*Great article Found on Inc.com*

4 Mental Tricks to Conquer Fear

You can’t be successful if you’re ruled by fear. Here’s how I reprogrammed my brain to be more courageous.

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Fear is the enemy of success. Large rewards only result from taking comparably large risks. If you’re ruled by fear, you’ll never take enough risks and never achieve success you deserve.

If I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s that the actions that scared me the most at the time–leaving a cushy corporate job to freelance, asking my beautiful wife for a first date, and adopting our two kids—have also paid off the most.

That doesn’t mean these moves aren’t hard at the time, but I’ve managed to retrain my brain to get past the momentary fear and push toward the payoff. Here are four ideas that I’ve made an integral part of my thinking:

1. Value Courage Over Security

Repeated surveys have shown that most people value “security” over just about everything else in their lives. People will put up with jobs that they hate, marriages that make them miserable, and habits that are killing them (think “comfort food”) simply to feel more secure.

To conquer fear, you must consciously dethrone “security” as the thing that you value most in your life and replace it with the active virtue of “courage.” You must decide, once and for all, that it’s more important for you to have the courage to do what you must to succeed, rather than to cling to the things that make you feel safe.

2. Differentiate Between Fear & Prudence

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4 Ways to Successfully Mix Business & Pleasure

There’s nothing wrong with pitching business to your friends as long as you follow these unwritten rules of engagement.

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Conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. There’s certainly some truth to that when it comes to romantic endeavors at the workplace. But what about doing business with friends?

It’s easy to create mental barriers between “friends” and “business.”  But there are ways to nurture business relationships with friends–without jeopardizing either. Here are four things to be mindful of to make sure both sides are happy.

1. Seek the win-win.

Put yourself in the shoes of your friend and seek out ideas for how you might be able to solve his or her problems. The stakes don’t have to be particularly high early on; the key is to find a way that you can both benefit from an initial business interaction. A quick win can be something as simple as sharing connections or finding similar challenges that you can problem-solve together. Regardless of the situation, find some way to help each other and keep the conversation alive so you can continue to find situations that benefit both parties in the future.

2. Seek to help first.

It’s always better to give than to receive, especially when dealing with friends in a business context. Start the relationship before you need something by offering assistance, connections, opportunities or recommendations. A great way to initiate the conversation is through two proven questions: How’s business? How are you doing professionally?

3. Don’t be afraid to ask…but be tactful.

*To read more on the article, click here.*

*Great Article we Found on Inc. Com*

Is Your Leadership Showing?

You’re the CEO of your company. But do you look and act like a leader? Here are five ways to get started.

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Most members of a team know when they’re doing their work well. They often have a particular area of expertise, and they have deadlines and deliverables.

For leaders, it’s a bit different. How do you show that you’re leading? Here are five competencies that good leaders demonstrate. They are related to one another, and each is framed with a question to help you think about opportunities to display leadership.

1. Visibility

We know that leaders need to be seen by followers–from formal presentations and announcements, to a crisis, to simple “managing by walking around.”  The less-obvious occasions, however, are easily overlooked. They can be lost opportunities, or powerful expressions of leadership.

As a leader, when do you feel out of your comfort zone? Maybe it’s when you have to deliver bad or unpopular news, or mediate a conflict between direct reports, or perform a necessary task that you just don’t like. One CEO client told me that he found it hard to celebrate the “small to medium wins” that his team wanted acknowledged. He considered these victories just part of doing business. His solution was to ask his executives to publicize accomplishments up to a certain level, allowing him to save his praise for the really big achievements.

Ask yourself, “How am I visible to others when I don’t want to be?” The answer is not to pretend to like being visible–far from it. Instead, ask yourself this question prior to an uncomfortable event, and use it to help you prepare. Consider some behavioral options, and put yourself in a different mental space. Then you’ll be able to be visible in a more productive, less stressful manner.

2. Preparation

Many leaders are great at preparing the logistics of leadership (the facts and figures in a plan, or the pitch for a presentation). Too many leaders, however, don’t prepare regularly for the deeper daily requirements of leadership. This is a shame, because most leaders face complex challenges, relentless claims on their time, and increasing pressures to deliver on goals over which they don’t have direct control. A bit of regular preparation goes a long way.

Just as athletic activities involve physical, mental, and emotional energies, leadership is a “whole-body practice” and requires preparation of the whole person. The next time you are running through your checklist prior to a leadership event, ask yourself, “How have I prepared my whole self for this?”

*To read the full article, click here!*

**Great article from Inc. Com**

14 Easy Ways to Get Insanely Motivated

These simple strategies can keep you energized both on and off the job.

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Here’s a column that I guarantee will make you more more successful in both your professional and personal lives.

