If I could give you the #1 key to success in everything, would you take it? If I could provide you with the one principle that will help you excel in every aspect of your life, would you want it? I have discovered the one piece of advice that if it is the foundation of everything you do, it will guarantee the success of every aspect of your life. Would you like to hear it?
Dan Miller, author of “48 Days to the Work You Love” and “No More Mondays” and the force behind 48days.com, is one of my reading and listening mentors. That is, I read his books and listen to his podcast as often as I can. I even had lunch with him once, since he is a local of Franklin, Tennessee. I love to hear his ideas and gain insight from his experience. He is definitely one of my inspirations for going ahead and publishing my first secular, self-help book, “Getting to Did.”
Dan recently read “Getting to Did,” and here is some of what he said.
“Today I had a last minute lunch meeting cancellation so I grabbed your book as I headed out to eat lunch by myself. I started through and just kept reading until I finished. The waitress joked with me that they were charging me by the minute. Anyway – what a great read. Obviously, your message was a home run with me – so many people I see get stuck somewhere along the path you describe.”
“Getting to Did” tells the story of Sam, a middle-aged man who just lost his job and sees his world falling apart. He keeps hitting one roadblock after another until his neighbor, Dave, takes him under his wing, introduces him to three new mentors, and teaches him how to get rid of his big “but.” If you’ve lost a job, are looking for a job, are trying to figure out what your life is going to be about, or simply want to improve how you do your present work, Sam’s new mentors can help you out. They can help you turn your Couldas to Cans, your Shouldas to Shalls, your Wouldas to Wills, and get rid of your big but.
Dan Miller recommends the book to his clients. He also wrote: “I just sent my copy to a client I’m working with right now…” Now I’m recommending this book for you.
If you haven’t checked out “Getting to Did,” you can actually read it for free, right here on my website. Start here. Or you can go to my webstore and get your very own copy to write in and reference.
Order yours today!
Yes, that is an affiliate link.
Since Tennessee celebrated having increased lottery ticket sales in February along with increased unemployment, I have only one thing to say.
Quit standing in line for lottery tickets. Spend that time to work on your own successful ideas. You have more of a chance making enough money to provide for your family by working your ideas than you do buying a lottery ticket.
I wonder how many lottery tickets Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Dave Ramsey, or Dan Miller bought in February, or any time for that matter.
Would you like to write better, speak better, interact better, blog better, word process better, Excel better or whatever better? I’m sure you would. I know your boss wishes you would as well. Let’s face it, no matter where we are on the spectrum of growth in any skill, we can always be better. Training opportunities, workshops and seminars abound. Gratefully, some companies are even willing to foot the bill for that training. If yours has done that or is doing that, be exceedingly thankful. Your company is investing in you. That’s awesome.
However, you can’t always expect that. In fact, in today’s volatile job market you probably shouldn’t. When you get training, the skill doesn’t stay behind with your company if you decide to go to the company next door. You take that skill with you.
We have increasingly heard how upset employees are with the changing landscape of the american workplace. There is no loyalty to the employee. It used to be that you started a career, put in 20, 30 or 40 years, got a retirement package and road off into the sunset. Not so anymore. However, it is not just employers who are changing (no need to get into a “which came first” argument). Employees are embracing a more “free agent” mentality about their work. They shop themselves and their skills as a commodity. If the company next door provides a bigger package, they’ll move (and they should).
In fact, I’m thinking about three of my closest friends. Two are in their mid-30s and one in his late 20s. Each of them have had three career changes that I know about. That is what the modern worker looks like.
Guess what. Employers are figuring that out. They are struggling to find a balance. They want you to be better at every aspect of your job. However, they also know they’re taking a chance. The more training they subsidize for you, the more inviting you look to headhunters. No doubt, some employers will take the chance. Many won’t.
The upshot for you, however, is to remember you are a free agent. Your skills are your skills. You take them with you wherever you go. If you want to get better, you might ask your employer to foot the bill for training, but don’t be surprised if they say, “No.” Maybe you can make it part of an incentive package to get you to stay. Then again, maybe not.
Don’t wait around for them to foot the bill. You pay for the training. Be a better you on the job. You’ll be more marketable. Your present employer will notice it and likely reward it. But if not, then prospective employers will. Just because your employer fears to invest in you, doesn’t mean you should fear it. It will pay off in the long run.
And, who knows, maybe you’ll get to the point that you’ll be the employer because you’ve trained your way right into running your own business doing what you love with yourself as the boss.
