Monthly Archives: May 2013

Jack Welch, Steven Jobs, Seth Godin. Oh, and success

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Good stuff I found recently:
Steve Jobs explains the rules for success
Steve Jobs explains the rules for success

 

Seth Godin on “Habits“:

The habit of being easily persuaded by mass media
The habit of doing it right instead of doing it over
The habit of responding to nastiness with nastiness
The habit of failing to trust people who care
The habit of wasting time in meetings
The habit of being on time
The habit of avoiding things that cause fear
The habit of reading ahead
The habit of doing more than promised
The habit of expanding personal knowledge and experience
The habit of skepticism
The habit of close talking
The habit of generosity…

There’s a million habits out there, some good, some bad, all learned.
Every habit (your market, your family, your organization has) was formed because people got rewarded for it, at least in the short run.
The thing is, every habit is changeable with effort.

  

What it Really Takes to Succeed by Jack Welch
 
The modern marketplace demands that people possess a wide range of skills. But what core qualities are truly essential to career advancement, regardless of industry or job?The answer could fill a book and it has, thousands of times, if not more. Myriad experts claim that career advancement is a function of everything from extreme self-confidence to extreme humility (or both at once). Still others make the case that big-time professional success derives from more sinister behaviors, such as callous ambition or unfettered narcissism. And then there is the whole “positive thinking” bandwagon, which claims that getting ahead is primarily a function of believing you can. In sum, there’s so much contradictory advice out there about the core components of success that it’s enough to reduce you to a weary sigh of: “Whatever.”Which is just fine. Because we’d suggest that you can’t really manipulate yourself into success with personality tweaks or even major overhauls. In fact, we’d say just the opposite. The most powerful thing you can do is, well, be real. As in not phony. As in grappling, sweating, laughing, and caring. As in authentic.Yes, yes, we know the upper echelon of the corporate world has its share of slick super achievers who appear simultaneously all-knowing and unknowable. They’re cool, poised, almost digitally enhanced in their affect. But such bloodless executives, even the most technically skilled ones, rarely reach the highest heights. They’re just too remote to move people. They can manage, but they can’t motivate. Continue reading …

 
With kind regards, 
 
  Dieter Langenecker
   Dieter Langenecker
 
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Ask Dieter May 2013

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Ask Dieter

This month’s question from my portal “Ask Dieter: Directions
for living a meaningful Life” comes from Marisol in Mexico.

Question

 

 

Opposite than the “mediocre people”, as James Altucher mentions in his article of the Seven Habits of Highly effective mediocre people, my life has been “successful” in many ways and for a lot of people:  During the worst crises I got the dream job for many people, doubled my salary; when things were bad in the company I got an offer to grow, increased salary even when I was pregnant, no discrimination at all. I can work from home sometimes.  Besides that part I got my dream job as a teacher in a recognized university, I am also starting my business in something I love AND it is growing! (not yet that much that allows me to leave my job but it is in the correct path).  All this seems to be pretty and amazing if we consider that I am less than 30 years old but it doesn’t fullfill me, I wake up tired everyday in the same routine day after day, more than one time a day I wish I could leave everything, take my family and go to a small village to grow my own food or going to do social service to a country in need and teach my child that way of life.  Then I go back to my reality and get afraid that that is too radical, that I should enjoy my perfect life because that is what everybody is expecting to do.   I think I should be patient to let my business grow and then retire.  But I don’t want to be too old to retire, I dislike so much and feel sorry for the people around me that have been doing the same routine for the last 20 years expecting a better time when they can be independent.  DEFINITELY I don’t want that.  Since my husband is studying I am the only source of income in our starting family.  I am too crazy when I think I should run away, hug my family and spend more than 1 hour with them everyday? when I believe I should renounce to a successful life?

Thaaaaank you Dieter!!

 Answer

 

Hola Marisol!

Thank you for your question!

I think the key part of your question is the difference between what you really want do and the part where you say: “because that is what everybody is expecting to do”. It seems to me that the major reason why you are torn between these two points, moving (mentally) forth and back is because you have not come to a clear conclusion what is your real true meaning and purpose on this planet. All the answers you have come up so far are half hearted only, so none is giving you real satisfaction (despite all the “success” according to the standard, material definition).

It took me years, not to say decades, to find the right answer for me. And the reason why it took me so long was that my approach was wrong; or at least single-sided; we are brought up to solve a problem by THINKING: analyse the situation, evaluate the options, and go for the most “reasonable” one.

And this way we are reducing the framework of our decision base to a (small) portion – the outside world, which is mainly based on knowledge, logic and material criteria only. And neglecting almost completely the part, which is the real base for any important decision in our life: our own inner wisdom.

I’d therefore suggest a different (and I admit, unusual) way: approach your inner wisdom. It is there, it is just hidden away, allowed to surface only occasionally (ask yourself, looking back in your life: were your most important decisions based on logic or on your guts feelings?). It is only that while we have learned to “manage” the outside world and its resources, we have never learned to do so with our inside resources; even less so to do so consciously.

And how can you do so?