Here are 14 quick strategies to get and keep yourself motivated:

1. Condition your mind. Train yourself to think positive thoughts while avoiding negative thoughts.

2. Condition your body. It takes physical energy to take action.  Get your food and exercise budget in place and follow it like a business plan.

• Read More: Why You’re Still Overweight

3. Avoid negative people. They drain your energy and waste your time, so hanging with them is like shooting yourself in the foot.

4. Seek out the similarly motivated. Their positive energy will rub off on you and you can imitate their success strategies.

5. Have goals–but remain flexible. No plan should be cast in concrete, lest it become more important than achieving the goal.

6. Act with a higher purpose.  Any activity or action that doesn’t serve your higher goal is wasted effort–and should be avoided.

7. Take responsibility for your own results. If you blame (or credit) luck, fate or divine intervention, you’ll always have an excuse.

8. Stretch past your limits on a daily basis. Walking the old, familiar paths is how you grow old. Stretching makes you grow and evolve.

9. Don’t wait for perfection; do it now! Perfectionists are the losers in the game of life.  Strive for excellence rather than the unachievable.

10. Celebrate your failures. Your most important lessons in life will come from what you don’t achieve. Take time to understand where you fell short.

**To read more on this article, click here.**

Exclusive Interview: Stephen Covey on His Morning Routine, Blogs, Technology, GTD and The Secret

** great article on Inc.com**

4 Business Tools That Make Life Easier

These apps are worthy of your attention because they will free up more time in your day.

One awesome advantage about running a tech company in the San Francisco Bay Area is that I hear about–and get to try out–many of the apps and software that are just entering the market. If the tool makes me more efficient or has real potential to help a small or midsize business, I’m all ears.

But a lot of the buzz around technology these days is just hype, especially now that everyone wants to be the next Instagram or Pinterest. As a business owner, how do you know which company, app, or platform is worth your attention and will help your business grow? Most entrepreneurs I know just don’t have the time to try every new tool du jour.

So, I thought it would be helpful for Inc. readers if I wrote a monthly roundup of online business tools that, in my humble opinion, live up to their promises. If they work for me, they just might work for you. (Added bonus: Most of them will be pretty darn affordable, if not free.)

Here are four tools that I’m loving this month:

**To read the rest of this article from the original source , Click Here**

** Great Article We Found on INC.com**

Make a Great First Impression: 7 Smart Tricks

People decide whether to work with you within two seconds of meeting you. Here’s how to make an impact.

 

Research shows that customers decide whether or not they want to work with you within two seconds of meeting you face to face.

That puts the burden on you to make certain that those two seconds really count. The only way to do that is to prepare ahead of time.

These tricks may help.

1. Keep Yourself Fit

Your energy level is dependent upon your overall level of health. If you tire easily, rest assured you’re likely to look tired–especially under the stress of an initial meeting. And if you look tired, other people will make the snap decision that you’re too tired to get the job done.

This does not mean that you need to be a bodybuilder or Hollywood thin. But you must be healthy enough to look alert, capable, and interested.

2. Research the Culture

Different industries have different norms about what’s appropriate in terms of personal appearance and meeting behavior. For example, wearing an Armani suit to a meeting with a programmer is simply inviting silent ridicule. Similarly, different regions of the country (or the world, for that matter) have different norms. Women who wear even slightly sexy outfits can send the wrong message to managers from the Middle East, for instance. Find out what’s expected before you meet.

3. Send Clear Signals

Your semiotics are the signals that your appearance immediately communicates to other people. People make snap judgments based on clothes, accessories, and more: watches, jewelry, briefcases, makeup, skin tone, facial expression, and so forth.

As far as is practical, make sure you are consciously creating a set of visual signals that is most likely to communicate that you’re the kind of person that’s it’s appropriate to do business with.

**To read the rest of this article from the original source , Click Here**

**Great article we found on Inc.com.**

10 Habits of Remarkably Charismatic People

Charisma isn’t something you have. It’s something you earn. Here’s how.

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Some people instantly make us feel important. Some people instantly make us feel special. Some people light up a room just by walking in.

We can’t always define it, but some people have it: They’re naturally charismatic.

Unfortunately, natural charisma quickly loses its impact. Familiarity breeds, well, familiarity.

But some people are remarkably charismatic: They build and maintain great relationships, consistently influence (in a good way) the people around them, consistently make people feel better about themselves–they’re the kind of people everyone wants to be around… and wants to be.

Fortunately we can, because being remarkably charismatic isn’t about our level of success or our presentation skills or how we dress or the image we project–it’s about what we do.

Here are the 10 habits of remarkably charismatic people:

1. They listen way more than they talk.

Ask questions. Maintain eye contact. Smile. Frown. Nod. Respond–not so much verbally, but non-verbally.

