Category Archives: Personal Success

Jul 07 2015
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Personal Success

Our Vocabulary – Did You Know?

Did you know that studies have been conducted supporting the fact that the success a person achieves in their life is directly related to the extent of their vocabulary?

These studies are referenced by Earl Nightingale, in his program: Lead the Field.

Following are a few excerpts…

Not enough people realize that it is our ability to use our language that will determine our place on the social pyramid–and that will also control, to a great extent, the amount of money we will earn during our lives.

A person may dress in the latest fashion and present a very attractive appearance. So far, so good. But the minute he or she opens his or her mouth and begins to speak, he or she proclaims to the world his or her level on our social pyramid…Our use of our language is the one thing we can’t hide.

In Lead the Field, he references a 20-year study of college graduates.

Without a single exception, those who had scored highest on the vocabulary test given in college, were in the top income group, while those who had scored the lowest were in the bottom income group.

He also references a study by scientist Johnson O’Connor, who gave vocabulary tests to executive and supervisory personnel in 39 large manufacturing companies.

Presidents and vice presidents averaged 236 out of a possible 272 points; managers averaged 168; superintendents, 140; foremen, 114; floor bosses, 86. In virtually every case, vocabulary correlated with executive level and income.

I know, I know…We’ve all had the experience of reading, talking with someone or listening to a speech when the person seems to use words that were much more complicated than necessary.

Sometimes people can go overboard.

However, there are times when what is being communicated is best explained and/or more impactful with the use of a specific (albeit, infrequently used) word.

You’ve probably also had the experience, when hearing an unfamiliar word, of considering how that word is being used in the context in which it was shared. And, when doing so we can often make an educated guess as to the nature of its meaning. The result being that we have just learned something new!

Take the prior post (just below), in which I quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson. He uses the word “cipher”; an uncommon word. In the context of the sentence I had a pretty good idea of what he was referring to. Just the same, I wanted to make sure I “got it.” So, I looked it up – online!

Key suggestion: ANY time we come across an unfamiliar word we can serve ourselves well by IMMEDIATELY learning what it means. It is very quick and simple to do so. All we need to do is reach for our smartphone, go online and type “define [insert unknown word here]”. BLAMMO! Up comes definitions of the word including its usage within sentences. All, within seconds!

We can also use the Dictionary app on our iPhone.

In fact, the Dictionary app has a Word of the Day feature. While I’d consider my vocabulary to be pretty good, I’ve found that many of the words the app serves up each day are new to me. When a new word comes up I’ll often drill-in to learn its meaning.

In closing, we should NEVER skim over an unfamiliar word. Especially when we can so easily look up its definition. Because, upon learning a new word we have just expanded our horizon by another notch. And, as Earl Nightingale points out, each word serves as a nucleus around which numerous other words seem to whirl. So, by learning a single new word, we by default learn several related words in the process.

And, EVERY one counts as a puzzle-piece towards our success!

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Keep learning – every single day!

All the best!

Jul 05 2015
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Inspirational, Personal Success

Success Boiled Down To 13 Steps!

During a recent check-in to Yahoo! Finance I came across a very good, inspiring article titled: “78 years ago, a journalist studied 500 men and boiled down their success into 13 steps.”

In a nutshell, the article summarizes how Andrew Carnegie, who became the richest man in the world after starting with little more than a penny upon arriving in the US from Scotland, took a budding journalist under his wing. This journalist (Napoleon Hill, author of the best seller Think and Grow Rich) was entrusted to document — and share with the world — the strategies that turned him [Carnegie] into one of the wealthiest and most successful businessmen of all time.

While the resulting book Think and Grow Rich is a must read for all, this article boils down the teachings into the following 13 steps:

  1. Desire: You have to want it.
  2. Faith: Believe that you can achieve your goal.
  3. Auto-suggestion: Use affirmations to reach your goal.
  4. Specialized knowledge: Gain experiences and continue learning.
  5. Imagination: Come up with ideas and visualize your success.
  6. Organized planning: Take action.
  7. Decision: Defeat procrastination with decisiveness.
  8. Persistence: Don’t stop until you get what you want.
  9. Power of the Master Mind: Surround yourself with the best.
  10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation: Choose a compatible partner.
  11. The Subconscious Mind: Master positivity and dismiss negative emotions.
  12. The Brain: Associate with other smart people and learn from them.
  13. The Sixth Sense: Trust your gut.

You’ll note that these steps include NOTHING that could be considered:

  • A “get rich quick” scheme
  • Impractical or outdated

Instead, observe that MOST of what is outlined above involves the development, nurturing and effective use of our MIND.

Is there anyone reading this that doesn’t have one? A mind, that is?

The obvious answer is: NO!

Then, if you are not where you want to be, all you need to do is follow the 13 steps outlined above, which are covered in a little more detail in the referenced article, by clicking here. While this is a great way to “get started” you can continue the process by grabbing a copy of the complete document – Think and Grow Rich.

In closing, the 13 steps are NOT hard. It is simply a matter of putting our MIND to it.

What are you waiting for?

All the best!

Jun 27 2015
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Business Success, Leadership, Personal Success

Have You Done That Before?

I was recently describing to someone an upcoming project that I’ll be working on.

The project involves evaluating commercial banking options, selecting and then implementing a new treasury management solution for one of my longtime clients. The person to whom I was describing this project asked: “Have you ever done this before?” My response: “Nope!” And, in my head I’m thinking: “And, what does that matter!”

You see, there are a number of factors at play here:

  1. Building on the prior post, there is a lot (of experience) rattling around in my head.
  2. The client engaged me to facilitate the process and project manage (PM) the implementation.
  3. The client is the entity, along with the selected bank, with ALL the subject matter expertise (a.k.a. domain knowledge). They know the scenario: the business, requirements, strengths, weaknesses and risks.

In summary, “all” I need to do is get everyone pointed in the same direction, and marching to the same tune towards completion of this very important / high risk project.

Too often we are afraid to put ourselves out there because we “haven’t done that before” or we are concerned that we “won’t know what to do.”

Set no limits!

Your only limitation is the one you set up in your own mind!

~ Napoleon Hill

A couple of thoughts on this:

  1. At one point we didn’t know how to feed ourselves, walk, talk, ride a bike, swim, use a computer, etc. But – WE LEARNED! Do not stop now!
  2. Anytime you are unsure of what to do, simply ask yourself: “What would I do, if I knew what to do?” We ALL can take things a LOT further along than we give ourselves credit.

In our case study example here, the client “merely” needs a highly capable PM to keep them aligned towards the successful execution of this very important project. Hence, the need for a Powerhouse PM.

In summary, a Powerhouse PM is an invaluable asset that can be thrown at ANY project to ensure its success. 

Yes, all things being equal, a (Powerhouse) PM with domain knowledge may have an edge over one without that particular domain knowledge. However, I’d suggest that the skills and capabilities demonstrated by the Powerhouse PM are MUCH HARDER to come by than specific domain knowledge. That said, a business leader (corporate executive) can rely on their own team’s domain knowledge to support the project while engaging a Powerhouse PM to get them across the finish line.

In closing – Want to be extremely valuable to society? Consider developing yourself into a Powerhouse PM, a topic covered in a prior series of posts (the index is available by clicking here).

All the best!

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