Use The '20 Ways' Approach To Conquer Your Goals This Year

By Douglas R Kruger

The '20 Ways' Approach to Conquering your Goals this Year

LIKE most people in their early twenties, my younger sister dreams - nay, hungrily yearns - to get her mittens on a new car.

Her current rust bucket does occasionally start when coaxed with a biscuit, but lacks air-conditioning, rendering all attempts at feminine elegance painstakingly difficult.

Speaker, author and trainer, Douglas R Kruger

You can't be the Belle of the ball as a ball of sweat.

I recommended she use the same approach I've been using recently, and which I'm implementing as my 'theme' for 2015.

It's an approach that features in just about every major book or course on creative thinking, speakers and trainers often recommend its use, and high-level players in a multitude of industries swear by it.

The 20 Ways Approach

Take a page and headline it with your goal, for instance: "Get a New Car this Year." Now see if you can come up with 20 different ways, 20 separate ideas and approaches, for achieving the goal.

My sister, for example, might start with '1. Grand Theft Auto,' and '2. Bank robbery.' Fair enough. But of course, that's only two. Eighteen more to go.

It Works Because it's Hard

It's the very fact that 20 is a demanding number that makes this approach so effective. The first five or six ideas will come quickly.

Thereafter, it becomes more challenging, and that's when the magic happens.

Often, as you force your way slowly into the realms of '11,' and '12,' you have moments of epiphany where you say things like, "I could actually do that!"

And perhaps even, "Why haven't I been doing that already?!"

You can also open your list to outside input. My wife, for instance, has no hesitation in telling me what else I should be doing.

This year, I've already created five of these '20 ways' lists.

They range from the lofty, 'How do I become one of the top practitioners in my field?' to the more pedestrian, 'How can I make my office a nicer place to work?'

In both cases, forcing my way through the creation of a full list of 20 was taxing, but richly rewarding.

Now do take note that you don't actually have to implement all 20 ideas in each case. The point is not so much to create a 'to-do' list as much as it is to create a 'what could be done?' prospective.

It's the richness and depth of thinking that you're after, and for that reason, don't judge your ideas too harshly. Let them flow.

Once you see which ideas are clearly superior, and implementable, you can pick and choose what will work for you.

Use it for Work-Place Projects

The approach is wonderfully agile in the sense that it needn't only be applied to personal goals.

If your division at work has a project to complete - or if you've been tasked with managing a large deliverable - creating a '20 ways to' list will focus your thinking and open you up to an innovative range of approaches that might have value.

So whether it's making your home more comfortable or raising your physical fitness. Whether it's growing your business or lusting after new wheels, there is always a way.

Chances are, it's hiding among 19 others.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author the books 'Own Your Industry - How to Position Yourself as an Expert,' and 'Relentlessly Relevant - 50 Ways to Innovate.'

See him in action at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za, tweet @douglaskruger, or email info@douglaskrugerspeaker.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8894585

How To Think Much, Much Bigger This Year

By Douglas R Kruger

YOU'RE the sort of person who doesn't set piddly little goals. No, no. You chase fat, behemoth, stonking great, mamma-of-all-megaladon goals.

When your goals go by, water reverberates in puddles. I like that about you. And I'd like to help you to take your ambition one step further.

Douglas R Kruger

It requires bravery and vision to decide that you want to add an extra zero to your income, or radically change your rankings in the industry in which you operate.

Or conquer the world in some shape or form.

But now that you've exhibited the bravery and made the decision, do you know what to do next? Sometimes we flounder with the practicality of these decisions.

We know we want to, but the first step feels a bit like trying to grab a fistful of mist. How do you start, gain a foothold, or begin to access this amorphous blob of an ambition?

Here are some practical starting points for you. Use the following mental nudges to get going:

1. Are you 'merely' emulating the best in your group?

Whether it's your peers, a support group, or some sort of professional society, groups of like-minded people are extremely good for you when you're starting out.

They teach you the norms, the ropes and the tricks of the trade. They shorten your learning curve.

But in your quest to go above and beyond, groups of this nature can actually be a hindrance. They provide a level of thinking; a sort of mental atmosphere; which can have a normalizing effect on your thinking.

As a salesperson, for instance, are you limiting your performance to the median average of your peers? Or merely trying to outdo them, rather than thinking much bigger?

As an entrepreneur, are you happy to do as well as your friends are doing?

Are you 'merely' emulating the best practitioners in your immediate group? That's dangerous.

You need to think in far more spectacular terms, or you will simply merge into the group and sink into its marshy momentum. Be grateful for what they've taught you. And then move beyond.

2. What does the international pinnacle actually look like?

In the same way that we tend to observe the group around us, and allow that to create our norm, we also observe the leading lights in our nation and hope to emulate them.

That's also a bad call. If the limits of your thinking are to copy the best locally, the most you can hope for is to become a pale imitation of, in a certain region.

To think much, much bigger, ask yourself what the daily norm of the world leaders in your sphere looks like? How big can this thing of yours really get?

At its utmost level on earth, among the highest performers of humanity; what do they do each day? Could you do the same? Or, better still, more? Bigger?

3. Are you both production and sales?

By way of an analogy, let's say that you are a humble bead-maker in a small village. I applaud your entrepreneurial mindset, and well done on being proactive enough to start a small business.

But are you personally selling your beads? If so, you have placed an absolute limit on how big you can ever become. What if you got someone else to sell your beads while you created them?

What if you got teams of people to do so? And what if you stopped making them yourself, and got teams of people to make them, so that other teams of people could sell them?

And why think so regionally? How about new teams in different nations?

Don't be the restaurant owner who also cooks in his own kitchen. Rather be the owner of a chain of restaurants. Think bigger than what your own individual time and energy can accomplish.

Scale up. Go huge.

4. How big are the very biggest numbers?

How big can this all get for you? Quite often, it is possible to discover what the real numbers are. For instance, you might be able to learn how many assignments the world's best are doing per annum.

Or what they're being paid. Or how much they are producing. Or how many hours of input they demand of themselves. Or how many employees they have, etc., etc.

Schwarzenegger famously found out how much weight, and how many reps and sets the world's top bodybuilders were putting in, in order to do more than them.

Can you discover the metrics for your goal?

There is a wonderful psychological advantage to discovering the actual numbers. They may be massive, but they are nevertheless finite.

It's like setting out to climb Mount Everest and learning that it will take x number of steps. The number may be preposterously high. But it's a number.

And once you know it, you can start wrapping your head around it. You can start to pursue a measurable known.

5. In the case of massive success, what resources will you need?

If you think on this sort of scale, and if you get up and chase after it each day, well, by golly, there's a good chance you might actually surprise your poor, dear mother, and succeed! So are you ready?

