| Have you bit off more than you can chew lately? | | | | move slower than you'd like, but taking this approach |
| If so, you're not alone. One of the defining | | | | will ensure that your initiatives will be successful more |
| characteristics of the success-minded is a desire to | | | | often than not. 90% of projects fail to live up to |
| take on big challenges, to move forward as fast as | | | | their original promise - the reason for this is largely |
| humanly possible, and to defy any kind of | | | | lack of a proper level of due diligence and preparation |
| self-perceived limitation. | | | | ahead of time. |
| In many circumstances, that's a good thing. | | | | - Say "no" to opportunities that don't fit into your |
| It stops being productive though when we make the | | | | plan or finances. One of the most productive things |
| mistake of significantly overestimating our ability to | | | | we can learn to do is to know when to say "no". |
| deliver. When our desire for more faster gets us to | | | | When a new initiative is going to take precious |
| overextend our finances, investments, business and/ | | | | mental, time, and financial resources away from the |
| or leadership capacity, and even relationships, we can | | | | things that are moving you forward on your path, |
| find ourselves in hot water. | | | | not saying "no" is at best counter-productive, at |
| And if we're not careful, we can sink the ship. Just | | | | worst self-defeating. |
| look at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill | | | | - Sometimes, throw the rule book out the window. |
| Lynch, et al. | | | | There is a time to break all the rules, and |
| When making big decisions - business, investment, or | | | | opportunities that arise that can completely |
| other - it's critical to do the following: | | | | transform the game you're playing. The only way |
| - Know the numbers. Numbers are reality, everything | | | | you know if it's a true fork in the road, though, is by |
| else is subject to delusion. If you're operating your | | | | following all of the above. |
| business without a firm handle on your financial data, | | | | - Above all else, don't be greedy. Focus on making |
| you simply can't make good business decisions. | | | | quality decisions, not on satisfying your insatiable |
| Decision making without good financial data would be | | | | hunger for more. |
| like trying to launch the Space Shuttle into orbit | | | | Most of us play far too loose with our finances, |
| without doing the proper calculations first. | | | | businesses, and lives. |
| - Evaluate all projects and initiatives against your | | | | Tightening up and adding a little intellectual rigor into |
| finances. You can only do so much. Rigorously study | | | | your decision-making process will probably do you |
| your possible projects and decide whether or not | | | | good. |
| they're worth doing. As Peter Drucker famously said, | | | | And as far as the companies who've recently gone |
| there's nothing so futile as doing a project that | | | | bankrupt or been bailed out by the federal |
| should never have been done at all (paraphrase) | | | | government, shame on you. You not only should |
| - Prioritize your initiatives, and then do first things | | | | have known better, you owed us better. |
| first. This will likely mean you're going to need to | | | | |