The answer is simple: meditate. (I told you, it will be unusual). Meditation not as a spiritual practice, but rather to reduce the permanent flux of thoughts programmed into our brains by education, culture and society rules. And this way allow your own inner wisdom to surface. With your own answers. Like, what is really, really, really important to you? What can you do with your talents for your own benefit and the one of your social environment?

Because we know that deep down, inside ourselves, we have basically all the answers to the nagging questions.

And as an added benefit, once we allow this inner wisdom to emerge it will also give us the strength to implement it into day-to-day life. Regardless of the opinions of others or the so-called obstacles.

If you have never done meditation you might want to read a recently published excellent book on how to get started: Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) (Chade-Meng Tan); written in a funny and profound way. And/or e.g. visit zenecagate.ning.com . And/or simply keep your eyes open for anything regarding meditation which will come across your way from now on.

Trust yourself.

Un abrazo                                                                                                                                                                                                                    and live a meaningful life,

Dieter Langenecker

Dieter Langenecker

 

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program that is open to everyone! Each month, I’ll select and personally respond to one question received via the above “Ask Dieter” page that I feel in my heart will help the most people. (You may choose to remain anonymous if you wish, with our full support.) It is my deep, heartfelt intention that in answering your questions I may provide you with wisdom inspirations that in committed application will set you free. Simply submit YOUR burning question at:  www.langenecker.com/askdieter.html


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Ask Dieter

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Ask Dieter is a no-cost, monthly program where anyone seeking personal development can ask Dieter any question.

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A challenge being faced by one is certainly being faced by many, and so it is via this shared experience that we may raise the consciousness of community to lift us all.

Here’s how it works:
Each month, Dieter will select and personally respond to one question received via http://langenecker.com/askdieter.html

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Submit your question(s) now, Dieter is going to respond to all of them; and the one to be answered publicly will be published here (If you would like to remain anonymous, we will respectfully support you in doing so).

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THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MEDIOCRE PEOPLE

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Ever since I’ve met Viktor Frankl as a student (too long ago as to mention the years) I keep on asking clients to define “success”. Most reply either  in general terms, like “I want to happy”, or start listing the classical examples like job, position, recognition, money, leaving something great behind, fame, etc.
Few ever become a “success story” though. But since the marketing machinery of our culture is very well functioning telling us what we should aim for in our lifes, and how we should live, most still go along with the rat-race concept.
Life-benchmarking, comparing ourselves with the stars, is still the prevailing force in our culture. To be mediocre, below average, compared to “friends”, peers and neighbours, means to have failed.
Really?
I came across this wonderful article by James Altucher about “aiming for grandiosity is the fastest route to failure”; but have a look and judge yourself:
  
THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE MEDIOCRE PEOPLE
I’m pretty mediocre. I’m ashamed to admit it. I’m not even being sarcastic or self-deprecating. I’ve never done anything that stands out. No “Whoa! This guy made it into outer space!” or, “This guy has a best selling novel!” or, “If only Google had thought of this!” I’ve had some successes and some failures but never reached any of the goals I had initially set. Always slipped off along the way, off the yellow brick road, into the wilderness.
I’ve started a bunch of companies. Sold some. Failed at most. I’ve invested in a bunch of startups. Sold some. Failed at some, and the jury is still sequestered on a few others. I’ve written some books, most of which I no longer like. I can tell you overall, though, everything I have done has been distinguished by its mediocrity, its lack of a grand vision, and any success I’ve had can be put just as much in the luck basket as the effort basket.
That said, all people should be so lucky. We can’t all be grand visionaries. We can’t all be Picassos. We want to make our business, make our art, sell it, make some money, raise a family, and try to be happy. My feeling, based on my own experience, is that aiming for grandiosity is the fastest route to failure. For every Mark Zuckerberg, there are 1000 Jack Zuckermans. Who is Jack Zuckerman? I have no idea. That’s my point. If you’re Jack Zuckerman and you’re reading this, I apologize. You aimed for the stars and missed. Your reentry into the atmosphere involved a broken heat shield, and you burned to a crisp by the time you hit the ocean. Now we have no idea who you are.
If you want to get rich, sell your company, have time for your hobbies, raise a halfway decent family (with mediocre children), and enjoy the sunset with your wife on occasion. 
Here are some of my highly effective recommendations.
Procrastinate. In between the time I wrote the last sentence and the time I wrote this one, I played (and lost) a game of chess. My king and my queen got forked by a knight. But hey, that happens. Fork me once, shame on me.
Procrastination is your body telling you you need to back off a bit and think more about what you’re doing. When you procrastinate as an entrepreneur, it could mean that you need a bit more time to think about what you’re pitching a client. It could also mean you’re doing work that is not your forte and that you’d be better off delegating. I find that many entrepreneurs are trying to do everything when it would be cheaper and more time-efficient to delegate, even if there are monetary costs associated with that. In my first business, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head the first time I delegated a programming job to someone other than me. At that time, I went out on a date. Which was infinitely better than sweating all night on some stupid programming bug (thank you, Chet, for solving that issue).
Try to figure out why you’re procrastinating.  …continue reading
 

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