It's a useful exercise to ask yourself what that final picture looks like, and what resources you will need in order to live that way. Could you handle it right now?

Or would it mean that you would need a team of support staff? More space, more money, more equipment, better organisation?

You may even want to use this dynamic in reverse. Rather than getting there, and then organizing the resources, you may choose to start organizing the resources so that you can get there.

Audacity is the hallmark of the awesome individual. Here's hoping you will experience that magical day when you look back and say, "I can't believe I actually did it!" Scale up your thinking and go!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author who encourages people to think. He speaks on Expert Positioning and the misunderstood link between work and wealth.

He is a 5-times winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking and the author of three books. See him in action or read more of his articles at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za.

Email him at kruger@compute.co.za. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8234270

Becoming Iconic - Are You Noticeably Above And Beyond?

By Douglas R Kruger

THE scale of your thinking will determine the scale of your career.

That said, take a second to think about the 'über names' in your game - the parameter-redefining, industry-owning, top-of-the-food-chain, big dogs. Who are they?  

Can you become iconic?

If a smug voice in the back of your head said, 'Well, I'm one of them!', then perfect. Carry on.

If not... why not? What's keeping you from those stratospheric levels of success enjoyed by the legends?

While 'time in the game' may seem like the most obvious factor, it certainly isn't the case for everyone.

Permit enough time to go by, and most middle-level players simply continue to be middle-level players.

So perhaps there's more to it than the natural passage of days.

It begins with desire. Owning an industry is a decision of will.

It begins with the choice to no longer accept median positioning, and its machinery kicks into gear only once you've developed a burning desire to become more.

In short, no one will ever force you to do the work or, think out the strategy necessary, to be a large-scale success. You have to want to.

So, let's assume that you have the desire, but that it's mixed in equal parts with doubt. That's perfectly natural. But it does need to be addressed.

There are three things you can do to expand the parameters of your thinking:

1. Convince yourself

What are the highest-earning practitioners in your industry earning?... Be it per assignment, or per annum? Write the figure down on a piece of paper.

Now ask yourself: 'What would it take for me to believe that I'm worth that much?'

Answer the question in bullet-point format, listing as many things as you can think of - be it qualities or qualifications - that would make you feel that you are among those lofty elite.

The resultant list represents the work you need to do. It is a road map of the gap between where you are now, and where you want to be.

2. Strive to be 'noticeably above and beyond'

For goodness' sake, stop trying to be 'as good' as the best practitioners. The best one can hope for under the circumstances would be to become a pale comparison of.

Start thinking about how you can be noticeably better.

You require this scale of thinking to get to those hallowed echelons. The best in the game did not get there by trying to be 'like' the best before them. They operated out of a desire to be even better.

Are you thinking of ideas that would get the reaction, 'Oh, wow!' from your target market, rather than just, 'Yes, that's what we would expect'?

If I look at your competitors, your industry, your world, would I single you out as 'noticeably above and beyond'?

3. Think of yourself as a leader

I believe very deeply in education. I believe that most of the propellant that will take you to the top consists of learning.

However, beyond a certain point, you need to start teaching too.

You need to reach the point within yourself where you recognize that you have more knowledge than most, have discovered more pioneering ways, have more insights and epiphanies under your belt, and can begin to lead.

You need to flip that switch in your mind, nominate yourself, and become a voice.

The barrier-to-entry for thought-leadership exists only within your own mind. No one ever gives you permission to lead. No one flips the switch for you.

The scale of your thinking is everything. If the desire is there, and you can think big enough to be a viable candidate for the top spot, you have correctly aimed your trajectory.

In all things, be guided by the phrase 'Noticeably above and beyond.'

See you at the top!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author who encourages people to think. He speaks on Expert Positioning and the misunderstood link between work and wealth.

He is a 5x winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking and the author of three books. See him in action or read more of his articles at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za.

Email him at kruger@compute.co.za. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger.

* See more at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8344281

This One Thing Will Mean Life Or Death For Your Goals

By Douglas R Kruger

STUDY a thing enough and patterns emerge.

Over the course of a decade watching people set goals, I've reached the point where I believe I can now determine which goals will see the light of day, and which will die of malnourishment, to within a very small margin of error.

Ready to achieve that goal? Then don't delay!

There is a single, learnable dynamic that determines the difference, and it has very little to do with 'picturing the goal in your mind,' or 'attracting it to you' on the wings of some vague cosmic magnetism.

Do this one thing right and you are very likely to get to where you want to be. Do it wrong and your chances of success are almost nil.

Let's begin with the storm:

The Storm Inside Your Mind

Think of it as an ancient sandstorm, billowing within your mind. Full of lightning flashes and roaring winds, it has energy and tension, and as wave after wave builds, all this force is desperate to go somewhere.

This is your desire to achieve, your will-to-action, your hunger to become. And it's a messy force, informed in equal parts by love, greed, art, skill, ambition, lust, joy, free dreaming, focused learning, and grinding discontent.

It is the tumultuous amalgamation of everything that spurs you on and awakens your desire to prove yourself. It is a useful energy.

Channel it well, and it will propel you. Channel it incorrectly, and the storm will subside, amounting to nothing but noise and missed opportunity.

The Wrong Channel

Failed goals all have this one thing in common: They are delayed. Delay a goal by any measurable period of time, be it as little as a week, or even a single day, and that delay will become the death of the goal.

Why? Because in making the decision to delay, you dissipate the energy in your storm.

The goals that are acted upon immediately tend to succeed. They have all the impetus of your inner rage behind them.

Self-Delusion Through Delayed Decisions

The most recent example of self-deluding goal sabotage that I've seen is a case that repeats itself endlessly around the world every year, to the point of being an awful cliché.

A friend of mine has been speaking about losing weight. Desperately unhappy with her scenario, she makes the mistake of 'perpetually making a decision.'

The act of making the decision dissipates her mental storm, and for the next week, she does nothing constructive, happy that she has 'made her decision.'

Her act of decision-making feels, to her, like addressing the problem. It feels like control, and that is sufficient to relieve the cognitive dissonance, even though nothing has been achieved.

Over the course of the last year, I have watched her 'make the decision to buy a treadmill' - an act that bought her two weeks without exercise - then actually buy the treadmill, which set her mind at ease for another month.

She has yet to use the treadmill, but buying it was a comforting call; a storm-dissipater, if you will.

She has also made the decision to join weight-watchers (next week, definitely!), and to go on an exercise boot camp (starting next month, because she's awfully busy).

Decide, decide, decide; delay, delay, delay. She is the ultimate self-deluder, and it is frighteningly common human behavior.

I did a quick count. Over the year in which she has been 'deciding to start exercising,' I have been to gym 215 times. Imagine the progress she could have made in 215 gym trips.

