Success Advice
When Something Doesn’t Work, See an Opportunity Instead of Failure
Things in life don’t always work out the way that you want them to. Sometimes it’s small snags or setbacks. In other cases disaster can strike – such as the COVID pandemic – and can put you into a state of feeling trapped, lost, and scared. While any level of failure or problems we run into will sting, it’s important for you to seek opportunity during those moments and times. This is something that I constantly do by reminding myself:
When something doesn’t work, I choose to see this as an opportunity rather than failure.
Here is how you can rewire your brain to create the breakthroughs that you need to overcome these failures.
An Opportunity For A Fresh Start
One of the marvels of our society is that we continue to develop at faster and faster paces. Even during times where it feels like we’re not going very far, there are many opportunities for us to do things. Things that once were mere thoughts have now been our reality. Time and again, people have broken boundaries and stereotypes alike. The amazing thing about all this is that this has nothing to do with our age or education. All that you have to do is hone your skills and abilities to accept new challenges.
Using The Full Life Framework
The Full Life Framework is what I teach students at the Lifehack Academy to turn their limitations into opportunities. I went from constantly working that put me in a physically compromising position to becoming someone who can strike a balance between work, time with my wife and kids, and being in better physical shape.
You may not be looking for the exact same thing that I am, but this framework can be applied in any aspect of your life. Here is how it’s done.
1. Find THE Opportunity
When a problem presents itself, it’s easy for all of our attention to be focused on that. Rewire your thinking by doing these:
- Gain new perspectives – Before you can accept new challenges, it’s important to shift your current limitations. Because limitations are what define your current life, you can change your life by changing how you see these limitations. By shaping how you look at things, you can see small actions that could change how you approach problems. Small shifts in self-esteem, confidence, or motivation can make a big difference.
- Identify your challenges – These are new paths that you need to face in order to walk down a new path. There are many ways to achieve the same thing in this world. For example, when I suffered from poor posture I could either take up stretches or I could’ve gone to the gym and did strength building amongst many other things. The key is to be aware of what options you have available to you.
Instead of looking at the problem, find ways that can change the situation as you begin to start fresh.
“To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.” – Benjamin Franklin
2. Plan Your Progress
If you know your values and priorities in life, you’ll have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. For example, when I first started dating my wife, my goal was to make her happy. Once we got married and had kids, my goals shifted to her happiness and being there for my kids. Even though I devoted more time to financially supporting them by working hard, I thought at the time it was for the best.
Put your values and priorities on paper. Once you know your opportunity, it’s a matter of setting long-term goals with smaller short-term goals that you can work on from month to month.
3. Invest And Prioritize
Next, ensure that you’re putting your time and energy into the plans and goals that’ll shape your new reality. Focus on what you do each moment and make it all count. Creating deadlines can also ensure you know what to prioritize.
4. Use Motivation And Good Habits
Even with all of this progress, it won’t work unless you have good motivational sources and positive habits. Things like goal setting, daily reflections, perseverance, amongst others are key. Also, having clear and personal reasons for doing something creates a solid foundation to start a habit.
For example, I suffered from severe back pain because of poor posture for years. I’ve greatly improved my back pain (and my posture) by stretching my back and exercising every day to strengthen my back muscles. How I got to doing these exercises was out of my desire to keep up with my kids and be involved in their upbringing.
Even if things don’t go as you originally planned it doesn’t mean it’s over. I believe that there is no specific way for us to be completely stuck in our lives. There is always something that you can do to change.
With this strategy, I encourage you to not let your life pass you by or to give up when problems present themselves. We are capable of great things if we set our minds to it.
Success Advice
How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
Success Advice
Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success
These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds
The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)
Motivation
From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone
By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality
Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)
Success Advice
10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind
The World Economic Forum still reports that half of U.S. adults lack financial literacy
You’ve heard about developing financial habits, but what about micro-financial habits? Micro habits are the tiny things you can do every day with minimal effort that, together, transform your future. (more…)
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