What are you giving this Christmas?

It’s here again…that magical time of the year is here again…oh yes it’s Christmas.

Usually every holiday, especially that time of the year, people start becoming forgiving, forgetting and all about giving, and making others happy.

This Christmas, have you thought about what you want to give? And by this I don’t mean gifts or any materials items, I meant what do you want to give people around you?

This might seem selfish; however, to end up the year with a great achievement, what about giving people at the office something that will help them end their year on a better tone.

In order to do that, you have to practice, in a simple yet a very powerful way, the art of coaching, and more specifically how to make people feel understood.

By coaching people, you will strengthen your relationships, people will feel that you are a source of trust and you will feel like you have made a difference in your workplace.

If you are ready, then you are 5 steps away of becoming a workplace catalyst of change :

1- What’s in it for them: Often in our conversations we end up talking about ourselves and fail to understand or learn what people are truly saying.

In order to do that we have to Actively Listen; doing that requires that you give the full attention to people when you ask them a question, yes it means leaving your computer keyboard or your phone to concentrate on what they are saying.

2- Ask open questions: And that relates to point one, the question will have to be about them, and you will have to resist introducing your personal stories in the conversation unless you are asked to. A sample open question is: “What motivates you?” and if they answer growth or achievement resist the temptation to say “me too” or “yes I also like….. because it makes me….” Remember you want to be helping others so try to learn about them.

3- Encourage them to come up with their own ideas: If you asked them what motivates them or what makes them happy, ask them how would they like to take things forward, and by this I mean what are possible ways for them to reach their goals. Again here, resist the temptation of giving personal advice; instead encourage them to come up with ideas and solutions.

4- Listening to their ideas. Listening is a big part of helping others. When someone is telling you about a certain idea, try to learn what this idea truly represents. Summarize what they have said to make sure you got it correctly, this will also show the speaker that you are truly listening to them,

5- Help them turn their ideas into actions Ideas are useless unless they are executed. In order to make an idea happen, one has to turn it into a plan of action. A good way that will make their ideas happen is to make them fill a table like the one below:

What is the action point that you will execute	By when will that point be achieved	What Support do you need and from whom	How will you track your progress measure your success

Make sure they are specific when they fill the table, and ask them to choose a mentor ( it could be you) to follow up on those action points.

Christmas is a time of giving, and the self satisfaction from giving others new ways to think is priceless. So Merry Christmas, and good luck.

Camil El Khoury is The Author of "Do What you Love, Love What you do" and the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group; the leading experiential learning firm in the AME region (Africa and the Middle East)

Do you really need discipline?

by Hussein Hallak EVP and Facilitator ideas group

Not a day goes by without somebody saying or shouting those three words in our eardrums... You Need DISCIPLINE!

It is usually followed by;

You need to be more organized, on time, lose weight, wake up early, pay the bills, finish you meal, and clean your room…!!

Discipline, don’t you just hate that word....?

It gives way, to the idea of being confined, limited to act in a certain way, and follow specific rules. That is enough to scare the heck out of anyone...

It also means to punish, and to penalize Not particularly something you want!

Still, true discipline is vital in our lives, it is the essence of true success, a must for a purposeful life. So, what do we do?

Let us first clarify a few things:

When you think about being “disciplined”, you probably relate it to being “organized”, “punctual”, “rigid”, “orderly”, “playing by the rules” and “limited”... That’s not necessarily bad; however, try to think, “Knowledgeable”, “active”, “action oriented”, and “prepared”. All are uncommon, but very relevant meanings of the word “Disciplined”.

Let us say you came to your office one day and it was a total mess, it happens to the best of us. The first thing on your mind is to get “organized”. So, you spend many hours, sometimes days, organizing that mess. The reward is an organized office, which is great. However, once you start searching among the “organized” piles for a particular paper you need, well... Pretty soon the office is back to being a mess again! Maybe even worse than before?! Especially when you are in a hurry to get that paper...You’re back to square one... Why? Because you organized the mess...