The difference is that I don't make future decisions. I simply go now.

I've seen the exact same principle at play when people decide to write a book. They often spend years deciding to write a book.

When an idea for a book strikes, the best way to begin is to pen the opening chapters that day. Go now. That will make all the difference.

Channel it Now

Put it off until next week, next semester, next year, and I can almost guarantee that it will never happen. Your storm will subside and settle into a useless calm.

You will find reasons, justifications, rationalizations. You will promise yourself that a future version of yourself will deliver, and thus transfer responsibility to a person who will be even less interested in acting than the you of today.

Storms are powerful, but judge them quickly. If you deem their outcome worthy, then don't over-think. Do.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author of 'Own Your Industry - How to Position Yourself as an Expert.'

He specializes in personal excellence and helping organisations to positions themselves as industry leaders.

See him in action or read more of his articles at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email info@douglaskruger.com. Follow on Twitter using @douglaskruger


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8700441

Don't Dare Dream In Dull Earth Tones!

Guest post by Douglas R Kruger

Dreaming in Dull Earth Tones

EVEN in first-world countries, most actual dreaming is surprisingly conservative. Most people, if pressed, would concede that they dream of a 'slightly better' version of their current career.

Utopia would be what they already have, plus a little more of this; a little less of that. Slightly more pay. Slightly fewer boss-issues. More convenience, less hassle.

Dream big... always

With a universe at our disposal and all the knowledge and capacity of human history behind us - as members of a species beginning to explore beyond our planet and out into space - how bland!

It smacks a little of lights hidden beneath bushels, of stories unfulfilled, of 'lives lived in quiet desperation'.

Dreaming is free. There is no plausible excuse for allowing anyone or anything to shrink the size of your fantasies. Of all times in our lives, when we dream, we have permission to be absolutely free.

An Invitation

I'd like to invite you to think significantly bigger than most of the people around you will ever have the courage to do.

I'd like to invite you to spend 10 structured minutes being utterly audacious and envisaging a future that is way, way beyond your current reality.

By way of an example, here's mine: I once drove by a billboard on the highway, advertising a public event with author and global keynote speaker Robin Sharma.

It was sponsored by a magazine for the super-wealthy; a watch that costs more than a car, and a car that costs more than most people's homes.

One day, I'll see my name on a highway billboard in a foreign nation, proudly sponsored by the gold-standard of high-end snobbery.

What's yours?

What specific moments are non-negotiable for you, in the once-only story of your life? What heights would make you feel your existence was, fundamentally, worth it? What do you refuse to die without experiencing?

The Challenge

Here's your challenge, and it will only take you 10 minutes; so make it a frenetic and focused ten minutes...

Fix your ultimate outcome in your mind's eye - the biggest, fullest, most vivid and desirable career you can possibly envisage. The life you yearn for to the depths of your being.

Then, in 10 minutes of free-flow brainstorming, write down any step or requirement you can think of that might actually get you there. Anything.

And don't pause to consider whether it might be realistic. Just jot down what it might take.

I am willing to bet that when you zoom back and stare at the messy page before you, you'll discover that a great portion of your ideas are eminently doable.

Hard, certainly.

But doable. And I'm willing to bet that the exercise will leave you pondering a simple but profound question, which is: 'So, why don't I?'

Indeed, why don't you?

Here's to you becoming the greatest in your game!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, 5-times winner of the SA Public Speaking Championships, and author of the book 'Own Your Industry - How to Position Yourself as an Expert,' published by Penguin Books.

See him in action or subscribe to his free weekly motivational newsletter at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger. Email info@douglaskrugerspeaker.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8483082

It's Okay, And Even Necessary, For Some Of Them To Hate You

Guest post by Douglas R Kruger

IMAGINE your life as a YouTube video. You work hard on the content, edit and tinker till it's attractive and presentable, then upload the results for all to see. Your URL goes live and your video becomes accessible to the public.

Quite soon, something startling happens. Among the hundreds of 'likes' you've accrued, you discover that twenty or so mean-spirited individuals have hit 'dislike'. They actually went to the time and trouble to let you know that they disapproved of you.

You're staggered. It's like they looked at you, a whole human being, and voted 'No'.

How do you react?

For most people, social disapproval is not just uncomfortable; it's actually a worst-case scenario. There's a reason that Public Speaking is regularly cited as the world's number one fear.

And it has nothing to do with the mechanics of speaking itself; it is simply that the act of standing before a group and expressing yourself is the quintessential forum for evaluation and judgement by strangers.

We fear disapproval.

Or at least, we do when we are starting out.

Serious career-builders quickly ascertain that this fear is completely counterproductive. Of course someone out there is going to disapprove of you.

It will happen whether you sit safely in your cubicle and never do anything ("Such a wall-flower! No spine!"), or you become the office superstar and revolutionize the industry ("Who does this glory-hound think she is?!").

Criticism is unavoidable. Disapproval is numerically inescapable. But bowing to the perceived pressure, well, that's your choice. That decision is under your control.

What happens depending on the choice you make? For starters, whichever path you choose becomes amplified over time.

The more you bow to the negative feedback of others, the more you train yourself to be the kind of person who bows to the negative feedback of others.

It's a form of self-governance that grows ever stricter and more repressive.

Conversely, the more you dismiss criticism in a good-humored way, knowing that it's inevitable and not taking it too seriously, the more you train yourself to be the kind of person who can act independently, get her own results, and lump the dislikes.

So, if you wrestle with the fear of others' opinions, let's begin with an aphorism that high-stakes players take to heart: 'Tigers do not lose sleep over the opinion of sheep'.

You need the leeway to act. You will have to ruffle a few feathers if you are to become anything. Paralysis by over-care will not serve you. A couple of 'dislikes' on your upload are normal, natural and necessary.

So, imagine if you made mental accommodation for them. Imagine if you were to give yourself permission to fail from time to time. More revolutionary still, imagine if you gave others permission to disapprove of you.

They are entitled to their thoughts, and you need the space and the freedom to act and to try. Both are permissible.

As you grow beyond employee and into the ranks of leadership - or better still, thought-leadership - you will need to increasingly permit yourself the freedom and leeway to be disliked.

Certainly, it's wonderful when people give themselves over to you heart and soul. But it's also almost mythically rare.

Most industry legends are hated every bit as much as they are loved; they will have armies of followers, and mobs who would love nothing more than to burn them at the stake.

Most don't care. They boldly go about their work. They trust their inner voice. They believe in themselves. They allow themselves the space to be phenomenal, and occasionally, to be hated.

So go ahead. Collect a 'dislike' or two. You may be delighted to discover that it makes absolutely no difference. And you might just learn to love your new-found freedom to be.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author who encourages people to think. He speaks on Expert Positioning and the misunderstood link between work and wealth.

