12 pieces of advice to transform your life

Feedback. It’s something we all need. As parents, as workers, as children, as bosses, as doctors…feedback helps us know where we stand.

Unfortunately many people avoid feedback because it usually comes in the form of criticism, something many of us have trouble taking.

Too many of us (I’ve been there) look at feedback as some sort of poison pill, when nothing could be further from the truth.

One of my favorite quotes was found in great book, The Starbucks Experience, which said, “Don’t mind criticism. If it is untrue, disregard it; if unfair, keep from irritation; if it is ignorant, smile; if it is justified, it is not criticism – learn from it.”

Criticism is just one form of feedback which gives us the opportunity to improve.

Which brings me to today’s post.

Last week a subscriber sent me a message asking me a question that I have asked myself on numerous occasions: “If someone were to follow 10 or 12 pieces of advice religiously, what 10 pieces of advice would result in the most fundamental success generating results?”

Excellent question.

Step into any bookstore you’ll find tons of books claiming they have the answers to wealth and fortune, health and happiness or the fastest way to master anything.

In the self-development industry all the gurus claim to have THE secret to success.

But there is no ONE formula.

We are as different as the stars themselves and because of our different environments, upbringing, financial status and personal problems, what works for one person might not work for the next.

I’ve listened to all the greats; Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Brendon Burchard, Jim Rohn, Keith Cunningham, Robert Kiyosaki and so many more and what I’ve found is that despite their different approaches to success the same concepts keep coming up over and over.

I’ve written up copious notes on all their work whether it’s a lecture, a DVD training or a how-to book.

The task my subscriber presented me was an interesting one, but I wanted to take things a step further and make sure they are all easy to implement.

Here is what I came up with:

  1. Get around successful people (aka Mastermind), option 2: read their books, watch their presentations (Ever heard the expression, “Garbage in, garbage out.” Well, a computer is only as good as the commands we give it. The same thing for us, by feeding our mind with good ideas, good stories and good people, there is a high probability that good will come out.)
  2. Analyze your strengths then go to work on them (don’t focus on your weaknesses, outsource them to the best of your ability. We hire a lawyer who knows his stuff, we could care less that he doesn’t know anything about marketing…approach yourself the same way: people hire you for what? work on being the best THAT you can be.)
  3. Chunking (watch TV & do Yoga /eat lunch and read a good book…otherwise known as killing two birds with one stone.)
  4. Plan your day the night before (time management 101)
  5. Don’t accept “Can’t” (Never give up.)
  6. Create good quality products (Too many choices today, if you have poor quality products, the marketplace will punish you.)
  7. Give first, ask later (Today’s environment is all about FREE first…and then later, after the relationship is built, people will buy.)
  8. Ask lots of questions (If you don’t know, ask…LISTEN.)
  9. Say “No” (Best way to free up time, we all NEED free time available to take advantage of opportunities that come along. Think of a cup, if it’s full, you can’t put anything more in it.)
  10. Measure your results and be willing to change (Adaptability is crucial in today’s world.)
  11. Remove or limit interaction with things bringing negativity into your lives (Stress is the greatest killer of dreams and health. By limiting or removing stress from our lives, our productivity will soar.)
  12. Start now (and I mean, right now…every day wasted is one you cannot get back.)

Now these seem simplistic but I assure you nearly every thought leader, productivity expert and success coach touches on these to ensure people are on solid footing.

When it comes to time management, marketing, sales, or wealth creation they each have their own top 10 secrets but from listening to and studying from the experts above I assure you that most of them touch on these 12 concepts in one way or another because they know that our level of success is often defined by how strong our foundation is.

One thing I did not mention in this list is the concept of health.

It is worth remembering that we can only be as good as our body lets us be.

As my mentor, Jim Rohn, once said, “Some people don’t do well because they don’t feel well.”

A healthy diet, lots of water and exercise is crucial to keep our body running like a well oiled machine.

Will this satisfy my subscriber? I’m not sure as they are somewhat simple but I’ve found that in life sometimes the simplest things are the most important…and often overlooked.

Just in case, I’ll put on my thinking cap and try and come up with a list for the top strategies in the areas of study I do but that’ll take some time. So stay posted.

For now, get to work on these twelve. You’ll be surprised how hard they are to do day in and day out.

Good luck.

Adrian Shepherd

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