So, what can you do?

1- Know what are the things you want, and most importantly what are the things you don’t want.

2- take action, throw away what you don’t want, and keep what you want.

3- You know there will be more papers coming through your front door, so be prepared; create a simple process, and allocate certain places for certain things...

In fact if you commit only to the first two steps, you eliminate 80 percent of the mess...

Being organized is reactive. Being disciplined is proactive.

Commitment is tuff. Discipline makes it natural!

We are talking about common sense, universal wisdom, true purpose and unwavering commitment.

We are talking about “true discipline”; the art of living in alignment with your truth;

Be aware of what’s important; your values, your purpose, your truth... Essentially

“You”.

Follow your intuition. It is the inner compass guiding you through your life’s journey. It will align you with who you really are.

Finally; keep it simple... 90% of plans and strategies never get executed because they are too complex. Take your plans and strategies, and cut them down to a maximum of three steps. Choose a life of harmony, joy and peace; A life of discipline.

Ideas group participates in the Leadership Best Practise conference in Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi

Ideas group , The Middle East and Africa’s most successful experiential learning consultancy, was again the proud sponsor of Etisalat Academy’s “ Leadership Best Practices conference” in Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi. This event was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and under the auspices of His Highness Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Interior.

The Event welcomed more than 200 delegates, all eager to learn from the best practices on Leadership from four very talented speakers. This panel included Rowan Gibson, a bestselling author and international speaker, Alan Stevens the communication expert, author & managing director of Mediacoach, Prof. Christo Neil who is the head of centre for leadership studies for the University of Stellenbosch and Dr. Ahmed Shalabi a regional consultant on management. The event was chaired by Camil El Khoury, an international speaker, author and the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group.

Ideas group took the chance to introduce once again 4 new experiential learning programs:

· The Psychology of Success a talent development program that includes communications, time management, focus and building extraordinary beliefs.

· Getting down to business Write and present like professionals.

· Social mania getting results out of social networking while keeping your employees focused.

· No excuses only Results A sales and customer service winning approach to get more done.

Moamar Safi, Senior Client Partner at ideas group, said, “Our commitment to develop experiential learning as a substitute for training and development in the region has never been greater, and we are really proud of our partnership with Etisalat Academy”

Media Contact:

For Further information please contact ideas group media team on info@ideasgrp.com www.ideasgrp.com

Dubai's debt is not a big problem….unless we want it to be

The past couple of months have witnessed optimism in Dubai’s businesses; People realized that there is no use of being over protective and that corporate spending is the only way to build back confidence.

Just until… Dubai has asked to delay payment on billions of dollars of debt issued by conglomerate Dubai World and its main property subsidiary Nakheel.

As this might come at a shock, analysts around the region were not that surprised by the news, as for the past year real estate in Dubai was disastrous and the restructuring of Nakheel did not make the most of sense.

The funny part is how the international media disagrees on what could be the possible results of that standstill. The “TIMESONLINE” entitles its article “Dubai debt fears threaten credit crunch 2 — and RBS is exposed” and talks about how serious this second version of the crisis could be for the whole world. While CNN.com entitles its article “Dubai debt woes 'a drama, but no crisis” and says the debt revelations from Dubai this week will not lead the global economy back into recession, but have seriously damaged the Emirate's standing as a leading financial hub.

The pessimism in the British media stems from the amount of money that British banks have been exposed to in the troubled Dubai World case , notably RBS, Barclays and HSBC.

The solution:

Abu Dhabi has promised to look at the Dubai World setback, and to offer a case by case solution, in efforts to assist its little brother Dubai in solving its problems. People tend to forget that Abu Dhabi and Dubai are both part of the same country, and if the reputation of Dubai is ruined, Abu Dhabi will also be affected.

