Do Business Well

All of us are mediocre at many things, are good at some, excel at fewer and have the ability to become world class at a few. This is because for every natural strength we are born with, we have countless weaknesses. Having a strength is not the opposite of having a weakness, however. Like success and failure, or health and illness, each follows a particular pattern. But where experiencing failure may be the stumbling block on the natural path to success, seeking improved strength through fixing weakness is very much the wrong path. Fixing weaknesses to improve an individual or business is a fallacy. None the less, it is a practice that is consistently applied throughout schools and all forms of business — to find out what is weak and ensure its removal through concentrated effort. This practice is based on the belief that existing strengths will continue to develop on their own. Therefore, if you want to become the most effective you can be, only spend time e on those areas that are holding you back.

Every day the majority of business managers spend time reviewing or appraising others within their control. This is in accordance with the established frame of reference which dominates business thinking — management controls people and things. To control people you monitor their efficiency and effectiveness. The measurement for these elements is the appraisal or review, both good mechanisms, but as the thinking behind them is wrong they are inefficient and ineffective. Thisis a sweeping yet true statement, as the way they are carried out wastes the time and skill of both appraiser and appraised.

When a company starts out it is able to concentrate on its strengths; once it is established its focus of attention is on correcting its weaknesses. When a child is very young parents are delighted about what their offspring can do; as the child gets older the parents are concerned at what he or she cannot do. Starting school, both parents and teachers focus on discussing what a child is good at. Later, both focus on the lowest marks in a report. The established thinking is firmly set in a frame of reference that is programmed to root out weaknesses in ourselves and others. Consider your habits. Which come to mind first, your bad or your good ones? Next, consider your strengths and weaknesses. Which come to mind first?

With our thinking rooted in improving what’s wrong, the majority of our energy is spent in that area. Every day we have a certain amount of energy: physical, emotional, mental and psychic, in ascending order of importance, our psychic energy being the most valuable. When attention is directed to what we can’t do, rather than to what we can do, we unwittingly drain ourselves of our psychic energy. Chastising ourselves mentally for being bad at something. For example, will cause us to feel mentally perplexed, emotionally frustrated and physically tired. Conversely, praising ourselves for excelling at something will cause us to be mentally stimulated, emotionally euphoric and physically energetic.

The latter situation is rare, however, because our belief is that if you point out weaknesses and fix them, then everything will be all right. Nothing could be further from the truth, even though your rationale will be shouting at you, saying: ‘But you have to know what is wrong, how else can you learn to excel?’ The truth is that trying to succeed in an area where you are weak will cause you to develop low self-esteem, a poor self-image and a limited self-ideal. These are the elements that make up your self-concept, the most important command centre you have in your life. Is it any wonder that self-acceptance is lost, when we have been trained to focus our attention on what we must do to correct ourselves, rather than what we can do to excel?

Learning to recognise our few true strengths, and developing the courage to channel our energy into developing them, will transform us into the excellent human beings that the global marketplace in which we operate demands. Those who learn to successfully channel their energy will be the leaders and achievers in their specific fields. Those who don’t will continue to feel the inner frustration associated with being unfulfilled. Entrenched thinking cannot simply be eliminated as nature abhors a vacuum. It must be replaced with different thinking, frames of reference that work for you, not against you. Practising the following keys will strengthen, rather than develop, these frames of reference, because their very application will serve to remind you of their soundness.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
The Secret of Channelling Your Energy Correctly

• Domain Name Dilemma
• Consolidation and Integration of Web Service Offerings, direct email marketing continue...
• Becoming a Specialist
• Same Time, Different Choice
• Managing the Email Marketing List Part 1
• Internet Marketing, as the voice of all customer communication, Ecommerce the power of Networking
• Collection Procedures part 1
• What’s new in Marketing Newsletter?
• Electronic Money and Online Transactions
• Five Predictions for trends in Internet Marketing : WEBPROMOTE

5 Comments »