That’s all it takes to show the other person they’re important.

Then when you do speak, don’t offer advice unless you’re asked. Listening shows you care a lot more than offering advice… because when you offer advice in most cases you make the conversation about you, not them.

Don’t believe me? Who is, “Here’s what I would do…” about: You, or the other person?

Only speak when you have something important to say–and always define “important” as what matters to the other person, not to you.

2. They don’t practice selective hearing.

Some people–I guarantee you know people like this–are incapable of hearing anything said by the people they feel are somehow beneath them.

Sure, you speak to them… but that particular falling tree doesn’t make a sound in the forest because there’s no one actually listening.

Remarkably charismatic people listen closely to everyone… and they make all of us, regardless of our position or social status or “level,” feel like we have something in common with them.

Because we do: We’re all people.

3. They put their stuff away.

Don’t check your phone. Don’t glance at your monitor. Don’t focus on anything else, even for a moment.

You can never connect with others if you’re busy connecting with your stuff too.

Give the gift of your full attention. That’s a gift few people give. That gift alone will make others want to be around you… and remember you.

**To read the rest of this article from the original source , Click Here**

**Great article we found on Inc.com.**

This company’s fall from grace is well documented, but out of error comes experience. Follow these 5 tips from its founder for a “good fail.”

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Richard Keith Latman thought he was creating his legacy when he launched his budget PC-manufacturing company in 1999. But after the attorney general’s office filed a formal action against Microworkz, Latman’s life was irrevocably changed. The promise of becoming Silicon Valley’s next internet billionaire disappeared overnight, and Latman moved on to lose 11 jobs in 12 months, as well as go through a divorce and filing for personal bankruptcy.

It took some time, and more failures, but Latman finally found his way back to the industry he loved, selling cars (which he did in record numbers). He simultaneously developed a CRM tool for car dealerships. Today, Latman is once again at the top of his game as the CEO and co-founder of iMagicLab, a software company focused on the automotive industry. He’s also founder of Latman Interactive.

Latman has experienced the peaks and valleys of life and entrepreneurship many times over, yet his uncanny ability to see the next opportunity where no one else does propelled him forward to eventual success and happiness.

“The skill is in getting up to 50,000 feet; above your issues, problems, and opportunities, and being able to look down as objectively as possible to see if there is a path,” says Latman. “If we had to play the role of the marble in a maze it would be much harder to make it through. Look down on the puzzle instead.”

Through his harrowing journey, Latman always kept his eye on his core talents to find his next opportunity. “History is the best judge,” says Latman. “What are the core skill sets that you bring to the world? Always recognize what you do well and what you do poorly and stick with what you do best.”

In retrospect, Latman recognizes that he never had a track record of raising money, building big teams, or managing inventory. “If I had stopped to assess my skills and experience when I planned that business, I would have surrounded myself with a completely different subset of people,” he says. “Entrepreneurs often look at themselves as who they want to be, not who they have a track record of being.”

In his book, The Good Fail, Latman tells his story and explains why failure can be a necessary steppingstone to success. “A ‘good fail’ is a failure that has a learning value greater than the offset collateral damage,” he says. “These failures lead to new ideas about customers, innovations, and business plans.”

**To read the rest of this article from the original source , Click Here**

**Great article we found on Inc.com.**

Grow Bigger, Better, Faster: 6 Lessons

In rereading Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, it’s surprising how many great lessons the book has for CEOs of growing companies.

Dimitri Vervitsiotis

One of our partners, Greg Stoklosa, asked us to reread the classic business book, Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, in preparation for our recent leadership meeting.  Collins, of course, is the author of Good to Great and a number of other business classics, and we were inspired by his recent interview in Inc.

We had both read Built to Last when it was first published in the 1990s, and we remembered it as having some great lessons for leaders of established companies who wanted to build lasting organizations. So we were surprised when Greg asked us to read this in preparation for a discussion about values, goals, and strategy for Avondale. We’re a small company with 26 employees, not like the large companies such as Ford, HP, Merck, and Disney that were profiled in the book.

But now that we’ve spent the last eight years building Avondale, we were surprised at how many great insights this book has for growing companies like ours. In fact, it seems to be more useful for organizations that want to set a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) and align on core values. Growing companies have the opportunity to aim big and build a lasting organization–the book’s core theme. There are also some great lessons for what growing companies like ours can do in the short term to maintain rapid, profitable growth.

Buried deep in Chapter 10, we found the key lessons for growing companies:

1. Paint the Whole Picture

Don’t rely on any one thing to preserve the core and stimulate progress. As Collins says, “It’s the whole ball of wax that counts.”

**To read the rest of this article from the original source , Click Here**