Now is the time for the UAE private companies to step in and help the general Dubai atmosphere gaining confidence. A lot of opportunities still exist in the country, access to liquidity is still available and as “Banque Saudi Fransi - Credit Agricole Group” puts it “quality deterioration simply is not an issue in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar”

What companies in the private and public sectors should do is to continue on hiring, spending and investing, without shying off, and the Emirates will be back on track as if nothing happened.

Camil El Khoury

The Author is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group www.ideasgrp.com

ideas Group is a global learning and human capital development firm specialized in leadership and team development. We help our clients become high performance organizations and foster a sustainable growth.
We strive to continue on partnering with our clients, finding solutions for their sustainable performance through services that include management consulting, generic courses for immediate impact, tailor-made workshops and transformational experiential learning experiences. Ideas group provide consultancy services and learning & development training to a number of Clients in the UK, UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco and Lebanon.

How can you win the $75 Million Lottery

I woke up this morning on unusual news: “The winning ticket holders of the UK's largest-ever lottery prize are a married couple from Newport, in south Wales, and a syndicate from Liverpool. The two tickets will take a £45,570,835.50 share approx $75Million.

And when the couple was asked about what will they do with the money: they have both answered, “That’s a lot of money, we don’t know”

And the entrepreneur in me started thinking: “what If I won that lottery, what would I do with it?” and since I know how to always get rid of that responsibility called money, I have quickly divided it into several functions the first being injecting cash in my company to hire more people and create new experiential learning programs, and the second was to take some time off, focusing on writing my next book about business strategy….and with all those waves of thoughts I woke up from my daydream and realized that I didn’t win the lottery, however I was covered with hope and motivation, a motivation to make things happen.

And then I started researching lotteries and their past winners, only to discover that all what lottery companies do is sell hope, a hope so dim that can be outperformed by our minds. Coming to think about it your chance of winning that lottery is one in 50 million that is 0.00000002 %

And right at that moment, a thought came to my mind, “How can I start doing those things with the means that I have” i.e. without the $75 Million, and a million ideas came to my head of which I have captured on a mindmap, and decided to start acting upon those.

My question for you is: “What would you do if you won the $75 Million Lottery?” ………………………………………………………………………………………. Once you come up with that list, start acting on what you can do now with your current means, and what would you need to influence to be able to achieve that full list and bang… here is your big lottery win.

The author Camil El Khoury is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group an experiential learning consultancy that facilitates and sustains organizational performance. Ideas group serves its clients from its 2 offices Dubai – United Arab Emirates and Beirut –Lebanon and conducts workshops with organizations from the Middle East and Africa. www.ideasgrp.com

I want to quit my job but...

A lot of people come to me saying: “I want to quit my job and start doing what I love, but we live in the real world and that world is not perfect, besides my family depends on me and who would hire me in a time of financial downturn” and the list of excuses is seasonal; it could include political situations, bankrupting industries, age, gender and whatever comes to your mind.
My usual response is a question: “Besides thinking of quitting your job, what are the steps that you are taking in order to be closer to what you love?” and the answer is often a disappointing look on my questioner’s face.
When you want to implement a change in your life, it doesn’t come suddenly and luck has nothing to do with it; it is about being prepared to move into the next step; Preparation meeting opportunity… that is luck, opportunity without preparation is called missing out and not bad luck.
Being proactive is about choosing what you want to achieve instead of letting the society, your family, or your boss choose on your behalf, it is about taking control of your life and start acting on it. The below 4 steps will help you keep on track in your self-discovery journey.

1- Discover your values:
Before deciding on what you want to do, you have to understand who you are, what do you believe in, and what are the important things for you. Once you come up with your values, put them to the test and make sure that they are not only there because they sound good but because those are your genuine values.

2- Differentiate between a hobby and a career:
When you find your driving force and decide on what you want to be doing, make sure that you differentiate hobbies from careers. Anything that you love and doesn’t make you any money is a hobby and any other thing that you love and provides enough money to cover up your needs is a career.