He is a 5x winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking and the author of three books. See him in action or read more of his articles at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at kruger@compute.co.za.

Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger. - See more at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_R_Kruger

How to Think Like a Prosperous Person This Year

By Douglas R Kruger

AN interesting thing happened in my country last year. Our economic scale took a tilt in the wrong direction. South Africa now has more people on social grants than earning incomes.

Margaret Thatcher (the late former British Prime Minister) once said that the problem with socialism is that, eventually, you run out of other people's money to spend.

Douglas R Kruger

Is our thinking keeping us poor? The verse says, 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' If that's true, then believing yourself to be a poor person will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

And believing yourself to be wealthy will work the same way.

I've been on both sides of the scale. I've experienced what it's like to have a local church deliver food baskets to my family, and I've experienced what it's like to take delivery of a new 5-series BMW.

I recommend the latter.

But I also firmly believe that the difference between wealth and poverty is not the presence or absence of coins. It's about mindset. And our national mindset needs to change. We need to stop creating dependency, and start creating entrepreneurs.

How successful is your current mindset? Here are 5 ways to think like a prosperous person this year:

1. Choose not to believe in recessions

2009 hit and the world screamed 'Recession!'

People who heard these cries and took them to heart immediately began offering excuses for not acting in money-generating ways. They sang the same song until they believed it themselves: "No one's buying; there's too much competition; there's no money available."

Their self-fulfilling prophecies came true, because they ceased to act in money-generating ways. Their attitude created their reality. Every step they took (or failed to take) confirmed their original premise.

Wealthy people do not believe, for one second, that there is not enough money to be had. And, consequently, they practice money-generating behavior, regardless of the moods and vicissitudes of the world around them.

They continue to see clients, sell products, do deals, carry out initiatives, make calls, move forward, and act and behave in ways that generate wealth, even as others throw up their hands and declare: "Times are tough."

Next time you feel that times are hard, go out onto the streets and count the Range Rovers. Then make the choice to change your beliefs.

2. Don't blame the jeans; own the butt

"The wash-machine shrank my jeans again." We've all done it - chosen to blame the jeans rather than own the expanding butt - but when we do it with our careers and financial lives, we surrender our God-given right to fight.

Jeans come in many shapes and sizes. So do the mental jeans we like to select and blame for the size of our problems: It's the economy; the old government; the new government; the state of the industry; the excellence of my competition; the area in which I live, etc, etc, etc.

Blaming the jeans doesn't help your situation. It merely burns up mental energy that you could have used on enterprising endeavours. You can spend the next 30 years blaming the jeans. And you can die in poverty. But why would you want to?

Rather, choose to ruthlessly own the butt. Your success is down to you, not external scenarios. Until you take that idea to heart, you are unlikely to fight hard enough to move forward.

3. Don't fall for the 'Finite Pool Fallacy'

A great many of us believe that one person having money means another must be poor. This is the Finite Pool Fallacy, which says that there is only so much money to go around.

I don't believe it. I believe that money is a wellspring, which is constantly refreshed and regenerated through the growth of new businesses and by the rise of entrepreneurs.

Finite Pool thinking is dangerous. If we believe that there is only so much to go around, then the only way in which we will act to get money is to... ? Yes, you guessed it! To take it from others. Our government thinks this way.

In places like South Korea, economic empowerment goes like this: 'We need to grow our wealth, so let's create an automobile industry and take on Europe and America!'

In South Africa, economic empowerment goes like this: 'We need to grow our wealth, so let's take it away from those who have it.'

That's very small thinking. It's the 'less for everyone' approach. I believe in wealth creation. I believe in building, growing and generating, not simply taking away from those who have.

4. Let go of the pathological need for a job

We are still telling our children that they need to grow up and get a job. Job, job, job! We are pathologically hung up on jobs. It's like we're desperate to sell our energy to make someone else rich.

Firstly, you can't manufacture jobs falsely. If they don't exist, you can't create them out of thin air. And the worst thing we can do is to invent more token jobs in already bloated government departments.

But I like to ask: why on earth would you want a job anyway? Why would you want to work incredibly hard to make someone else wealthy?

Publications like Forbes, and pretty much every book ever written on becoming truly wealthy, consistently point out that it's almost impossible to become wealthy through traditional employment.

Most people are happy to trade that possibility for what they perceive as security. But is that security real? I have a friend - a director - who often says, 'My security only extends to the next 25 working days and no further.'

That's how quickly work-place contracts can be terminated. And he happens to work for a bank that recently laid off thousands of people, which proves his point.

So in essence, we trade the prospect of growing our own wealth for a form of stability that is largely an illusion.

We also argue, 'Well, someone has to do the work.' True. Let me put it to you this way: someone has to be a street-sweeper.

Do you want to be that person? You can. Or you can choose a mindset that will create prosperity for your family.

5. Focus on the top-line, not the bottom line

When we discuss sound financial behavior - for businesses or families - we tend to put the emphasis on the wrong thing. We tell people that goal number one is to save. And it's a good goal, but it's not the most important goal. This is a mindset of watching the bottom line.

I believe it's more important to attend to the top-line: your income.

If you are not earning enough, no amount of saving will get you through. That's why I advocate using only an incidental amount of energy toward saving. The majority of your energy should go toward generating more.

That means selling, or building, or doing deals, or raising your value through further study or promotion or positioning within your market. We need to put much more emphasis on increasing income than we do on limiting expenditure.

'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' That's the original verse. The modern interpretation is: 'If you think it, you will become it.'

So ask yourself, at this moment in your life: is your thinking keeping you poor?

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author of three books. He speaks on the topics: 'How to Position Yourself as an Industry Expert,' and 'Is Your Thinking Keeping You Poor?'

Meet him at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Follow him on Linked In or Twitter @douglaskruger. Email: kruger@compute.co.za

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Can The Universe Entrust You With More?

By Douglas R Kruger

SHE was supposed to hand me a single flier. But as I rolled down my window beside the mall's ticket machine, the young promoter - of varsity age, but with lifeless, disinterested eyes - stuffed twenty of them into my hand, along with my parking ticket. 

If you 'ask' the Universe, will it continually deliver?

She could not have cared less about what her employer was trying to achieve. Her level of responsibility extended only as far as, 'I've been given a task', and her logic said that once the fliers ran out, she could simply go home. The pay would be the same either way.

But would it really?

Once I'd parked, I encountered the second young lady, doing the same promotions, but with a different approach. She greeted me, handed me a single flier and with an engaging smile told me that it was for a new store in the mall, pointed out which direction I could go to find it, and mentioned one of the offers they had available that day. She wished me an excellent day further.

Now picture the follow-up calls from the employer. In the first instance, it might sound like this:

'How did it go?'

