If I read one more article, website comment, blog post or magazine cover offering to enlighten me on The Ten Best (fill in the blank) of 2010 or The Ten Worst (fill in the blank) of 201o or The Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Have (fill in the blank) in 2010, I’m going to jump out of my skin (and that will not be a pleasant sight)!

STOP with This 10 and That 10! Enough already!

Review it?

Okay, if you’ve nothing else to do.

Dwell on it?

Not okay, unless you’re a stalk of celery waiting for a dip.

Give it up! Get back to work! Unless there was some outstanding, earth-shattering play, nobody in their right mind sits around watching more after-game replays of the game that they’ve just watched (including the 14,786 replays that they already watched during the game!)

New Year’s always does this. It makes people nuts!
Business and professional practice owners rush to look back at who and what did better and worse than they did in the past year, which is (ahem!) past?
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that the past is over and nothing can be done to change it . . . so, who cares who was best and worst and in-between?
What’s happening this minute? Ah!

If we could pull together all the collective time we waste looking back at who did what to whom and why B happened when A was supposed to happen, and could apply that to productive forward movement, small business would be in the economy’s driver’s seat, where small business belongs, instead of our inept government ”servants” (who do indeed serve themselves admirably).

Wallowing in the past has never –N~E~V~E~R– moved anyone forward. Now, I’m not talking about remembering stuff, nor even occasional reminiscing (which can serve to relax the stressed-out mind that’s overloaded with here-and-now focus).

No, I speak of the guy you went to high school with. You know him. He’s the one who’s still hanging out in the same local bar with his 30-year-old winning touchdown as conversation topic one.

Okay, so we can put this disastrous 2010 year behind us, right?
Now that’s a good thing, but that doesn’t authorize us to jump ahead to the point of worrying about 2011.
And kill off those empty New Year’s Resolutions that waste even more time deciding on and pursuing.
It simply means it’s time to roll up your sleeves, get your glove and get back into the game . . . get back to work.
Forget about those philosophical Tweets you read: It’s time to work harder, not smarter.

You’re already smart enough to succeed or you wouldn’t be here reading this. Working harder doesn’t mean physical labor or adding hours or wearing 20 hats instead of the 18 you’ve had on.

It means working harder to keep your mind in the here-and-now present moment as much of the time as possible — because it’s the only way to make your business and your career succeed.

You thought this was just a modus operandi for surgeons? Wrong! You are, in what you do and the ways you do it, a surgeon in your own right.

You take a history, do an examination, test, interpret results, form a treatment plan, perform the necessary procedures, decide on a prognosis, start therapeutic action to accelerate recovery, re-examine, and set up a maintenance plan.

So the bottom line, Doctor, Business Owner and Manager, is to stop wasting time analyzing 2010, and start attacking 2011. Now. One patient’s needs at a time!

Does your on-the-job behavior match the thinking of a baseball player?  Are you always anticipating the next pitch, and what you’ll do if the ball goes here, and what you’ll do if the ball goes there, and what you’ll do if the signals change . . . or the winds change . . . or your superstitious teammates don’t change the shirts they’ve worn for the last three games?

Nothing wrong with thinking like a baseball player unless the company or industry you’re in is Armenian or Finnish, or simply doesn’t leave you time to think.  Maybe the company or industry that you’re trying to represent as the star left fielder, is busy playing hockey or fast-break basketball?

Circumstances like these make for tough going, when trying to get your glove to get in the game!

Worse, you could be a serious golfer in the middle of a football game (keep the first aid squad phone numbers handy!).  Let’s face it, you can’t play soccer on a tennis court or water polo on a ski slope (Yikes!  Now that would be cold, and you’d never want to miss the ball and have to chase after it, especially in a bathing suit!).

