The success formula

This may come as a surprise.
Our nation’s capital is the top U.S. literate city.
And this is for the second year in row.
That’s surprising in a city with third rate schools.
It must be because of all the government lawyers.

The researchers overlooked Congress.
None of them seem to read the laws they pass.
They pass too many laws - and exempt themselves.
Barry Goldwater had it right.
For each new law, they should have to rescind one.
Researchers said newspaper readers were a factor.
D.C. newspapers must have a lot of readers.

Reading is critical to success.
We become what we read and think about.
Our friend Don Roy says it is one of the top three.
The two others are:

• A commitment to pay the price for success.
That means studying what successful people do.
It means learning to act as they have.
Role models are all around us.

• The gumption to get off you butt and act.
You can think and study for years.
But without action, you will gain no ground.
Figure out where you want to go and take off.
There’s more to success than these three,
But they will get you going.
Read. Commit. Act.

As you lounge in front of the TV, Don is reading.
That’s why he’s in the Guinness World Records.
Don has a purpose in life. You do, too.

For more on finding your purpose, read my book.
Email me for a copy of “Your Life’s Great Purpose”.

Anticipation

Do you have a Radar O'Reilly Award?

In upscale magazines, Seabourne cruise lines runs an intriguing ad.

Its headline: "Seabourn believes clairvoyance is a job requirement"

The ad advances the idea that Seabourn will anticipate your every want and need on the "World's Best Small Ship Cruise Line".

It reminded me of an important concept in a book about Disney World.

If you have not, please read Tom Connellan's "Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney's Success".

It is full of great strategies from Disney's people.

One of the ideas is to create a Radar O'Reilly Award at your business.

Radar, you may remember, was either clairvoyant or had the most sensitive ears in Korea. He heard the medical helicopters coming long before anyone else.

The award would go to someone on your team who anticipates your clients' needs and wants before even they know or ask for them.

For other great Success Strategies, "Killer Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs" has the top, field-tested concepts of 22 business owners, coaches and consultants.

It's available at JerryBellune.com

Sharpen your ax

Do you occasionally feel overwhelmed?
Sure. Most of us feel that way sometimes, too.
Let me share a great story and solution with you.
Years ago, a logger challenged an older logger.
The challenge:

Who could cut down a tree the fastest.
Those were the days before power equipment.

The two selected nearly identical trees.
They went to work, chopping and chopping.
The young logger was heartened by what he saw.
The older logger appeared to be taking breaks.
The younger logger took no breaks.
He was going to beat his older companion.
But the older logger’s tree fell first.

“How did you do that?” the young logger asked.
“I saw you taking lots of breaks.”
The older logger had a secret, he said.
Each time he stopped, he sharpened his ax.

Each of us needs time to sharpen our ax.
One way to do that is to divide your waking hours.
You might use the 30-10-20 principle.
Devote 30 minutes to a top priority project.
Turn off your cell phone. Close your office door.
Hit it hard and without interruption for 30 minutes.
Then take a 10 minute break. Coffee, A walk.
Anything that will give you a break.
That’s ax sharpening time. Make the most of it.

Then take 20 minutes to answer email and calls.
Or to meet with a colleague to discuss business.
Or to attend a very important meeting.
Just make sure it’s a 20-minute meeting.
I once took all the chairs out of our conference room.
Hour-long meetings were accomplished in 20 minutes.
There’s nothing quite like standing to get the job done.

Now repeat the cycle - 30, 10 and 20 minutes.
You’ll cut deeper and faster with a sharper ax.
Next week we’ll talk about the Power of Less.

Want a copy of my book “Your life’s Great Purpose”?
Email me at this address for a copy.

It’s OK to take a nap

Meet the world's most creative dog

I used to get by on three hours sleep.
Ambition drove me.
Newspaper editing by day.
Radio and TV scripts by night.
I struggled with a novel.
About my GI buddies in Korea.
The manuscript was lost years ago. No real loss.

Recent research shows the error of my ways.
Sleep not only recharges our batteries.
It gives our subconscious mind time to work.
Sleep produces solutions to our problems.
It helps us better assess our opportunities.
We are more creative with proper rest.

Our pet editor Scoop Bellune sleeps all the time.
He is one of the world’s most creative dogs.
You don’t have to be a dog to be creative.
But you can follow Scoop’s fine example.
Just take a nap. It’s good for you.

Most of us divide our days in two.
One for sleep. One for wakefulness.
This may not be a natural sleep pattern.
More than 85% of mammals are different.
They sleep for short periods throughout the day.
Children and the elderly nap.
The rest of us are too driven for napping.
We think we have too much else to do.
We appear to be sleep deprived.
That affects our creativity. Makes us irritable.
Affects our mood. Skews our judgment.
Makes problem solving seems impossible.

Excuse me. All this is making me drowsy.
I think I’ll just stretch out for a nap.
While I’m asleep, here’s something you can do.
Want to win more than $1,000 in prizes?
Enter our Bottom Line competition.
If you had a good year, you should enter.
My subscribers already have the details.
If you are not a subscriber, here’s what to do.
Email me at Jerry@JerryBellune.com
Just put “Bottom Line” in the subject line.
I’ll send you an entry form.
It will take 20 minutes to complete - tops.
Invest 20 minutes or $1,000? No brainer.

Facing the inevitable

We can learn from an example of courage
in the Giffords shooting

My sister wrote from New York.
She’s going in for knee surgery. That’s no fun.
It will put her out of commission for some weeks.
As a therapist she works with disabled children.
She loves them and will miss them for a while.

As we age, all of us will face similar challenges.
Osteoarthritis had crippled my left knee.
I lost 20 pounds and the problem almost disappeared.
No shots in the knee for more than a year now.
Now I’ve developed a new problem:
Adhesions in my left shoulder.
The soft tissue around the shoulder joint contracts.
It makes moving your arm very painful.

Why am I boring you with this health report?
To advise you to take care of yourself.
This is the only body you will ever have.
Good care will make it less painful as you age.
It’s hell to get old but it beats the other alternative.

Will you know when it’s time to go?
Here’s an example of someone ready if necessary.
He was shot in the arm in the Giffords’ massacre.
He lay on top of his wife to protect her.
The gunman was almost on top of him.
He figured the next shot was it.
"Here I come, God," he thought.
What a reaction. That takes courage.
It also takes an attitude of acceptance.
He was ready to go if needed to save his wife’s life.
All of us will need to be brave when the time comes.

On another note, here is a challenge for you.
Our Bottom Line contest is open for entries.
You will be asked for:
1. Your 2011 percentage gain at the bottom line.
2. How you achieved it.
3. Your top three goals for 2012.
If you enter, you get to read other winning entries.
Those entries will contain some great strategies.
That will be an enriching experience for you.
For an entry form, email me at this address.
It will take you 20 whole minutes to fill it out.
You stand to win more than $1,000 in prizes.