'Fine.'

'Did people take the fliers?'

'Yes.'

'And did they say anything?'

'No.'

'Anything else happen?'

'No.'

The follow-up call to the second young lady will sound very different:

'How did it go?'

'Fine, thanks. At first people were walking around me, but then I realized that if I stood directly in the entrance and smiled when I greeted them, they were more willing to take the fliers.'

'So they took them?'

'Yes. Particularly young families. I noticed that they were more receptive, so I started to focus on them.'

'And did they say anything?'

'Well, a few people asked for more info on the store, like when it had opened and things like that. I didn't know, so I popped down to the store and asked. That way I knew how to answer the next time. I also started including that info in what I was saying to new people, because that was obviously what they wanted to know about.'

One of these young ladies can be entrusted with more work, higher pay and greater responsibility. The other cannot. One is a Joseph, who can rise to the head of the household, and maybe, ultimately, the head of Pharaoh's Court. The other isn't.

At the core of this dynamic - can the universe entrust you with more success? - is this utterly basic principle: Do you care enough? If you do, you can go the next level. If you don't, you can't. It's self-sifting. The principle comes with its own built-in attrition for the disinterested, disqualifying and discarding the unworthy.

Scale it up and the principle continues to work. As a new business owner, if you clearly care about what you provide, and you take the end result seriously, your work will be different. Your quality will be higher, your fundamental attitude will be noticed, and it will generate more business for you.

Contrarily, see your work as a collection of 'tasks,' not as a means to results, and a shift occurs. Your customers will to feel like intrusions and annoyances, and they can tell when you feel that way about them. Projects become works of system and process, rather than works of heart. Process will only take you so far in the universe's success-hierarchy. Graduation to greater levels requires heart. You have to actually care.

This principle also weeds out the industry toe-dippers from the industry greats. With the passage of time, the people who care deeply will always out-perform those who do not.

Why? Because care more, and you will constantly update your own knowledge. Care more, and you will seek out the best tools. Care more, and you will go where the energy is and keep your thinking fresh.

You will also do very practical things, like taking care of the periphery; for instance, you'll build a brilliant car-port for your customer as well as not destroying their lawn at the same time. Why? Because you understand that building a car-port is only the process. Beautifying their home is the goal; and you care about goals.

You use your imagination more. You think more deeply about what you provide.

Perhaps the universe knows what it's doing after all. Perhaps the industry success stories are not there by luck, chance, or the roll of the 'right place, right time' dice. Perhaps they're there because they earned it. Perhaps they are at the pinnacle because the universe dared them to care, and they rose to the challenge, over and over again.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author who encourages people to think. He speaks on Expert Positioning and the misunderstood link between work and wealth. He is a 5x winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking and the author of three books. See him in action or read more of his articles at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at kruger@compute.co.za. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger.

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How To Get Your Head Right In Tough Times

By Douglas R Kruger

WHETHER it's worldwide recession or just a momentary bump in your industry, tough times test character. They test bank accounts too. But they are finite, and you can get through them. You just need a survival plan.

The most important implement in overcoming trying stretches is your own mindset. Here are 7 suggestions for getting your head right in tough times:

1. Start by Recognizing it. Denial is death. When the numbers start to dwindle, you cannot simply pretend it away. Your starting point is to acknowledge that you're facing a difficult stretch and to resolve to do something about it. Start with the declaration: "It's a rough patch, but I'll get through this and come out stronger!"

2. Don't Blame the Jeans. The dieter who blames the jeans is in trouble. But the one who owns the butt will get it right, and it's the same for you. You can expend all of your energy bewailing your scenario, blaming the economy, the industry, the old government, the new government, China and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. But ultimately, these outside forces don't care how mistreated you feel. Blaming the jeans won't fix the butt.

It's like the sales team who spend the first six months of the year moaning about targets being too high. When they finally get around to accepting that the targets are what they are, and that they have to do something about it, it's already too late. But the early starter is well on his way to meeting his goals.

3. Choose Doing Over Stewing. You can think your way into a black hole. Or you can think of creative solutions. Your brain is entirely your own to manage and employ. When times are tough, the worst thing you can do is to let it wallow. Instead, choose to get angry enough to do something about your situation. The more time you spend doing, the less you have for available for stewing.

Draw up to-do lists for actions that you can take. When the despair tries to press its way in, keep it at bay with a bout of relentless action.

4. Expand when others contract. When times are tough, most people contract. They practice Recession-Think. Recession-Think is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It goes like this: "No one's buying. So I won't try to sell." Recession-Think is based on rumour more than experience. Practitioners of Recession-Think haven't tested the notion that people are not buying. They have simply bought into popular dialogue. And they allow it to cause their energy to shrink.

The person who ignores the gloom and goes out and sells anyway will prosper, even in tough times. Their philosophy is: "Times are tough / I must do more!" They have the same information, but they have reached a different conclusion. They are expanding. Make sure your inner energy is an expanding starburst, not an imploding black hole.

5. Go and be where the energy is. There are always people who are prospering in your industry; even during tough times. You need to go and be among them. Now more than ever, you need ideas, inspiration and positive reinforcement. Go to the conventions, and soak up two incredibly important nutrients: useful ideas and positive energy. Sometimes the connections alone can be worth business. But you'll never make them unless you go there.

6. Speak vision in stories. You need your team to keep fighting, and fighting harder than ever. You won't achieve this with micro-managing or doom-saying. Quite the contrary: during tough times, you need to be the motivational speaker, and they need to see that you mean it. You have to internalize the possibilities, then turn them into picture-stories for your staff. Create highly specific stories about how things can be on the far side of this hiccup. Keep telling your stories, and keep guiding your team toward the goal.

7. Focus on the top-line. Panicked business-owners tend to focus on saving every penny. They get hung up on the cost of paper-clips. It's a tremendous misuse of their energy and focus. Yes, you should keep an eye on the bottom-line, but it should only be an incidental one. You should use the greatest part of your energy and time on increasing the top line. You need income. There is very little sense in expending 90% of your energy trying to hold on to an insufficient amount of money. The main thrust of your energy should go to generating more money.

Select what you can control and determine what you can't. Put massive drive into money-generating behavior, and don't allow your nay-saying mind to worry about the rest. Fight for the thing that matters to you; it can be done, and remember that difficult times are finite.

Finally, don't forget to look at the stars from time to time. This is not a metaphor. Every now and then, you need to stare up at the heavens and feel incredibly small. Be removed from your worries for a moment and remember the wonder of life. There's something good for you, just around the corner. Just keep your head in gear. You'll make it!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As an Expert. See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger

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Big Goals? Bum-Glue Will Get You There

By Douglas R Kruger

EVER wanted to write a book? Your posterior may hold the key.