So, what’s the message? If your work situation is unhappy, or giving you headaches, knots in your stomach, or other stress-provoked ailments like lower back pain (or, really, just about anything you can think of . . . uh huh, including those two merciless extremes: diarrhea and constipation), step back from the action (no pun intended), and take some deep breaths [See Archives post: "Are you breathing?" http://bit.ly/bo3ZJy ]

Then, ask yourself if you’re “playing the same game” as everyone else, and especially of course, the boss!  Entrepreneurs (and male, female, black, white, purple, orange, MBA or otherwise, makes no difference) rarely survive corporate life because they march to a different drummer.  Regardless of money earned, most would prefer to be an individual performer than to be any team player.

Conversely, not many corporate types succeed with business startups.  Often, because they fail to realize that they must now pay the expense account submissions, turn out the lights, take out the trash, skip lunch and work far past the luxurous 9-5 weekdays they’re used to. [See Archives post: "TO ENTREPRENEUR OR NOT TO ENTREPRENEUR?" http://bit.ly/avuEpT ]

Maybe you need to examine the environment you work in more carefully and consider if it’s really the match for your skills and interests and personality that it once appeared to be.  We do change, you know.  And, yes indeed, old dogs can learn new tricks.

But before you decide to toss your corporate cookies out the window to become a deep sea fisherman or fisherwoman , think again! The grass . . . yes, it does look greener over there. Where? Maybe anywhere. In fact, these days, EVERYthing is greener! It’s getting hard to tell which came first — environmentalists or St. Patrick?!

You do it at home. Do you do it at work? Your “COMPANY” is anyone and everyone who comes into your office, store, showroom, factory, or outdoor or mobile worksite. It’s anyone and everyone who visits your website, your blog, your email address, your mailbox, your telephone, your voicemail, your fax machine.

In fact, if you’re a true entrepreneur, sales professional, or dedicated and savvy corporate executive, your “company” is really anyone who steps into your life at any given moment, even including family gatherings!

It doesn’t take any more to make your “company” feel welcome than it does for others to make you feel welcome, and odds are that’s not a whole lot. Usually, the slightest bit of extra attention does the trick—something as seemingly small as a smile, a warm and genuine handshake, a hand-written “Thank you!” or a smiley-face response to an email!

Yes, all you temperamental, creative, self-indulgent types . . . you doctors, lawyers, writers, artists, chicken-pluckers, assembly line workers, scientists, landscapers, construction contractors, professional athletes, (add your own list here) . . . yes, you need to take a page from superstar salespeople and keep these thoughts on your front burners as you go about your business.

Life is one big interruption, so stop acting annoyed when your “company” interrupts what you’re doing! Look on the moment as an opportunity to solidify your relationship and build a closer, more productive alliance.

Remember that your company’s company is probably sizing you up in the back of their minds as you respond to, interact with, or ignore them. They want to feel reassured that you are the right person for them (or those they represent) to do business with. They are seeking some sign of integrity. Integrity is a funny thing that always has a way of coming to the surface.

Integrity is doing the right thing even when you think nobody is looking.

This is not just a wistful daydream of lost love affairs. It is a reflective statement. Is it most typically expressed by those who are too old to actually do anything about what they’ve learned in life? Or is it the kind of comment we might expect to hear from those who think and behave “old” for their years, who don’t see or even consider the acceptability of alternative paths?

“If only . . . “ Is it somehow more legitimate an offering when it comes from someone who’s survived the clutches of physical or emotional death?

Is living on the flip side of “If only . . .” a healthier place to be? I mean, I rarely if ever recall hearing such regretfulness from those who possess the gift of street smarts, those who accept and practice the reality that some action is always better than no action, those who take steps on their own behalves, those who seem hell-bent on success and most often achieve it. Could it be that those who most readily accept and appreciate the need to take reasonable risks are better off than those who take none?

Asking oneself “What’s the worst that could happen?” is like bringing a parachute along, not necessarily a bad thing! And weighing the worst case scenario keeps us in balance as we move forward.

But the truly earth-shattering question to ask the mirror on your wall (or car, or medicine cabinet, or pocketbook), the question whose answer determines the worth of every minute of life for every human being, the question whose answer sees determined, dedicated and motivated teams and individuals make their way confidently through devastation, addiction, and seemingly insurmountable losses and odds. . . the question to ask yourself over and over again each day and night:

“Is what I am doing right this very minute leading me to where I want to go?”

