster

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Running To The End Point, Image from www.zimbio.com

There is one trait that totally sets successful people apart from the rest of the other people. This one trait made them rise above the rest and is very well respected by many people. What is it?

The trait that I am talking about is Single-mindedness. All successful people know what they want in their hearts, are very purposeful and single minded in reaching their aspirations. Few people actually know what they want, fewer people actually stay true to their purpose. They get caught up with many other things in life that they lose sight of what really matters and give-in to everything that shouts for their attention.

Why be single-minded and focused? Let me share with you reasons why you cannot afford not to do it:

1. It keeps us disciplined.
The ability to say “NO” to the distractions around you and being clear to move forward is extremely important. This helps you to be focused and clear the clutter on what inattention brings. We also become very purposeful in setting aside time to what’s most important and continue to see it through. It is my firm believe is that you can only say NO when you have a clear strategy/purpose.

2. It yields results.
Being single-minded is not being inflexible, but knowing that you have very clear on the end goals. When I first started my business in training, I wanted to do everything. I started training in eight different topics and this got me nowhere. Much later, I understood the importance of concentrating in being the best I could be and I literally struck off many programs to just concentrate in two core areas; motivation and teambuilding. The results were astonishing! I started to be noticed by magazine writers, newspapers and even was had the chance to speak and train in six different countries around Asia. You need to hold on to your firm convictions and not be easily swayed. Keep working on it and find out how to make it work!

3. It pays well.

Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great, highlights how companies moved to greatness by just perfecting what they are good at. Their generated cumulative stock returns from end 1975 to 2000 outperformed the market by 15 times, beating great companies such as GE, Coca-Cola and Intel. By just concentrating in relocating all their stalls into convenient locations, using clustering methods (sometimes up to nine stores in a mile), drive through pharmacies and even high margin photo processing services, they increased the profit per customer visit. More convenience led to more customer visits and when multiplied with the increased profits per visit, it threw cash into their company.

Conclusion:

I hoped I have given you compelling reasons to start being single-minded. Start small by deciding to keep to the things you have decided and not waiver on them. Then move on to bigger decisions which involve your life, family and career.

PS: Hope to also hear from you on what are the steps you have decided to take after reading this article.

Popularity: 26% [?]