Best-selling Australian novelist Bryce Courtney once gave the most useful advice I've ever heard for completing big projects and achieving grand-scale goals. At a luncheon in Johannesburg, he was asked the question: "What is the single most important quality for an author who wants to write a book?" In response, he offered just two simple words of wisdom: "Bum-glue!" Or "butt-glue" for our North American readers.

'Stick-to-it-tiveness' can be the key to success

Sound mildly disturbing? How exactly does your rounded posterior plays its part in getting you to your goals? And, um... what's with the glue?

Bryce Courtney is simply saying that in order to be highly productive, and to see large-scale projects through to completion, the most important thing is to sit down each day, block out the world, and earnestly and honestly slog away at it. Come rain, sunshine or extreme boredom. And while his advice was aimed at writers, the wisdom applies in any industry. Writing a novel may require thought, planning and strategy. But the most important thing is simply to write, and write, and write. Bryce Courtney is referencing a quality that has become popularly known as 'stick-to-it-tiveness'.

SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE CHUNKS

As 2005 faded in the rear-view mirror, I wrote my own book to completion using this principle. This was my process: I set myself a goal of writing 2,000 words, minimum, per working day, and I stuck to it religiously. If I wrote more than my required allotment on any given day, this did not exempt me from my 2,000 words the next day.

By sticking to this simple theory of keeping my bum in my chair before my PC, I was surprised how swiftly 50,000 words - a workable book - manifested.

It was often mundane devoting such large blocks of time to a single project. But once it was done, it felt wonderful.

Writing your own book can be a significant step forward in positioning yourself as an industry expert. It can help you to take a quantum leap forward in your career.

SMARTER, NOT HARDER?

These days, we are all well-acquainted with the adage: Work smarter, not harder. But sometimes it's not about being strategic or trying to find clever innovations. Sometimes it's just about allocating a certain amount of time each day, consistently, to putting your bum in a chair and doing some good old fashioned hard slog.

A great number of people believe that they will someday write a book, start a company, work for themselves, or study for a new degree. I have at least one close friend who has spent the last seven years telling me about the technical course he plans to do, which, when completed, will result in a promotion for him. By December, he will have been talking about it for eight years. He's not aware of it, but he's been talking, and not doing, for the better part of a decade now. That's about one-eighth of his potential lifespan.

What's holding you back? Could it be that all you need is a little sticky stuff on the chair while the clock ticks merrily away?

WAITING FOR THE MUSE?

If you are serious about goal-setting, allocate a decent amount of time each day to your task. And none of that nonsense about waiting for inspiration to hit! The Russian classical composer Tchaikovsky used to say that his job was to be creative, so he would wake up first thing in the morning, and see to it that he produced creative work. French novelist Victor Hugo lived by the same principle, instructing his staff to keep his pants away from him until he had earned them back!

This could be your year to start living a truly remarkable and distinguished life. It is my sincere wish that your conscience will no longer allow you to think of your dream-goals as things you'll do 'one day,' but rather, that you will start to allocate time each and every day to your purpose. And as you work toward it, may you know and enjoy the mighty power of bum-glue!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As an Expert. See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger

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Safe Isn't!

By Douglas R Kruger

A FIGHT against fear. Too often, this phrase defines and describes our lives.
 
The risk averse individual is often cautious to the point of paralysis – safe to the point that it harms their own lives – while the person raised to take strategic risks outperforms them and enjoys the spoils, all because of a difference in thinking.
 
No human being is 100 per cent fearful or 100 cent bold. We vacillate back and forth.

Speaker and author, Douglas R Kruger

 
A good starting point in moving away from fear is to ask yourself: “Is safe really safe?”

In other words, is not acting on any of your hopes or goals truly going to be the safest course for your life? Or does that come with its own dangers?
 
If we’re too scared to speak to that person we like, we run the risk of losing them. If we’re too scared to represent ourselves in our careers, we run the risk of failure to advance.
 
Fear of taking chances endangers our future prosperity and not taking risks can be remarkably dangerous.
 
Conversely, the more risks we take, in a ‘win-some, lose-some’ sort of way, the more often we will surprise ourselves with small successes and begin to move forward.
 
Today, which side of the continuum are you closer to? Risk-Averse or Opportunity Aggressive?
 
Make it a goal to become bolder, more comfortable with strategic risk – less inhibited by your own fears.

Here are 7 characteristics of the Risk-Averse Individual:
1. They are utterly submissive to authority
2. They believe that they are entitled to very little in life
3. They are unable to represent themselves in any scenario and make willing victims of themselves by prioritizing the interests of others over their own
4. They are pessimistic, believing that things will probably go wrong and get worse
5. They are utterly reliant on: jobs/bosses/spouses
6. They wait and hope for others to ‘let them’ have their dreams
7. They practice caution to the point of paralysis.

Characteristics of the Opportunity Aggressive Individual:
1. They trust their own voice and vision, and are capable of being an authority
2. They are capable of receiving abundance and believe that there is more for them
3. They boldly negotiate their own interests, because they fully grasp that it isn’t anybody else’s job to be their advocate
4. They are optimistic, believing that things will grow and increase as they go along
5. They are self-reliant
6. They take ownership and act to make their dreams become reality
7. They bet on their own success.

No-one overcomes fear in a single leaping bound. But whenever you find yourself practicing the first 7 characteristics above, take a moment to think. Is this who you want to be?
 
With small, consistent efforts, it’s possible to move away from the danger of safety. Nourish the opportunity aggressive person, and watch as that other 'you' begins to conquer dreams.
 
Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author, and 5-times winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking. He specializes in new thinking around work and wealth.
 
See him in action at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Connect with him on Twitter using @douglaskruger. Email kruger@compute.co.za
 
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_R_Kruger
 

Three Invisible Forces That Hold You Back

By Douglas R Kruger

You are not separated from your goals by a number of years. You are separated from your goals by a number of actions.

We like to speak about our five-year plans and 10-year plans, and it's good that we have them. But thinking in terms of years creates the illusion that your dreams will happen one way or another, provided sufficient time goes by.

Thinking in terms of actions is very different. It hands responsibility back to us, with the implication: You can have it as soon as you do it.

Doubt and fear should never hold you back

 If you are of the 'one day I will start my company / climb the mountain / follow my dreams' persuasion, how about trying a different approach?

Break your goal down into its smallest parts, until you are able to find a logical starting point. That will be Step One. Now go ahead and take it.

Typically, there are three invisible forces that hold us back from ever trying. Here's why they shouldn't stop you:

1. FEAR

The stomach of the average human being is a bubbling cauldron of emotional responses. We fear failing, we fear succeeding, we fear standing out and being laughed at.

What's odd is that we don't simply realize that everyone feels this way, and choose to act despite the fear.