Try asking yourself this question ten times a day for one week. You’ll amaze yourself!

Whenever your answer is “No,” take a deep breath, shift emotional gears, change the station in your head, and move yourself into a more productive direction. Hard to do this? Yes, if you choose for it to be.

Does this mean you always have to be charging forward? No, pausing and resting are ways of gathering strength. It’s a matter of focus, and staying tuned in to the present here and now moment as much as possible.

Did you know that then? Do you know it now?

With the good fortune of my having talented, creative children —a major Washington DC award-winning theater director daughter, and a major Atlanta award-winning musician/composer son— comes the awareness that business trade shows are theatre!

If you’re participating in one trade show, or hundreds, and don’t treat each as if you were hosting a world premier theatre opening, you’re wasting your time, money, and energy.

Opening a play requires precise planning . . . from tickets, ushers, programs, music, costumes,
advertising, promotion, sound, lighting, props, backdrops, script development, auditions, rehearsals, and knowing ahead of time how the actors and actresses will “come across” to their audiences.

How do you as a company representatives “come across” to trade show visitors? Do you hold rehearsals?

To be truly productive in a trade show setting, avoid the temptation to try to do everything. It can be no more effective than actors and actresses trying to double up as ushers, ticket-takers, advertisers, lighting and sound technicians.

Trade show participation can sell products and services OR gain industry exposure and build goodwill OR inform and educate OR recruit employees OR establish contacts and build a mailing list . . . but never (really, never!) target more than one purpose. It simply won’t work!

Remember that theatre audiences and trade show audiences are both filled with critics who can make or break your presentation in just a matter of hours. It’s also important to keep in mind that the vast majority of trade show attendees are “tire-kickers” and “window shoppers” who are there to gather information (and goodies) and compare the offerings. Depending on your single purpose, being able to sort out prospects from suspects can be critical to your success.

What’s the best way to prepare? Go to other trade shows — any trade shows! And be a detective. Figure out which booths and exhibits are doing best and why, and which are not. Take notes. Then go home and rehearse your presenters to stay with the game plan and focus on the single goal of collecting business cards, OR making sales, OR making impressions, OR . . .

Whatever it is that you’re looking for —money, health, fitness, sex, happiness, security, employment, religion, fame, more sales— is just around the corner. But, without a periscope, you’ll never see it.  And that’s a good thing because to get where you want to go, you need to stop looking at “the where” and start focusing on “the getting.”

Getting where you want to go doesn’t happen just because it’s something you want. Desire is indeed critical to success, but achievement requires proper goal-setting and hard work as well.

Many people who fail in life may very well be extremely hard workers. It’s very hard work to shovel in circles, no matter what you’re shoveling. More often than not, failure to achieve comes from misdirected or circular goal-setting.

Most people don’t set goals because they’re afraid of not achieving them. They set dates to reach their goals and start Xing days off the calendar. They’re focused on the wrong thing: the finish line.

Two problems: 1) Energy needs to be focused on each present “here and now” step being taken as it’s being taken in the process of GETTING to the finish line, and 2) Having a due date or deadline is only 25% of effective goal-setting.

A legitimate goal must meet all four of these criteria:

• Specific… “Increasing sales” is not specific. Assign dollars or units or percentages to the pursuit.

• Realistic… “Turning company sales around” in 30 days or producing major overnight purchase orders may not be realistic. Question yourself about this.

• Flexible… Treating the desired result of your efforts like it was etched into concrete eliminates necessary flexibility . . . flexibility must be present at all times for the process as well as for the final tally and completion date.

• Have a deadline… Not having a definite due date undermines the entire goal-setting process, and is likely to flat-out prevent success all by itself.

Anything else that fails to meet all four of these is merely a wish. Hoping and wishing don’t make things happen. Proof of the pudding is that it doesn’t take much searching to find people who choose to rely on hoping and wishing. They’re the ones going nowhere in life; they live in fantasyland!

Action makes things happen. Some action is almost always better than no action. And action is your choice.

