Three Maxims For Success

Begin With A Clear Goal
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What do business, war, and work all have in common? The winner is generally the one that is able to employ a better strategy against their competition. You will learn about three maxims that you can use to help you be successful in business as well as your personal life.

The first maxim to be mentioned is the Action Maxim. This is your answer to the question, “What am I going to do?” To successfully employ this maxim, you must be very clear about the goal you are trying to achieve. You may still be flexible in the “how to” achieve it. As can be seen from nature, the quality of adaptability may be the single most important skill you can possess when situations begin to quickly change.

Feedback-Phobia
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Most of us will accept feedback from anything except a real, live, thinking, human being. In order to know if your actions are accomplishing what you want, you need feedback. If you don’t get feedback, you could get way off course and not even know it. As Dr. Stephen Covey might say, “You may be climbing the ladder, but the ladder may be leaning against the wrong wall.” Everyone from swimmers to farmers use feedback to help them do their job as efficiently as possible. In the case of the both the swimmer and the farmer, each must find an object some distance away in the direction they intend to go then, keep their eye on it as they proceed. This keeps them on a straight line. If they didn’t do this, swimmers would be all over each other in the pool and the nice neat square farm plots seen from the air would look more like something from Picasso. To be successful, you need to be able to accept feedback (whether you like it or not), analyze it, make any adjustments to your plans that may be indicated, and continue pressing forward.

Better Knowledge, Better Actions
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The second maxim is that of the Knowledge Maxim. This maxim is all about learning all you can about the situation before you make a decision. Remember, facts don’t lie and facts are verifiable. In order to successfully employ this maxim, you must gather as many verifiable facts as possible to help you make the best decisions. This will lead to superior actions.

Improve The Quality Of Your Decisions
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One of the most important skills to have is the ability to make quality decisions. The quality of your decisions is reflected in the time you spend learning the facts you need to know. Some leaders will explain that if you don’t have enough information, delay the decision. When facing a decision, try to list as many possible solutions as possible. Don’t stop listing to try to see if each one will work. Just get them recorded for later review and let your creativity run wild with this step. If possible, get someone to help you think of more possible solutions. The more possible solutions you can come up with, the better the chance your ultimate solutions will be one that not only works, but works very well.

Invest Your Resources Wisely
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The third maxim is the M.E.E.T. Maxim (Most Effective & Efficient Tactics). This means you don’t need a ten-pound sledge hammer to push a push-pin into a wall. However, you do need to apply enough force to accomplish your goal. You need to determine how much time, energy, and resources will be needed to accomplish the goal. Then, conserve the rest for other things. In your own life, your personal energy is the resource you have to employ during your lifetime. Basically, this maxim teaches you to take some thought into just how you are going to use up your energy. Also, keep in mind the importance and value of the things you are using your energy on in the eyes of others and to yourself. Don’t waste YOU!

How Can I Put This To Use Today
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Start by keeping yourself adaptable in relation to your decisions and plans. When changes start coming rapidly, this will be a tremendous asset. Keep your mind open to new and better ways of doing things.

Then, be sure you have all the facts you need. Remember that you will make better quality decisions the more time you spend gathering those verifiable facts that will lead you in the right direction.

Copyright © 2006