The next time this great slayer of dreams - fear - casts its shadow over your goal, consider this: The more willing you are to take strategic risks, the more safe you will ultimately be.

Why? Because a person who never risks anything never gains anything.

The person who risks often, occasionally surprises themselves by succeeding. And the more small successes you have, the greater your total security.

Becoming comfortable with a culture of strategic risk-taking ultimately creates a safer life. More risk = more security.

2. THOUGHT-CULTURE

You are likely to be about as successful, about as wealthy, and about as willing to take risks as the average of the five people closest to you. So, how driven are they?

These people form the thought-culture in which you live. They will encourage or discourage you according to their own view of the world.

If they dream big and understand what is possible, chances are they will lift you up and prompt you to try. If they are small-minded, negative and pessimistic, the reverse will apply.

Sometimes, in order to achieve great things, our first step must be to leave the thought-swamp that surrounds us. We need to go where the energy is, and be surrounded by the right type of thinking.

We don't have to start off by having all the answers. We simply need to go where the energy is, and meet the people who do have the answers.

3. COMFORT

Curiously, comfort poses a greater risk to our dreams of achievement than the first two invisible forces. A terrified, desperate person may still summon their courage, steel their will and try.

A comfortable person whose needs are met will generally watch TV instead. It's true; the enemy of 'Great' really is 'Good Enough.'

Sometimes, we need to create intentional discomfort by comparing our current progress to that of people we admire.

For example, an amateur bodybuilder might be perfectly happy with his mediocre progress... until he compares himself to multiple Mr Olympia winner, Jay Cutler.

Then the sense of satisfaction disappears, and the more useful sense of yearning and desire is re-ignited.

Yes, we do need to be uncomfortable. We need to be sufficiently dissatisfied that we generate the energy to act. The more actions we take, the closer we come to our goals.

It's not about years. It's about actions. Don't let the ghosts in your head stop you from trying.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and the author of three books. Meet him at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at kruger@compute.co.za.

Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter: @douglaskruger.

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Sun-Drying a Soggy Mind: 6 Suggestions For Thinking Your Way Out of a Black Hole

By Douglas R Kruger

YOU thunk your way in. You can think your way back out again!

The human mind is an amazing bowl of porridge. But despite its best efforts, from time to time we all find our minds sinking into the subterranean mire of a deep blue funk, and ironically, that's usually when we need our faculties about us the most, because tough times and angst tend to go hand in hand.

So let's assume that you're facing both - the trying circumstances and the attendant blues. What can you do to change gears in your loft? How can you get your mindset out of fight-or-flight mode and back into that creative, problem-solving state? After all, now's the time you need it most.

Here are six suggestions:

Douglas R Kruger

1. Head the Wisdom of the Austrian

A wise Austrian philosopher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, once made an interesting point. It was in the movie Terminator Three, when a young John Connor, faced with extreme duress, appeared to be going off the rails mentally. Noting this, Arnie, as the Terminator, grabs John, lifts him off of his feet and holds him up in the air.

Initially, John is scared, but after a few moments, his squeamish wiggles turn to angry batting. The Terminator sets him down and a livid John demands, "Why did you do that?!" The Terminator answers, "Because anger is more useful than despair. "

And it's true. Faced with darkness, we have a choice. We can either think our way into a hole. Or we can get angry, rebel, and start to look for real solutions. In a straight choice between despair and anger, choose anger.

2. Acknowledge that you need your brain back and ask for it!

Self-talk is a powerful thing. Start with this little exercise: Go to a private place - shut the door or take a walk - and have a talk with yourself out loud. Use your own script, but make sure it's something like this:

"Right, I acknowledge that I'm under a lot of pressure right now. A ridiculous amount, in fact! But for that reason, I need to be at the top of my game. I really need my mind to be working on my side and not against me. I don't need to fall into a pit of self-pity. Instead, I need to roll up the sleeves inside my head and get busy! This is a street-fight, but I know I've got what it takes. So let's get started. . . !"

3. List the things you'd need to completely solve your scenario

This is called Possibility Thinking. And you don't need to be too logical about it. Being elaborately imaginative and mentally generous is better. You can wheedle out the unrealistic stuff later. For now, think big. Dream. Imagine. Dance, Julie Andrews-like, across the high Alps of what could be.

Then, take a piece of paper or open a blank Word document and list the things that would completely solve your problems. Your list might look like this:

* Two hundred thousand grand would solve my debt issues
* A drop/gain of 10 kilograms would get me to where I want to be physically
* Three really big corporate clients, paying on a regular basis, would solve my cash-flow issues
* One book behind my name would position me as an expert
. . . and so on.

When you've done this, allow yourself a few more moments to carry on with your imaginary journey. Imagine, in as vivid detail as you can, how good life could be with your issues completely solved and resolved.

And also, don't just imagine it in negative terms, like 'no more debt'. Instead, imagine it in positive terms, such as, 'prosperous and wealthy and building my legacy each day'. Make the imagery as specific as possible.

4. Brainstorm 'To Do' items

While you're still in Possibility-Thinking mode, go through your list of needs again. Next to each of them, jot down, quickly and without pausing to evaluate how 'reasonable' your ideas may be, as many thoughts as you can for steps you might take to achieve those things.

When you run out of momentum, pause for a minute or two, and force yourself to come up with a few more ideas. You'd be surprised how many you can conjure up when you press your mind just a little harder, just that tiny bit more!

Then decide which items are most likely to succeed, and/or, would be of most value to you if they did succeed. Naturally, those are the ones you should get busy with.

Of course, if we're honest with ourselves, this is often easier said than done when we're down in the dumps.
If you do find yourself flagging or feeling discouraged, try not to fixate on the size of the task. Instead, try just dabbling a little. In other words, don't commit yourself to carrying out a huge campaign.

Just make the first phone call. Don't think of how daunting it would be to write the whole book. Just jot down some thoughts on possible chapters. Dabble in the shallow waters and you will find that your mind starts to become interested in the task. Not only that, but a small amount of dabbling can lead to small initial successes, which will spur you on.

5. Give your mind a dose of sugar

At key points throughout your day, as you wrestle with the twin beasts of your psyche and the problem at hand, remember to give yourself the occasional break. Make sure it's a complete break. Do something that takes your mind as far away from your troubles as possible. Watch Star Wars. Dig a swimming pool! Teach your dog the Pasa Doble!

As a general guideline, try to avoid watching or listening to anything featuring the same sort of drama you are facing, and the news. Escapism is the key. Personally, I like Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel, and you need to be kind to your mind.

6. And finally, remember to celebrate each success

Money may be tight, but you have to celebrate the small successes. If you can't toast them with champagne, treat yourself to a stern cup of coffee, by Jove! But do something to acknowledge each step forward. Dip into the self-talk again and give yourself a convincing speech about how well you're doing under the circumstances. No sarcasm here. Just reinforcement.

