The Profit Prophet

This post goes to the heart of life and business; and all things that are constant and true. Being able to live with theses is often difficult, and sometimes these truths are best told in a story, as illustrated below: The madam opened the brothel door in Miami and saw a rather dignified, well-dressed, good-looking man in his late forties or early fifties. 'May I help you sir?' she asked. 'I want to see Valerie,' the man named Richard replied. 'Sir, Valerie is one of our most expensive ladies. Perhaps you would prefer someone else,' said the madam. 'No, I must see Valerie,' he replied. Just then, Valerie appeared and announced to Richard she charged $5,000 a visit. Without hesitation, Richard pulled out five thousand dollars and gave it to Valerie, and they went upstairs. After an hour, he calmly left. The next night, Richard appeared again, once more demanding to see Valerie. Valerie explained that no one had ever come back two nigh...

Highly confident people believe in their ability to achieve. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else put their faith in you? To walk with swagger and improve your self-confidence, watch out for these fifteen things highly confident people don’t do.  1. THEY DON'T MAKE EXCUSES Highly confident people take ownership of their thoughts and actions. They don’t blame the traffic for being tardy at work; they were late. They don’t excuse their short-comings with excuses like “I don’t have the time” or “I’m just not good enough;" they make the time and they keep on improving until they are good enough.   2. THEY DON'T AVOID DOING THE SCARY THINGS Highly confident people don’t let fear dominate their lives. They know that the things they are afraid of doing are often the very same things that they need to do in order to evolve into the person they are meant to be. They know they need to go where they don't know. 3. THEY DON'T LIVE IN A BUBB...

People are always complaining that they do not have enough time anymore.  Most of the cause of this is that there are more distractions and useless activities than ever before that suck time away from your productivity.  Here is a graphic designed by infographic author Ana Vital .  Follow these easy to follow "rules" and viola, more time.   TECHNOLOGY eMails – Limit your email replies to only 1 per minute eMails – If you cannot understand what the email asks of you, do not reply TV/Radio – Tune out the News. Nothing really happens most of the time Phone – Do NOT answer the phone unless it is a true emergency. (Emergencies are Rare) Computer – Use Computer Shortcuts and Macros CLOTHING Define your fashion uniform. Wear it Daily Wear Smart Fabrics (and natural ones if not) Be Prepared: Carry an all-occasion outfit with you Discard what you stop using (use a 3 year rule) WORK HACKS Visualize your end product Start BEFORE you feel ready. Avoid...

Of course, we all want to be successful and have dreams of ‘making it big’ one day, but how many of us actually take at least one step in the process of following through with those dreams? We make excuses for our lack of success, saying things like, “There was never the right time,” or “I did not have enough money saved,” or “I was too busy,” or “I just was too scared?” But what about you? How can you tell if you are going to “make it” or not? Is there any talisman that can indicate your predisposition to be successful or not? Some of us are on the cusp of deciding if we should take the chance and move forward, and doubt if we got what it takes to make it big. After reading innumerable books and studying hundreds of successful people, I have distilled that there are 7 indicators that might help you decide if you have what it takes to be successful, and can give you a indication now of your chances, even before you get there.. 1. You are able to go it alone (differentiatio...

O ne thing I love is stories about how seemingly random events turn out to be huge successes. It is amazing how often these kismet moments result and macromental changes in history...and well, the following story is so evident of this randomness...but it is not randomness at all, it is the power of developing a network, even it that network is just one other person!. If you were in the market for a watch in 1880, would you know where to get one? You would go to a store, right? Well, of course you could do that, but if you wanted one that was cheaper and a bit better than most of the store watches, you went to the train station! Sound a bit funny? Why were the best watches found at the train station? The railroad company wasn't selling the watches, not at all. The telegraph operator was. Most of the time the telegraph operator was located in the railroad station because the telegraph lines followed the railroad tracks from town to town. It was usually the shortest dist...

Many times people mistake what a man wears for what he is, or desire possessions and status in the hopes of attaining happiness or becoming a person of character. As Henry Ward Beecher once quipped, "He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has."  In that vein, here is a story about the wise Sufi storyteller, Nasruddin, and an invitation he receives to attend a banquet in his honor.  See if you can figure out his wisdom, and do you apply it to your everyday life, in your business, and with your customers?     Nasruddin Stature One day, it happened that someone said something to someone, who said something to someone else, who somehow formed the impression a certain wise Sufi, Nasruddin, was an important person. The result of this chain of folly was that he was invited to be the guest of honor at a caliph's banquet. Although he was puzzled by the invitation, Nasruddin was honored to be invited. At the appointed day Nasr...