Measure

When we measure it, we call awareness to it.  And awareness is the beginning of change for us and our team.

What should you be measuring?

Intentions

You can live randomly, always reacting to circumstances created by others that come your way, or you can live with an intention to create what you want.

Today, what worthy goal are you intentionally working toward?

Targets

Specifically, what things do want to accomplish in 2012?

Will you write them down?

Creativity

If we think like the crowd then, by definition, we aren’t creative.  Only if we are independent thinkers can we break from the pack and come up with creative ideas.

Are you following, or thinking?

Free Markets

Choose one: Should economic activity be left to voluntary interaction between people, or government planning?

Should YOUR business be left to voluntary decisions by people, or government planning?

Adding Value

How do you make others’ lives better?  Do they want that result?  How many people are you doing this for?

Your income depends on the above answers – doesn’t it?

Communication is everything

People decide if they want to work for you and if they want to do business with you by how you communicate.

How are you communicating?

Don’t yell

Things got so bad, and the mistake was so offensive, that I couldn’t yell loud enough at my employees to express my frustration. 

So I didn’t yell at all.

It worked perfectly.

Screwing up on the way to success

^{It is not possible to become successful without making mistakes.  And if you want to become successful quickly, you have to make them fast, and learn from them fast.}

Don’t get me wrong – do everything you can to try to avoid mistakes.  But if you wait until your success is assured before you try something, you’d never do anything.

North of break-even – far north

What is your break-even number? Figure it out.  What are your fixed costs? What is your average gross profit margin?  BE = FC / GPM

If you are north of BE, then you’ll make some money.  But the farther north of BE you are, the more your net margin will be on each dollar of sales.

Figure your break-even.  Monitor it as it changes.  Influence it by making changes in your costs.  And stay north! 

Far north!