A friend of mine wanted help
with finding a unique conversation starter.
I replied that wasn’t difficult.
Simply don’t talk about the weather.
Doug Morris, pilot, meteorologist, and
author of From The Flight Deck,
says that 9 out of every 10 conversations
begin with the weather.
How do I start a conversation?
I ask for an opinion on a relevant current event
(no politics or religion).
I had to order checks for my business account.
Based on the amount of business
I do with the bank,
I insisted that there be no additional charge.
When the account manager didn’t argue,
I said “guess you get this request all the time.”
No, actually he didn’t.
He did for personal accounts
but never for business,
no matter how small the cashflow was.
Foolishness.
Expenses are expenses,
whether they’re business or personal.
Don’t overpay for either.
Charlie Munger recently said
in a commencement speech,
“I constantly see people rise in life
who are not the smartest,
sometimes not even the most diligent,
but they are learning machines.
They go to bed every night
a little wiser than they were
when they got up and
boy does that help,
particularly when you have
a long run ahead of you.”
That has always been my goal in life,
to learn at least one new thing a day
and to help at least one person.
In Karen Salmansohn’s book Ballsy,
she points out that
“There are no wishy-washy rock stars,
no wishy-washy astronauts,
no wishy-washy CEOs,
no wishy-washy nobel prize winners.”
Determination is a key success factor
and so is dealing with negativity.
She advises to be like a cockroach
and “Refuse To Die.”
Birth order decides IQ.
A new study by Dr. Petter Kristensen
shows that the average IQ
of the first-born men was 103.2
compared with 101.2 for second-borns
and 100 for third-borns.
Earlier studies show the same
relationship for women.
So what does this mean?
Absolutely nothing.
According to
another study by Jay Zagorsky,
people with a higher IQ,
although earning more on average,
end up with the same net worth
(all other factors being equal).
Stop using lack of smarts or birth order or…
as an excuse to do nothing.
Many email suppliers are moving
to the unlimited inbox,
no space restrictions.
The upside is that emails can be filed forever.
The downside is that emails can be filed forever.
Until now, I’ve used the inbox at capacity notice
as a reason to sort through my emails,
getting rid of garbage and
answering messages I’ve been procrastinating on.
Now, I have moved to formally scheduling this process.
As technology changes,
so must our processes.
When I travel,
before getting on that plane, train or ship,
I ensure that I know at least
three basic phrases in the native language (s)….
Hello,
Do you speak English?,
and
Thank you.
This isn’t about communicating obviously.
If the answerer says yes to the second question,
I could have as easily used English.
This is about making a connection
and showing respect.
If you were to leave this earth tomorrow,
would your business carry on?
In Steve Irwin’s case,
it has.
A year after his death,
the Australia Zoo has continued.
The Crocodile Hunter brand has continued.
This is no fluke.
When he passed away,
Irwin had a detailed 10 year plan in place
and his widow and business partner Terri Irwin
has stuck to that plan.
She says that its as though
he is still there with them.
She finds herself saying
“Gotta get this project done.
Steve would have wanted it done by now.”
Acting coach Robert Carnegie
states bluntly that Ashley Judd
was the worst actress in her class.
She was so bad that everyone,
including the teachers, had bets on
when she’d quit.
She didn’t quit of course
but went on to star in movies like
Kiss The Girls and Double Jeopardy.
Natural talent is all very nice
but nothing beats hard work.
I asked a gambler
which horse he liked for an upcoming race.
He replied that he doesn’t bet on horses,
he bets on jockeys.
You see jockeys want to get paid
and the more they win, the more they get paid
so the best jockeys pick the best horses.
And if a jockey shows up for only one race
you can be sure that he intends to win.
In every business,
there is more information provided than needed.
Cut through the noise
to focus on what is key.