3- Take it one step at a time:
If you want to jump in the new venture without preparation, there is a big chance that you will be quitting at the beginning. Think about your long term goals, divide the goals into yearly chunks and then schedule them weekly. Doing that, will ensure a smooth transition from your current state to your desired state.

4- Be persistent
The common observed behavior between Sir Richard Branson, Nicolas Hayek, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Oprah is that they didn’t quit at the first difficult challenge, and as a matter of fact the ride was not easy for them. With the recurring persistence, they have managed to keep on track and achieved what they were meant to be achieving.

So next time you think of a change, look for what you can do and what you can influence and not what concerns you.

Camil Khoury is the Chief Vision Officer of ideas group and author of “Do what you Love, Love what you do”

Camil's interview on Dubai Eye

Talking about the release of the new book "Do what you love, love what you do", Camil explains the importance of taking charge of your own life and start getting to where you want to get in life.

To listen just click on the title above

For Michael Schumacher, High Performance becomes a habit

In an article in the guardian Allen Henry quotes the world’s championship leader Jenson Button “Michael Schumacher is brave to be back to formula one”. This statement holds true from different angles. First, coming back as a seven times world champion, is not easy at all; you are a legend and you are expected to race as one, especially in Formula one where you are as good as your last race. Second, with all the new regulations, testing is not allowed, so Michael will only get in the F1 car, the same weekend of his first post-retirement race.

However Michael has been acting very normal towards the fact of his return and said in a blog posting on his website that he is looking to be very competitive.

How does a person like Michael Schumacher come back after 3 years in retirement and competes with the world’s top drivers?

Back in 1997, when Michael was competing against Jacques Villeneuve to the title, he couldn’t handle the pressure very well, as he drove into Jacques car in an attempt to drive him out of his way. This incident did not only hurt his image but also made him realize that in order to get sustainable results, one has to handle the pressure and make the best of it. Indeed in the years that followed that incident Michael was training hard to handle the pressure, and in several situations he has proven to the world that he acquired and mastered that new skill.

Now that the pressure is back again, and that the stakes are high, we tried to follow Michael steps and see how is he dealing with his return, and not to our surprise we found out that he is following what we call the performance CREDO. Communications, Relaxation, Exercise, Diet and Organization.

He first started to Communicate and consult the situation with the team engineers to see how to optimize the use of the car on the circuit.

He is also using relaxation techniques to stay focused and remove all the tense.

During the following 2 weeks, Michael will be following an intensive physical training course and a fitness and diet program to make sure he is in shape for the new challenge.

He decided to divide his time between meeting with the experts, trying to drive around laps (not in a F1 car as per regulations), and with his organization he feels he has more than enough time to be ready for the Valencia race.

So let’s observe together how this legend will be back on the peak of performance and handle the pressure that is magnified by his fans.

For additional information on how to help you and your organization establish high performance as a habit visit us on www.ideasgrp.com or drop is a line on info@ideasgrp.com

Stress, Anxiety, Pressure.... no thanks I know how to deal with it

Coping with anxiety

A big event coming, bills to pay, deadlines to meet, hiring a new employee, doing the job of others and things at home aren’t that calm either……, all of this leaves you with a lot of anxiety and pressure.

We do behave differently under pressure, however it has been observed that we can turn anxiety to our side and use the extra push that we receive from pressure to transform it into energy. First of all it is important to acknowledge the pressure and the stress we are facing, and that will be an easy step to do, because we all show signs of stress on two different levels: Physical and Behavioral.

Physical signs:

· General fatigue

· Sleeplessness

· Headaches

· Back or shoulder ache

· Upset stomach

Behavioral signs:

· Irritability

· Loss of concentration

· Depression

· Change in appetite ( eating more or less than usual)

· Drinking or smoking more

· Feelings of panic

Before you get too worried, there are effective ways of controlling all those stress symptoms. I use two very effects methods and those are Simple body relaxation and Visualization.

Simple body relaxation:

This method will help you relax your muscles, which in their turn will send signals to your brain.

This sequence is easy to remember and all you need is 10 minutes and a quiet room on your own.

Toes: Tense the muscles on your toes, and then relax;

Feet: Tense the muscles on your feet, and then relax;

Lower legs: Tense the muscles on your lower legs, and then relax;

Thighs: Tense the muscles on your thighs and then relax;

Stomach and lower back: Tense the muscle and then relax;

Continue the same technique on your:

Chest

Shoulders

Upper arms

Lower arms and hands

Neck

Head

If you follow that sequence, you will feel a warm wave of relaxation spreading up your body, it will help you feel comfortable and less anxious

If you only have time to follow a shorter sequence, just focus on your shoulders neck and head.

Visualization:

While the first technique works on your muscles, this one works on our motherboard our programming engine: our Mind.

Visualization is used by almost every winning sports achiever in the world, it’s also very common among successful entrepreneurs, and has the effect on focusing on the important task at hand. The idea is to put yourself in a daydream state and picture success. Scientifics have found through experiments, that repeatedly picturing something, clearly and vividly, acts on the unconscious mind. In fact the mind begins to believe the dream and starts to mobilize resources to make it a reality. In the same time because your mind is so focused on the successful income, you won’t have time to worry.

In order to use visualization you need to do the following:

· Make yourself comfortable: by using the relaxation technique, listening to music or going for a walk.

· Make sure that you are totally relaxed

· Think about a time when you were successful at something, a time when you achieved and were happy, imagine doing the same thing again and the feeling that comes with it.

· Now visualize yourself in the situation: whatever is the task you want to accomplish, try to record a mental movie of it in your mind with all the details.

Whenever I have a keynote with a big audience coming, I start using the treadmill, because running relaxes my body. After making sure that I have no tensed muscles I try to remember my last successful speech, and with the experience I simulate my next keynote and start visualizing all the details; what will I be wearing, how the conference room looks like, who are the people and what will they be wearing…. Strangely enough, because I imagine myself being on stage with a very fit body, I tend to lose weight every time I deliver a keynote or a speech without even changing my dietary habits, this is how powerful visualization is.

For more info on how we can help you increase your personal and professional performance drop us a line on info@ideasgrp.com

Ideas Group is a global learning and human capital development firm specialized in leadership and team development. We help our clients become high performance organizations and foster a sustainable growth.
We strive to continue on partnering with our clients, finding solutions for their sustainable performance through services that include management consulting, generic courses for immediate impact, tailor-made workshops and transformational experiential learning experience

My new book is out

"Do what you Love, Love what you do"

What do you think of Dubai taxis? I had a different experience ...

Dubai taxis drivers are known to be smelly, angry and rude, reckless behind the wheel and cause most of the road accidents in the emirate. They are also grumpy and wouldn’t step out of their comfort zones, ironically know nothing about customer service, whereas their job is all about service.

All of this changed in my head, as I took the best taxi ride of my life; I was going to the airport, my fiancée stopped a taxi and asked him to follow us to the sandy parking lot and then drop me to the airport; Fareed, the clean and elegant driver nodded his head and with a gentle smile followed. As I have entered his car, I was surprised, that although it has 400000km on the dashboard, it was cleaner than new cars, with a fresh fruity scent. He initiated a conversation and asked if he might know where I was heading to, I have answered I am going to Lebanon, he then started to comment on the current growth in the financial situation of the country and to my surprise he was right in all that he said, his knowledge blew me off. As we were cruising I couldn’t but notice his great driving style, it was amazing; he was very respectful of other drivers, gentle on the accelerator and never had to suddenly break, which was unusual for a Dubai Taxi. He taught me some new cultural aspects of his native Pakistan and told me that he was an auto engineer and was not supposed to be a taxi driver, however since he is stuck with this job for visa reasons, he has decided to make the best of it, and that means that he wants to give every customer a beautiful and enjoyable ride. 