You thunk your way in. You can darn well think your way back out again! Harness that incredible bowl of porridge in your cranium and force it to work for you. And remember, as tough as this moment may be, all this too shall pass. Ya just gotta survive it, soldier!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of '50 Ways to Become a Better Speaker.' Watch him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email: kruger@compute.co.za

Douglas Kruger speaks on the mindset of productivity. Check out his topics, articles and videos at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za

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Job Security? Jobs Haven't Been A Form Of Security In Decades

By Douglas R Kruger

IMAGINE: You're walking the grey corridors of a corporate block. Your host in the stuffy suit turns to you and says, "And in this cubicle is Mr John Bon Jovi, our finest accountant. Funny story actually; he used to talk about becoming a 'Rock Star'. Fortunately, we talked some sense into him. Yep, John did the responsible thing! Say hello, John. Good boy! Now catch the peanut."

As a society, we are a good three decades down the line from the death of lifetime employment. Yet curiously, we continue to perpetuate the notion that jobs represent security.

Douglas R Kruger

 We argue that a job is 'safe'. May I take a moment to speak on behalf of the human soul? What is safe about forcing yourself to spend three-quarters of your waking life pursuing something you resent? That sounds remarkably dangerous to me.

In fact, here's the worst career advice you will ever hear: "Study something that people need... like IT". Why is this well-meant thinking the potential ruination of a human life? Because anything that can be systemized or outsourced to Asia has low value. Learn it by all means. But understand that selling it is getting cheaper. Original thinking is becoming more valuable.

As Steve Jobs tried to tell us, we get so morbidly hung up on college degrees and corporate jobs that we forget to think originally. We all scurry to be the minions trained to install and service Bill Gates' programs... rather than wanting to actually be Bill Gates.

We even indulge in that odd compromise, in which we tell our children that they can do whatever they want with their lives - 'follow your dreams, by all means!' - just as soon as they've spent eight years studying to be a doctor and built up so much momentum in that direction that it's impossible ever to do anything else.

By way of contrast, did you know that one of the highest celebrity earners of all time, well ahead of anyone you've ever met with a conventional job, was Charles Schultz, the author of Peanuts? Snoopy's dad was a financial mega-success. And what he did for a living was to draw a three-panel comic-strip each day.

But perhaps money isn't everything to you. How about a career that allows you to travel; see the world?
Television's Travel Channel has a young woman who thought differently, and won herself the perfect career. She wanted to host a travel show, but had absolutely no qualifications.

Then inspiration struck: "What if I traveled to different locations around the world, gathered up some of the locals, and went skinny-dipping in the lakes? No one's ever done that before!" Today, she is the host of an internationally syndicated television show cheekily titled 'Skinny Dip'.

Before you willingly concede to the group-think delusion, and allow the neurosis of others to pressure you into committing three-quarters of your waking life to doing something that you hate, in the misguided pursuit of security, pause for a moment. Look up at the horizon. There is more available. But only to those who are willing to think originally. And who are brave enough to act on their vision.

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, author, and 5x winner of the SA Championships for Public Speaking. He speaks on Expert Positioning, Wealth Principles, and Talent. See him live at http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Connect on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger. Email: kruger@compute.co.za

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Don't Judge the Ache!

By Douglas R Kruger

I was 10 years old, passionately disinterested in Mr Tuck's Math class, but completely sold on my first great obsession. To this day, I can remember aching with ambition as I watched skateboarders Tony Hawk and Danny Way twirling ten feet above a Californian half-pipe, in brazen contravention of the laws of physics.

I dearly, desperately, more-than-life-itself wanted to be like them! The urge was all-consuming. And spurred on by this pulsating need, I donned my baggy pants, turned my cap backwards, skinned my shins irreparably and won the regional Skateboarding Championships three times; a feat I would never have achieved without that imitative compulsion.

Douglas R Kruger

 We all have our favored legends, icons, and platinum-level achievers. They knock around in our imaginations and light fires inside us, whether they're as grandiose as international sports stars or as humble as the office leader we admire.

Watching them in action ignites our own hunger to perform, and despite the much-lauded modern view that we should 'only compete against ourselves', there is something deeply stirring in the primal human compulsion: "I want to be like that!"

Don't be fooled. Watching someone else do what you want to do, and burning with the envy to imitate, is immensely motivating. I still use its driving force to spur me on to this day.

No matter how far I progress in my own industry, deep down inside, that same little voice is still spurring me on, still watching the greats and whispering, "I want to be like that!"

I recommend that little voice to you. It gets things done. Not a popular view:

People who wear flowers in their hair and run home-industry stores selling herbs and crystals generally disagree. They would have you quell that urge. They'd have you renounce competitiveness as a Western disease, and replace it with positive and unqualified feelings about yourself.

Curiously, these folk are rarely seen at the Olympics. Or on the cover of Forbes. Or atop the New York Times bestseller list. Or at the skateboarding world championships, for that matter.

I'm much harder on myself than that. And I recommend a harder approach to you too.

It is a basic human drive to want to emulate our idols - take our place beside them on the pedestal - and it can draw surprisingly great things from us. Proviso:

Now, here's the problem: When observing our idols, we only see their 'on-stage' activity. Emulating that is meaningless. What we really need to emulate is their backstage preparation. And that's a whole lot less sexy.

Take the athlete: We see no more than the burst of glory, the flashing of cameras, the medal being lowered around the neck. We rarely see the years of agonizing work that preceded it.

Excellence isn't what you see. It's what came before it. Proficiency isn't the visible act. It's the invisible preparation. Mastery does not occupy a moment, but grows out of years of discipline.

This is where the urge to emulate our idols comes in handy; it is perhaps one of the few human drives strong enough to sustain the years of practice that excellence ultimately requires.

When last did you look at someone doing what you want to do, occupying the heights you would love to occupy, and feel something simmering deep inside you? A sort of yearning at the very centre of your being?

How deep is your ache? How painfully, compulsively, do you want to be like them?

Don't judge the ache. Don't buy the idea that it's somehow evil, covetous or ignoble. It can help you. Feel it. Let it burn a little. Seek it out when you flag or fail. And then when you've stoked the coals of performance-desire, take action.

Let the ache burn a little. And success can be yours.

Emulate the back-stage preparation. If the desire burns strongly enough, you'll pick up your skateboard and happily skin your shins. Over and over again. Years will pass as you practice.

And one day you'll surprise yourself by looking around and discovering that you're right there on the pedestal, that they're lowering the medal around your neck, that you're standing beside your idol... perhaps even one step up!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As An Expert.

See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger

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