Focus on What Really Matters: YOURSELF

As we turn the corner from 2014 and enter 2015, many of us will use this moment to clear the decks and think about changes we want to implement personally and professionally in the year ahead.

To help everyone set their year up for success, here are ways you can keep the right level of focus on yourself in 2015.

1.   Set attainable goals

Set both near and long-term goals. If you think about where you want to be in six months, what do you need to do in the previous months to get there?  You can’t eat an entire steak with one bite. Goals are the same way. Give yourself a chance to make “bite-sized” progress. Share your goals with others and set check-ins to keep yourself honest. Provide plenty of transparency, so they can help motivate and calibrate your progress.

2.   Try to live in the present

If you can find a way to maximize each day across the things that matter most like family, health and work, you will find yourself in a happier, more productive, and more fulfilled state of mind.

Manage your day so you can make the most out of it. Set routines and give yourself the flexibility to live within a schedule. Give yourself more credit. Not every day will be perfect. Maybe you don’t have time to go on a five-mile run. If you can find time for a 30 minute walk instead, great. Give yourself credit for establishing good habits and behaviors.

3.   Make your health a priority

Think about the areas you really need to focus on. Perhaps it is diet, exercise or getting more sleep. The best thing you can do is to get educated. For example, don’t jump into a hardcore diet. Instead, try and meet with a nutritionist to develop a program that is tailored to you. Don’t try and do too much too soon. Doing so may create setbacks that not only hamper your progress but demotivate you.

4.   Leave behind negative influences

You know people who are negative, always complain, are overly skeptical and generally don’t support an ongoing positive attitude. Ignore them. Don’t spend your energy with them. Learn your triggers and deal with them. If you can zero in on your triggers, you can make immediate and impactful changes.

5.   Pace yourself and make all 365 days count

Leverage the seasons. For example, if you are focused on your health make the winter a time when you focus on diet. Leave the spring to get into running shape, so by summer you will be rolling. Think about the principles you want to reflect every day. Write them down and read them every day. If you can give yourself regular reminders, by the 365th day of 2015, you will have turned your desired changes into permanent ones. 

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Daily Habits That Will Make 2015 Explosive

The New Year is here!  Many of you may want to ramp up your personal development and productivity to a whole new level to reach some major goals. To truly find success in your life, it is important that you take the time to do the little things that matter most. Small changes to your daily routine can translate into monumental success in all of your endeavors.

Here are daily habits that you should be doing:

1.   Get up early

When you get up early, before most people, you have a quiet and relaxing time to get things done. Imagine being able to sit down and go through emails or handle daily tasks without your message notification buzzing. By getting up early, you are not only giving yourself some extra time in the morning, but you are giving yourself some extra valuable time that will allow you to get even more done.

2.   Read

You should be reading every single day. This doesn’t necessarily mean crushing an entire novel in a few hours, but put aside a little time to read, preferably 20 to 30 minutes. When you read you help stimulate your thought processes, and may be surprised by the ideas that you come up with. Reading things such as magazines or newspapers can also help you stay abreast of the world around you, a trait that can only be helpful, no matter what industry you work in.

3.   Exercise

Even if it is just for 30 minutes, it is important to start exercising daily. Exercise can help release endorphins that can naturally boost your mood and your energy levels. Not only will you feel happier and more energized but those who work out regularly report lower levels of stress.

4.   Practice gratitude

This can be a hard one for some people and it’s something that unfortunately many of us need to consciously practice. When our lives get consumed with work and personal demands it can be hard to remember to show gratitude to those that we interact with. Try to make a conscious effort to practice this.

5.   Schedule your day before it starts

Having a set schedule is a powerful tool when it comes to making the most of your day and being as productive as possible. To have the biggest impact with your time, try making your schedule the day before. This way the moment you wake up you will know just what is ahead.

6.   Focus on high-priority tasks first

No matter what the reasoning is, challenge yourself by starting with focusing on your high-priority task. Get it done first and then focus on smaller things. After being in the mindset of tackling a high-priority project, your less demanding tasks will be easier to complete. It's a small change but one that can improve your effectiveness drastically.

7.   Always go the extra mile

Do a few extra (meaningful) tasks every day that go beyond what your actual requirements are. By putting in a little more effort than required you can start getting the attention of your superiors or clients, get more done during the workday and feel a new energizing sense of motivation and satisfaction.

8.   Improve in one area each day

This area can be something small or large and it can be in your personal or professional life, but make it a goal to improve in one area of your life every day. No matter what it is, take the time to really try to improve one small thing, and before you know it the improvements in your personal and professional life will surprise you.

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TQM - Total Quality Management

One movement that swept U.S. corporations in the 1980s involves maximizing quality and minimizing costs through total quality management (TQM). This refers to constantly improving the quality of products and the firm’s processes so as to consistently deliver increasing value to customers. TQM constantly asks, “How can we do this cheaper, faster, or better?” It involves worker teams and benchmarking. In its broader form, TQM applies quality improvement methods to all firm processes from production to customer service, sales and marketing, and even finance. By improving quality and reducing costs in all these areas Hewlett-Packard achieved spectacular results. Other companies that have successfully used TQM are Xerox, Motorola, Marriott, Harley-Davidson, and Ford.

Five rules determine the success of a TQM program:

1.   The corporate executive officer (CEO) must strongly and visibly support it with words and actions.

2.   The TQM program must clearly show how it benefits customers and creates value for the firm.

3.  The TQM program must have a few clear strategic goals; that is, it must ask, “What is the firm trying to accomplish?”

4.  The TQM program must provide quick financial returns and compensation – people need to see early and concrete result to continue to support the program.

5.  The TQM program should be tailored to a particular firm; that is, one firm cannot simply copy someone else’s TQM program.

Despite some glaring success from using TQM programs (e.g., Motorola was able to cut $700 million in manufacturing costs over five years), only about a third American corporations polled indicated that their TQM program had a significant impact in increasing the quality of their products, reducing costs, and increasing their competitiveness. The most frequent reason for failure for TQM programs is the failure of upper management to show a strong personal involvement and commitment to the program. Other reasons for failure were that TQM programs often were not strongly linked to the overall business strategy of the firm or aimed at delivering increasing value to customers. 

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