As a result of Fareed's behaviour in my airport ride I have doubled the fare as a tip, and I am sure you would have done the same.

The important lesson that I have learned from this taxi ride, is that whatever our job might be, we should enjoy what we do and exceed the expectations of our customers (whether internal or external customers). By giving an exceptional service, we don't only make an impact on others, but we also increase the chances of impacting ourselves.

So remember keep your smile and do what you are exactly supposed to do, no matter what you job is, and one day you can make an impression strong enough to change the world.  As Malcom Forbes puts it: “Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs”.

www.ideasgrp.com

info@ideasgrp.com

The crisis is killing long term growth...all it takes is a paradigm shift

What do smart managers do in Economic downturns?

Yes you are right they start laying off their staff.

And how do they do it?

They look at the salary figures and start eliminating the high paid employees, then will look at any other large expenditure, all in the aim of rounding off their numbers.

However what organizations fail to do, is to downsize their operations, following the staff cut, by production cut.

This imbalance is nothing but the old concept of Production/Production capability (by Dr. Covey). What this means in simple terms, is that, whenever our delivery will start affecting our quality, we should decline new business ; each good manager should know where that break point is located in regards to their respective business.

To paint a clearer picture, I will share with you my worst dining experience; Last weekend I went with my friends for a very late lunch at Locatelli, the Italian restaurant of the famous Atlantis in Dubai. The restaurant seats 210 persons and looks very neat, with a good design and a welcoming atmosphere. We placed our order which was composed of salads, pizzas and pasta dishes. 45 minutes later the pasta was served and then the salads and some items on the menu were missing, although in those 45 minutes waiting time we called the waiters at least 10 times, 2 of which, the restaurant manager attended us, and where we made clear that we want the salads and the pizzas first as an appetizer and then the other dishes. The problem was that the restaurant is understaffed,orders were mixed, and the worst part is that waiters started blaming their colleagues in front of us.

I wouldn’t be writing this blog if this was a one off; As I was telling this story to my friends, I heard some similar comments on the same top class restaurant.

Staff lay off is a short term quick fix, however messing up with the P/PC equation is a long term damage, and its effects are most of the time irreparable. 

info@ideagrp.com

www.ideasgrp.com 

Ask and you Shall Receive

And I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Luke 11:9

I have met a gentleman last week who has lost his job, as his company made more than half of the staff redundant.

“It is hard to find a job these days” he said “the market is crowded with job applicants and companies are getting rid of their existing staff” he adds.

So I asked: “Who did you talk to? And where did you apply?”

“There is no use even if I talk no one will listen in this tough period”

That reminded me of an old joke about a man who was complaining about never winning the lottery and when his friend asked him how many tickets has he bought in his life , he replies “none I never win so why buy”

We cannot expect good things to happen if we do not ask for them, it is just a question and there is no harm in asking a question. All it takes is just a simple question.

In Sales this question is called: asking for a referral, and a good sales person knows that the least that they expect to get out of a meeting is a referral, so if the client doesn’t need their product or service there is a large chance that they know someone who does.

Just two days ago, while an amazing mastermind session was being wrapped up, I said to the group “ I am going to Morocco in 2 weeks, do you guys know any one there?” and my good friend Reg www.regathwal.com jumped of his chair to grab a list of more than 30 business cards, whom I have emailed and got 2 scheduled meetings.

All I had to do is ask.

So my advice for you is to take control of your environment and choose your response to what is happening around you and never give in to the general negative mood.

For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened Luke 11:10

I close this blog by a small extract of Habit 1: Be proactive; by Dr. Stephen Covey

It is inspiring to realize that in choosing our response to circumstance, we powerfully affect our circumstance. When we change one part of the chemical formula, we change the nature of the results. Those who are proactive focus on what they can do, on what they can influence.

