FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Success
There comes a time in one’s life when one has to make a choice in regards to career, life choices and so much more. All too often we wander aimlessly or flit from one project to another.
Recently I met someone who asked me if I knew what FOCUS meant. This got me thinking. We all like to think we are ‘focused’ and that we know what we want. But do we really? Do our attention spans last the course? Do we stay focused until we have actually reached out to achieve what we want or are we too easily distracted?
On reflection, I can honestly say that I had lost focus, I knew I wanted get somewhere and do something significant with my life. How easy it is to get into a comfort zone and then lack the confidence to take that leap into the unknown and pursue ones goals.
I was given a 1957 Australian Penny by this person and it serves as a reminder to me on a daily basis to FOCUS and so I have set myself some goals, small achievable ones to begin with, but each one will bring me closer to what I want to achieve.
T.S. Elliot says “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”
Put an end to procrastination, and move forward. Set those goals and set out to achieve what it is you wish for yourself. So, if you are passionate about something get out there, FOCUS and be successful!!
“The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.” Robert J. Shiller
For the real Steve Davis click here
If you have ever set up a Google Alert on your own name you will know how intriguing it is to find other people with your name. It is all the more surprising if your name is a rare one. Not that I’d know about that!
Another spin-off of this shrunken, socially-networked world is that I have been engaged in Twitter conversations where people have assumed the Steve Davis they know has my twitter handle of @stevedavis. Yes, I did play along for a while and most have been good sports about it.
But what I have done now, on my website, is create a new genre of About Me page, one that involves fantasy and good ol’ Aussie larrikan behaviour, oh, and numerous personifications of Steve Davisness. Read more…
Complaints and compliments: are you communicating?
Within 24 hours its easy to immerse yourself into an organisation or business and see when people arent communicating effectively. That’s not to say I would walk into a company with a negative frame of mind expecting to find failure. I most certainly wouldn’t. But as an outsider, it is easier to have a different perspective. It’s also easier to notice the good things – the compliments. This is when you see something and think (or say) “aaah I like that”.
Did you learn that etiquette tip as a kid? When you first meet or greet a person, you select one thing that you can say which is positive about them, and use their name with it eg, “its good to see you again Sue, and lovely to see you wearing that fabulous broach again”… or “its great to catch up with you jenny, you have a positive glow on today”. Try it. It’s lovely when it’s done. And it’s a good thing to do. #feelgood
Complaints are challenges. It’s the area we focus on because it teaches us that we need to learn, educate, and be aware. Complaints happen because we aren’t doing something right. When staff say “I don’t know what’s going on in this place”, it’s probably because no one is actually telling them. Or perhaps they think they are telling them however there are so many barriers in what is being said, they still don’t “get it”. You know the 10 times over edited document that went through 4 layers of approval process? You know what I mean.
Compliments are wonderful. But how often do you get them? How often does someone go out of their way to let you know you have done something right as an organisation and they like your service? Do we ever tell Telstra? Do we tell them that in all reality they do have the best mobile coverage available and if in business we are really quite grateful for them? I suspect not. But it’s true.
Of course, complaints and compliments are all linked to a single act. That is, the act of communicating. And this is an action. If I am frustrated, I communicate. If I am happy, I communicate. But to who? Compliments to an organisation or business take on a different perspective or challenge for an individual. It’s not a regular act… ie there is no call to action to get a result – the only result benefits someone else… and us humans don’t always act on that, do we. I know I don’t tend to share my compliments outside my friendship base. Its true. Ive never written a letter to compliment a company. Have you?
I have, however, written blogs.
So, social media has certainly added an interesting spin on this subject. Because here we can say what we think. We can share opinions. Either via a blog, or via one of the many news streams that clutter the airwaves… be it Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, LinkedIn or other. And those opinions are public. In this world, social media world, if you aren’t having your say, then you aren’t being social.
And in that context, in the business arena it can have a more overwhelming consequence. It’s a bigger risk. What are they saying? Do you really know?
FYI: CHARLIEDesign can monitor voice. We have the means. Having said that, Facebook is bound by privacy rules and so no-one can monitor that!
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- Five ways to deal with customer complaints via Social Media (socialmediaclub.org)
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