Oh, by the way, the four criteria? Specific, flexible, realistic, and due-dated? These ingredients, and this approach, are not limited to business and social change applications. They work equally well for achieving personal, family, and life goals as well.

Try it. Stick to it. Adjust it as needed and enjoy the journey. It’s all a matter of choice—your choice. And it works if you do!

As bureaucratic nooses tighten around business necks, it’s natural for feelings of desperation to begin setting in, and to respond by reducing prices in order to make sales. It doesn’t take long to be traveling on this road before you’re giving away the store!

Resist the temptation to undercut your value by offering “more competitive pricing.” Easy to say, you may say, but when the guy down the street is selling comparable products and services for lower prices, and is getting more people in his door, reality dictates lower prices!”

Bull! You’ll only be worsening the economic stress on your business.

Reality dictates that you will be more successful than the price-slasher down the street by sticking to the prices you have and offering instead more value. Are you being innovative enough to offer product and service line extensions that help customers economize?

[This is not the same as lowering prices. This means offering a high-end mattress cover that zips on and extends old mattress life for a fraction of the price of a new mattress. This means adding the availability of inexpensive payroll services to the lineup of accounting practice offerings. It means adding energy-efficiency, fuel-economy, etc.]

Do you and 100% of your staff have a “kill ‘em with kindness” attitude 100% of the time with 100% of your prospects and customers? Not 99%! Truth? What needs to happen to get to 100% of the time with 100% of your prospects and customers?

Is getting to that point going to cost you more or less in real dollars and real stress than increased sales at lower prices?

Like giving a salary raise to someone instead of a one-time bonus or other reward, and ending up with a permanent long-term financial drain, when you lower prices, you run the big-time risk of never being able to raise them back up again.

Your customers will expect your low prices to stay low and when you try to raise them, they’ll head for competitors who offer more value.

In the end, the smart response to economic stress is to build and boost and promote value, and not give away the store.

Big business muckity-mucks often underestimate the value of their salespeople. Small Business owners typically think they can handle sales themselves. Both are wrong. Neither understands that selling is its own business!

If you sell for a living, and haven’t considered yourself a small business owner, you are just as mistaken.

Regardless of what others may think, when you get up in the morning and head off to your pipeline appointments, you are viewed and thought of by customers and prospects AS the business you represent. You ARE the company in their eyes. And that applies equally to selling a one-man-band or the services of a mega-multi-national corporation.

It’s easy to lose track of your SELF in the process of representing others and you must fight this “mind-drift” if you are to survive and thrive in today’s marketplace. Start by pinching yourself before every encounter, by taking a deep breath and remembering that you’re in business for your SELF.

Of course if you’re a true professional, or aspire to be, you already know you can only sell your SELF by listening hard, by putting your SELF in the prospect’s shoes, by focusing on benefits, and by being 100% honest 100% of the time — “To your own SELF be true” if you like slogans..

Keep careful records. Do the paperwork and data entry with vigor because every piece of paper or computer entry related to every sales call is a piece of bridge that will bring the business you run for your SELF a little closer to the financial success and goal achievement rewards waiting for you.

Constantly innovate. Rebuild, revise, redirect, re-examine, re-explore, re-visit, re-think. Start with the attitude that every thing you do every day can be done better, more efficiently, more effectively, more productively. CHUNK IT UP! Don’t overwhelm your SELF with too much at once. Start with top priorities of what can be the most immediately beneficial.

Constantly add value to the products and services you represent. It doesn’t mean you have to go “boss-begging” or re-inventing your wares. And it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Good small business owners are also good at managing their finances, especially cashflow. I know one industrial rep that passes out free online flower arrangement and iTune credits to customers for their families. Another makes charitable donations in the customer’s name.

And constantly promote your small business. Really top sales pros I know have their own websites and participate heavily in social networking. It pays. It pays back many times over to do it, to keep it active, to include it on your business card and in your spiel. An educational site related to what you’re doing becomes a value-added situation in and of itself.

Whatever you sell, make it a daily habit to inventory and adjust your SELF because YOU are your own small business!