Lawrence Fine

Big and Small Goals

Lawrence Fine — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:06:03 +0000

Some people set such easy goals for themselves that they achieve them easily and lose out on the motivation. They might consider themselves to be successful but they really aren’t achieving anywhere near the capabilities.

Others set such high goals for themselves that they never achieve them and thus get frustrated and quit.

The key is to set both big and small goals. The big goal are to challenge yourself, push yourself and see how high you can go. The smaller goals allow you to feel satisfaction and that you are actually accomplishing something.

Ideally, the smaller goals help you to achieve the bigger goals so not only are you feeling good about yourself for achieving these smaller goals but they are also helping you to get to where you really want to be.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Conversations

Lawrence Fine — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:06:35 +0000

A few nights ago we had 5 people sitting around talking after dinner and the discussion lasted around 3 hours. The topics ranged from politics to religion (both of which are topics most people try to avoid due to the sensitivity of the topics). Some things stood out in this discussion;

The others involved in this conversation were much better informed on these topics than me.
There was no concern with offending someone because of a difference in opinion because each person involved realized it was a free exchange of opinions and ideas and NOT a personal attack on another person.
There was no technology involved. No one was watching TV or checking out Facebook or Twitter.
While I didn’t always agree with everyones opinion, it was refreshing to consider other views.

My takeaway from the conversation was the following:

I wish I was better informed on these types of topics.
I wish more evenings were spent involved with in depth discussions.

The neat thing is both of these takeaways are things I can control.

When you look at what you are spending your time doing, what are your takeaways? What are you going to do about them?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Listening

Lawrence Fine — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:06:26 +0000

When speaking with you, are you listening to the speaker or are you thinking of your response?

If you are thinking of your response, do you really believe you are getting everything out of the discussions as you should? Is this yet another time we think we can multi task better than we really can?

It seems that really intelligent people tend to have a slight delay when it’s their turn to speak. Is this because they are the ones who are really listening and it’s only after they have finished listening that they start to formulate their response.

The irony is many others are afraid of that slight delay with the fear it will give the appearance they aren’t smart enough to think on their feet.

So the people who are really smart are the ones who listen and then formulate their thoughts while others, want to appear to be really smart so they are afraid to delay so they stop listening and fall further behind.

Do you listen?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Just because we want something

Lawrence Fine — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:06:54 +0000

Just because we want something doesn’t mean it’s important.

As an example, there is a forum where they discuss college soccer. Every year there is a posting complaining about the coaches who don’t announce their signings of new recruits.

While it’s nice for some to see which players are joining which teams (although it’s interesting that the interest seems to be in how these players will help the team and not how the school will help the person) I’m not sure why these people posting this complaint feel it’s something the coach is obligated to do or why they feel it’s owed to them.

It would be nice if I could get all of the information I want, when I want it. However, just because I want it (and want it now) doesn’t mean I’m entitled to the information or owed it in any way, shape or form.

It would be nice if a restaurant offered the food that I like, when I want it and for the price I want it. That doesn’t mean they will or that they should.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

The World is Changing

Lawrence Fine — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:06:07 +0000

The world is changing…are you?

While things might be great right now, if you aren’t careful, others will pass you by.

I was speaking with someone involved in technology and he spends an incredible amount of time trying to anticipate where technology is going 1, 3 and even 5 years down the road. This doesn’t mean he is always correct but at least it gives him a heads up regarding where he wants to be headed in the future (and where he doesn’t want to head).

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Great Innovations

Lawrence Fine — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:06:06 +0000

Many people want to be involved with the next great innovation. While many people might want to be involved with these types of innovations, many of us will never have that opportunity.

The thing to remember is we don’t have to be involved in a great innovation, instead, we can use someone elses great innovation to do something significant ourselves.

As an example, a person didn’t have to invent the elevator but could use the invention to build a taller building.

A person didn’t have to invent Facebook to use Facebook for their own business.

A person didn’t have to invent the automobile to use cars for deliveries.

Keep an eye on innovations in order to see how you can use things for your own benefit

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Sometimes really good is good enough

Lawrence Fine — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:06:09 +0000

Sometimes we don’t realize something is as good as it really is.

I was looking at some software recently which isn’t on the market yet and couldn’t believe how powerful it was. When I asked the developers why it wasn’t on the market yet their response was “there are so many other features we want to add it’s simply not ready”.

Their problem is that they don’t realize just how good the program is currently. Maybe they can make it even better later but they are missing out on some great opportunities in the meantime.

While great s better than good, sometimes very good is good enough

Have a great day!

Lawrence

The quality of the list

Lawrence Fine — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:06:19 +0000

The quality of the list is much more important than the size of the list.

As an example, I attended a fundraiser last week in which they raised $140,000 with an invitation list of around 150 people. The invitees were carefully selected based on their interest in the cause and ability and willingness to contribute. Instead of inviting 150 people they could have invited 500 people and raised less money because it wasn’t about the number of attendees but rather the fit of the attendees.

A camp can send hundreds of thousands of camp brochures and get no response or they could send a few thousand to a better list and get a great response.

Go for the quality when compiling lists of peoples. It will be much more effective than going for the quantity.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Be flexible with your schedule

Lawrence Fine — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:06:59 +0000

For some people having a full schedule means they are being productive.

For others, it’s much more productive to keep their schedule open to allow for last minute opportunities that inevitably come about.

The challenge is if you keep your schedule too open, you don’t do anything and if you schedule too full you lose last minute opportunities.

Work on staying busy but also stay flexible whenever possible

Have a great day!

Lawrence

Yards After Contact

Lawrence Fine — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:06:33 +0000

In football they have a valuable stat which is Yards After Contact (YAC). This is the amount of yards the ball carrier picks up after a defender made initial contact. The great backs pick up their yards both before and after they have been hit. The lesser backs pick up their yards primarily before they get hit.

In business, and in life, the big successes are the ones who can keep going even after they have suffered a setback. The ability to persevere after taking a hit is what separates the good from the great

Have a great day!

Lawrence