So good luck on your new questions to be asked and if you need help you know who to write to: info@ideasgrp.com

www.ideasgrp.com

Now is the Time to Change.

On this edition of my bi-monthly blog I thought of sharing with you a story that reflects the current situation. As a friend of mine told me: “Human beings love to be victimized” and in the current downturn, people are blaming the crisis instead of taking action…. Well now is the time to decide what you would want to be doing next. To paint a clearer picture in your minds I would like to share with you an inspirational story. This story is extracted from the book “Notes from a Friend” by Anthony Robbins:

“Have you ever heard of a guy named Colonel Sanders? Of course you have. How did Colonel Sanders become such an unbelievable success? Was it because he was born wealthy? Was his family rich? Did they send him to a top university like Harvard? Maybe he was successful because he started his business when he was really young. Are any of these true?

The answer is no. Colonel Sanders didn't begin to fulfill his dream until he was 65 years old! What drove him to finally take action? He was broke and alone. He got his first social security cheque for $105, and he got mad but instead of blaming the society or just writing the American congress a nasty note, he started asking himself, "What could I do that would be valuable for other people? What could I give back?" He started thinking about what he had that was valuable to others.
His first answer was, "Well, I have this chicken, recipe, everyone seems to love! What if I sold my chicken recipe to restaurants? Could I make money doing that?" Then he immediately thought, "That's ridiculous. Selling my recipe won't even pay the rent." And he got a new idea: "What if I not only sold them my recipe but also showed them how to cook the chicken properly? What if the chicken was so good that it increased their business? If more people come to see them and they make more chicken sales, maybe they will give me a percentage of those additional sales."

Many people have great ideas. But Colonel Sanders was different. He was a man who didn't just think of great things to do. He put them into action. He went and started knocking on doors, telling each restaurant owner his story: "I have a great chicken recipe, and I think if you use it, it'll increase your sales. And I'd like to get a percentage of that increase."
Well, many people laughed in his face. They said, "Look, old man, get out of here. What are you wearing that stupid white suit for?" Did Colonel Sanders give up? Absolutely not. He had the #1 key to success; I call it personal power. Personal power means being persistent in taking action: Every time you do something, you learn from it, and you find a way to do it better next time. Colonel Sanders certainly used his personal power! Instead of feeling bad about the last restaurant that had rejected his idea, he immediately started focusing on how to tell his story more effectively and get better results from the next restaurant.


How many times do you think Colonel Sanders heard no before getting the answer he wanted? He was refused 1,009 times before he heard his first yes. He has spent two years driving across America in his old, beat-up car, sleeping in the back seat in his rumpled white suit, getting up each day eager to share his idea with someone new. Often, the only food he had was eating was bites from the samples he was preparing for perspective buyers. How many people do you think would have gone for 1,009 no's - two years of no's! - and kept on going? Very few. That's why there is only one Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC. I think most people wouldn't get passed twenty no's, much less a hundred or a thousand! Yet this is sometimes what it takes to succeed.

If you look at any of the most successful people in history, you will find this common thread: They would not be denied. They would not accept no. They would not allow anything to stop them from making their vision, their goal, a reality. Did you know that Walt Disney was turned down 302 times before he got financing for his dream of creating "The Happiest Place on Earth"? All the banks thought he was crazy. He wasn't crazy; he was a visionary and, more important, he was committed to making that vision a reality. Today, millions of people have shared in "the joy of Disney", a world like no other, a world launched by the decision of one man.”

So have you ever asked yourself those 2 questions? What could I do that could be valuable to other people? What could I give back?

I add to Tony Robbins questions a third one: What do I love and enjoy to do? But watch out! it has to be something that others are willing to pay for otherwise it will become a hobby not a business or a method of making a living.

So good luck on your next journey and if you need help you know who to write to: info@ideasgrp.com