Success | Productivity501

Why You Aren’t Successful

2010 by Mark Shead 10 Comments

If you feel you are wildly successful, then you probably don't need to read this. However, if you are only moderately successful, you probably spend a lot of time wondering what the people who are wildly successful are doing differently than you. There is one huge difference between successful and unsuccessful people. That difference is their ability to finish. Yes, luck, connections, family, training and a number of other factors influence success, but none of those things really matter if you can't finish. Things of Value Success is a matter of producing things of value. That doesn't mean everything you create and finish will be a huge success, but if you don't finish it, you'll … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: finish, success

High Goals and Expectations

2010 by Mark Shead 3 Comments

Everyone has a different idea about success. Many times our expectations are determined by the way we were raised and our interaction with our peers. These expectations can cause us to set artificially low goals. I know a man whose goal is to get his GED so he can get a job and make payments on a car. I just met a girl who has a goal to finish a 9-month cosmetology program so she can work at SuperCuts in front of Wal-Mart. When looking at your goals, make sure you understand the expectations you carry that influence the magnitude of those goals. If no one in your family went to college, you will probably set your expectations for your education lower than someone whose parents … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: expectations, goals, success

Interview: Successful Habit

2009 by Mark Shead 4 Comments

What productive habit do you feel is most responsible for your success? (960) Getting started. It's only by getting started that you progress and learn simultaneously. Lodewijk van den Broek from How to be an Original (rss) For many things, I find that the first 10 minutes are the most difficult. Habit: Having a second reason to do something important. Since none of us can change the amount of time we have (24 hours a day flat), the only way to be more productive is to extract "more value" out of every hour. Suppose you can find a second reason to do something important, you immediately found a way of getting more out of the time you assigned to engage in that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: habits, interview, proofed, success, work

Why You Need to Fail to Succeed

2009 by Mark Shead 5 Comments

That's a rather provocative title, I suppose. Surely if you can avoid failure that is better, right? Not necessarily. There are two ways to avoid failure. Working so hard and doing such a good job that you succeed. Only taking on projects that are so far below your capabilities that failure is never a realistic possibility. If you want to succeed--really succeed, you have to be willing to take on things that have a high chance of failing. If you only attempt things that you know you can do, you aren't challenging yourself properly. If you never have any failures, it is a pretty good indication that you aren't taking on things that are true challenges for you. You are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: failure, learning, success

Writing Down Goals

2005 by Mark Shead Leave a Comment

Marston online has some comments on research related to productivity. The most interesting comment was: The researchers wanted to know what accounted for the dramatic difference between that top 3 percent and the others. They found that of all the possible variables, the only difference between the top performers and the rest was the the top 3% wrote down their goals. The research was done by the Ford Foundation, but I haven't been able to locate that particular study. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: goals, success, writing