Different Things
July 29, 2010
“As long as you keep doing what you been doing then you are going to keep on getting what you’ve been getting. If you don’t like what you’ve been getting then you’ve got to change what you’ve been doing” – ZIG Ziglar
Do you ever feel like you are stuck in the same old routine or that things just aren’t going the way that you want them to? The quote above may give you some great insight into finding a solution.
It’s easy to get busy and keep doing the same things over and over even if they aren’t working. We tend to do things that we are comfortable with even if they don’t produce results.
Do you need to get some different results right now? What are they? Are you really willing to do some different things in order to change your results?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Imagination
July 26, 2010
Is imagination one of your strategic tools for success in business and life? As the old saying goes, do you “think outside the box?”
I’m constantly talking with people who say that the things that worked in the past aren’t working now. Additionally, many are working much harder now for less results than in the past.
Do you want to find better ways to do things and be more successful? Whether you are marketing your small business, trying to figure out how to make ends meet each month, or whatever else is important to you, using your imagination can help.
We have all found better ways to do things. Problems have solutions. I believe that as adults we get so caught up in our daily routines that it is easily to stop using our imagination. For most of us, once we start working we aren’t really rewarded for using our imagination. In fact quite the opposite is true. We mostly get rewarded for following instructions. And most of us do have to follow some instructions.
But if you dream of solving problems, a better life, and more success, maybe using your imagination more is a tool to help you get there.
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Short Cuts
July 22, 2010
I have a road near my home that many people refer to as short-cut road. The road has a name but most people refer to it only as short-cut road. Taking this road can save time over staying on the main two roads in this area. This is an example of a good short-cut that can save you time.
What about short-cuts in business? Unfortunately, in today’s difficult economic environment, I find that a lot of people are willing to take short-cuts that aren’t so good. Whether it is due to circumstances, stress, or lack of ethics, a lot of people will take short-cuts that are very unethical. They may cheat someone in business, go back on their word and lie, or even steal.
We all have to be accountable for what we do. Are you tempted to take any wrong short-cuts right now? Before you do, why not ask yourself, is this the right thing to do regardless of my current circumstances?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Pacing Ourselves
July 19, 2010
How good are you at pacing yourself? When you work, do you go at a pace that enables you to accomplish all that you need to do? Do you work at a pace that you can sustain over a long period of time?
I used to participate in some 5K and 10K running races. When I was training I had to go at a pace that I could sustain over the entire run. If I was having a good day and paced myself well I probably had some extra to finish up strong at a faster pace toward the end.
I found it interesting to watch other runners at the start of the race. When people got to the start line there were a lot of other runners present and there was a lot of adrenaline flowing. Many runners took off like it was a sprint race rather than running at their pace and they were usually walking long before the race was over. In the excitement they forgot to pace themselves. The end result was that they took longer to finish and didn’t have their best performance.
Work is the same way. We need a pace that we can sustain. Certainly there are times that we have to increase the pace to finish a project or meet a deadline. However, we can’t sprint forever. If we try we won’t get our best performance. Are you pacing yourself to get your best results?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Challenging Ourselves
July 15, 2010
Recently I worked on a project that required a great deal of work. It also required a lot of attention and focus. I had to be available most of the time in case something came up and I had to deal with a lot of changes including revised deadlines and requirement changes. In short it required a lot of focus and energy.
At times this project was tiring. Some rest at the end of the project certainly helped. When it was over and done it was a positive experience. Although it was tiring, it also had an energizing effect.
Have you ever put a lot of focus and energy into something and gone all out to make it successful. Putting our efforts into completing a mission or accomplishing a goal can help rejuvenate us. Even though it takes some energy from us, completing the challenge successfully can actually energize us more and help us to accomplish more as we move toward our next goal.
Are you challenging yourself on an ongoing basis?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Working Harder For Fewer Results
July 12, 2010
With the current ongoing economic challenges, I find that a lot of people are working harder for fewer results. For some, things that worked in the past just aren’t working now. For others, they make adjustments and try some different things with varying degrees of success. Others feel that no matter what they do everything goes wrong. Some have even given up to some degree because they either don’t know what to do next or they can’t stand to go out and face more rejection. This can be very discouraging.
Some of us try to work smarter rather than harder. While working smarter can be a good idea, my experience is that we still have to work hard also.
We are going through challenging economic times. This can cause a lot of stress in our personal lives as well as our work lives.
There aren’t always easy solutions to problems such as what we currently face. But where there are problems there are solutions. We may have to work harder, longer, and smarter to find them. But, we can all be problem solvers in our own lives.
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
The Critic
July 8, 2010
One of my favorite quotes is by Teddy Roosevelt and it is as follows –
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.”
I meet people who seem to constantly criticize others. Sometimes appropriate criticism is justified. We certainly live in a society that thrives on criticism. If you have any doubt about this just watch the news on television. There is plenty of criticism to go around.
My point is about those who go out and work to accomplish things versus those who don’t go out and do things but rather just criticize those who do. Take the example of coaching youth sports. I ran into it when I coached and I still hear it today about other coaches. Most of the people that I dealt with were good people and were supportive. However, it only takes one parent that doesn’t think that their kid is getting to play enough or in the right position to make a positive experience into a negative experience for everyone. My experience is that the ones that are the biggest critics are generally the ones that do the very least of anything to help the team in general.
And don’t misunderstand, certainly there are youth sports coaches that don’t do a good job, that don’t put the kid’s interests first, that don’t coach for the right reasons, etc. But this isn’t the case in all situations.
This is just an example. There are many areas of life where we make a choice to either be a doer or to be a critic? When everything is said and done, do you want to be remembered in life as the one that went out and did things or as the critic?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
The Risk Taker
July 5, 2010
A lot of business books and publications talk about the importance of taking calculated risks at one time or another. Others talk about the fact that sometimes trying to stick to the seemingly safe path is actually a riskier move.
I’m not talking about attempting to skydive just to prove that you will do something like that. I’m talking about taking risks in your life that make sense to you but that may not to others that you know.
Some years back I made a decision to leave a good paying job in order to move on and do something different. It didn’t make sense to a lot of people that I knew but I believed that taking the risk would lead to a better life in the long run. It took a little while but taking that that risk definitely paid off. It led to a lot more career happiness and also meant moving to what was for me a much more desirable place to live.
Of course, there were other times that I failed to act and didn’t take the right risk and ended up missing out on opportunities.
Do you accept the fact that living life involves risk? Are you a risk taker? Do you take the right risks when you believe it is appropriate? Do you recognize that this is an ongoing process and sometimes you will come out ahead and other times you may not? This is part of taking control of our own lives?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Beware The Status Quo
July 1, 2010
Do you like the status quo? Do you want to keep things just the way that they are? Years ago at a conference I heard the speaker say that “we need to have a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo.” I think that this is a true statement.
Our world is changing at a very fast pace. I remember using a rotary dial phone when I was young – which really wasn’t that long ago in my opinion – but that technology is long since outdated.
Beyond technological changes, we change personally as time goes by. Some things that we did when we were younger we can’t do now. Our perspective may change as time goes by. As more and more of life happens we form opinions based on what we learn along the way. As we grow and mature we form opinions and make decisions based on our life experiences.
Relationships change over time. They may become stronger or people may grow apart and go their separate ways.
Life is constantly changing in all different areas. If we want to thrive we have to be able to overcome whatever life brings. Beware of the status quo.
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC