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Articles from John AOV | Selfgrowth.com
- ***Learn What You Love and Love What You Do - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVLoving what you do is a principle indication of happiness and general fulfillment in life. Many people, though, have no clear idea about what it is they love. Others, who know what they love, often do not consider their passions to be relevant to a job or a career. These people have a tendency ...
Views: 895(1 vote) - ***Unleashing the Power of Self-Directed Learning for a Happier and More Successful Career - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIn years past, continuing your education past high school meant applying for admission and taking classes to learn skills that other people said you would need in your career. Today, thanks to self-directed learning, all that has changed. In self-directed learning, you design your own ...
Views: 1034(1 vote) - ***A Key to Success - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVThere is an ingredient for success that is often overlooked, maybe because it sounds out of place in business lingo. But I know for a fact that it is absolutely necessary to achieve any kind of long lasting success, and I know this from experience. That ingredient is passion. Enthusiasm on a ...
Views: 1151(1 vote) - ***The Path to Success: A Long, Winding Road - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVJamie Meiselman is an entrepreneur who pursued the idea of bringing the perfect surf indoors through an enterprise known as Surfparks. A veteran of the action sports industry (snowboarding, skateboarding, etc.), Mr. Meiselman nurtured his idea while studying for his MBA at Columbia University. ...
Views: 1040 - ***Reinvent Yourself to Reach Your Dreams - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVDr. Arthur Caliandro, the inspirational minister who succeeded Dr. Norman Vincent Peale at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, believes that if you are going to succeed, you need momentum. He has a favorite story about it that he likes to tell. While taking a walk one day, Dr. Caliandro ...
Views: 1500 - ***Be Tough and Tenacious and Never Give Up - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVSometimes people think I was born with a Midas touch, that everything I think about or touch just somehow turns to gold. I'll admit, I've been very lucky, and I've also had the good fortune to get a great education from the schools I went to and from my parents. But there might be some things ...
Views: 1247(1 vote) - ***Thinking Big: Your Vehicle to Success - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVReach for the stars, go for it, man! - Sammy Davis, Jr. America is a big country and bigness is essential to the American Way. It's everywhere you look: big money, big portions, big ideas. In a place with so much of everything, there's a lot of smallness, too, like millions of people of modest ...
Views: 927 - ***How to Think Big Every Day - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOV"Think big" towers above most other advice you will hear on how to succeed. In just two words, it lays out a plan for achieving your highest goals. The greatest challenge is to find ways to think big today, not someday. Here's how to make sure that happens. Think Big Secret ##1: Seize ...
Views: 917 - ***In Real Estate, Knowledge is King - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVFew can doubt that knowledge is crucial in any business endeavor. It's just common sense: the more you know about who and what you're dealing with, the better off you will be. Real estate, though, is arguably the most knowledge-driven of any business. It is all about terrain, and knowing the ...
Views: 981 - ***Use Knowledge to Your Advantage - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVEver hear the saying, "I am not young enough to know everything"? That's a good one, and something to think about. Fortunately, I had a father who knew a lot about what he was doing, so I could never fall into the know-it-all category. Being humbled by superior knowledge and inspired by it can ...
Views: 1676(1 vote) - ***Experience and Learning: The Guided Path to Perfection - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVYou've heard the saying, "practice makes perfect." That's the central idea behind Trump University's educational mission, only we call it "learning by doing." Learning by doing, though, doesn't just mean practice (i.e. doing). It also means monitoring, gathering feedback, and adapting to what ...
Views: 858 - ***Why Take a Course that Doesn't Offer Credit? - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVI'm not really in touch with the general school-attending public anymore. My kids are no longer in school; I retired from university teaching and am living in Florida among the old folks. So, sometimes I forget why students go to school. This isn't entirely fair. I have always had difficulty ...
Views: 978 - ***Book Smart vs. Street Smart - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVWe all know people who are "book smart" but clueless in the real world, and those who are "street smart" but unable to handle any environment other than the one they're used to. Last season The Apprentice was based on this dichotomy, pitting a team of people with higher education against a team ...
Views: 10021(118 votes) - ***Engaging the Audience: The Point Where Learning Begins - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVFor a lecturer, an educator, or even an entire system of education, connecting with the audience is no mere nicety, but a matter of paramount importance. If the message, or learning, is to reach individuals and actually have a positive effect, its content and delivery must be designed with the ...
Views: 1224 - ***Value Your Audience as Individuals (And Maximize Your Profits) - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVWe live in an exchange society. To receive you must be willing to give. As motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, "You can get anything you want in life as long as you help the other fellow get what he wants." That's one reason communication specialists and marketing gurus alike consistently urge ...
Views: 809 - ***Trust: A Critical Factor in Negotiating - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIn the Middle Ages, people shook hands to demonstrate that they were empty-handed, meaning they were not carrying weapons and could be trusted to behave honorably. Even today, a handshake before a negotiating session means that you and the other person agree to behave honorably. You might ...
Views: 1138 - ***Power and Persuasion: the Elements of Negotiation - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVNegotiation is something I refer to often because it is an important aspect of business and life. It's a form of accommodation, adjustment, and diplomacy. It can be a complex procedure, but it doesn't have to be daunting if you take the time to think and apply a little finesse to your ...
Views: 1955(111 votes) - ***Entrepreneurial Instincts - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIn the business world, the entrepreneur is a different breed. Part of the reason for this is that instinct often plays a big role in what an entrepreneur does and who he or she is. From conception - that "eureka" moment - through development and operations, businesses spawned of personal whim ...
Views: 1671 - ***Turn Your Intuition into a Power Tool for Success - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVOne fateful day back in 1979, Apple's co-founder, Steve Jobs, had a spark of intuition so bright it is still flashing across the screen of the computer you are looking at right now. Jobs was visiting Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, where he saw an experimental computer called the Alto. It ...
Views: 806 - ***Working with People You Like: A Key Factor in Job Satisfaction - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVLiking the people you work with offers personal as well as professional advantages. Camaraderie among coworkers has been shown to increase productivity, job satisfaction, and even life satisfaction. It's a safe bet that most people consider employee compatibility to be an essential requirement ...
Views: 2681 - ***Don't Let the People You Work with Kill Your Dreams - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVSomeday you will own your own company, build a fortune in real estate, or head up a major corporation. On that day you will have the luxury of surrounding yourself with people who support you and share your dream. That is someday, but what about today? Chances are that you are working in a job ...
Views: 1166 - ***It's Good Business to Work with People You Like - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIf you're going to live in the river, better make friends with the crocodiles. - Anonymous I've been fortunate to work with people I like. Some of my employees have been with me for 20, 25, even 30 years. If we didn't like each other, that would be a long sentence of misery. As it is, we work ...
Views: 927 - ***Learning Optimism - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVCan optimism really be learned? Some say yes, and it can make a huge difference in life. No matter how large and intimidating a leadership challenge might be, facing it with optimism is the thing you can do to manage, shape, and eventually triumph over it. The bottom line: Trash the pessimistic ...
Views: 1218 - ***Use Your Attitude to Create a Triumphant Life - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVOne day back in 1997 my phone rang. It was Dr. Arthur Caliandro, the head minister of Marble Collegiate Church in New York. Dr. Caliandro asked me if I would be interested in writing his next book with him. We met, we hit it off beautifully, and I ended up writing not one, but two books with ...
Views: 890 - ***Positive Persistence - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVhere have been so many books and examples about the power of positive thinking that it seems unnecessary to even mention it. Yet, I still see examples every single day of the power that negative thinking has over people. So, either people haven't gotten the message or they're just plain not ...
Views: 1784(1 vote) - ***Conventional Wisdom: An Oxymoron? - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIn marketing circles, there’s a problem called the “majority fallacy.” What it means is that corporations and business owners often “go with the tide,” seeking the gold that’s in them ‘thar hills, along with everyone else. The problem is the “along with everyone else” part. To be successful ...
Views: 1444 - ***Different Varieties of Success - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVGenerally there are two types of people who claim they “don’t do it for the money”: those who already have plenty of money and those engaged in fundamentally non-lucrative creative or service-oriented fields like the arts or social work. In both cases, passion or some other deeply held personal ...
Views: 775 - ***Let Passion Transform Your Life - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVMoney is great. Yet if you study the lives of very wealthy people, you will discover that very few of them started out saying, “My goal is to get rich.” Almost without exception, they were driven by a personal passion that was so strong, money followed as an afterthought. Consider Tom Chappell, ...
Views: 842 - ***Go Beyond Money - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVThe first sentence in my first book, The Art of the Deal , goes like this: “I don’t do it for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably ...
Views: 1049 - ***Technology Blurs the Lines Between Business and Personal - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVIn the time B.C.--before computers--the separation between home (personal) and work (business) was far more clear-cut. Today, the line between home and work has blurred because of cell phones, e-mail, notebook computers, PDAs, and other powerful communications technologies. In some companies, ...
Views: 987 - ***The Bottom Line--Your Guideline (It's not Personal, It's Business) - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVBusiness is about making money. It’s about the bottom line. The sooner you realize that it's not personal, it's business, the sooner you’ll make it to the top in the business world. I’m often surprised by people who think business is something else. They come in with lofty ideas and ...
Views: 893 - ***Stay Fresh, Stay Smart - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVMost of us have been to a school graduation ceremony at which the featured speaker or honored graduate comments on how the ceremony, itself "is not the end of one's education, but the beginning" -and that's why they call it "commencement!" The reason the theme of new beginnings is so popular in ...
Views: 906 - ***What Kind of Education Will Assure Your Success? - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVConventional wisdom holds that an Ivy League degree virtually assures success. But like a lot of commonly held assumptions, it's turning out to be wrong. Consider "Route to the Top," Chief Executive Magazine's annual analysis of 700 top American CEOs. Of the findings in the latest 2004 survey, ...
Views: 828 - ***Open the Door to Knowledge - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVThe beginning of every government starts with the education of our youth. --Pythagoras Pythagoras interpreted the universe through numbers. As a businessman, that always appealed to me. It makes sense. He was a philosopher and a mathematician and he knew the importance of learning. Pythagoras ...
Views: 1259 - ***Integrating the Fragmented Self - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVThe contemporary world presents us with an oceanic array of choices, stimuli, responsibilities, and distractions that often keep us from achieving personal harmony. Many people either fail to realize or are indifferent to the fact that their lives are really a form of controlled chaos. Others ...
Views: 1855 - ***You Can't Become Whole Without Overcoming Adversity - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOV"It's not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties." --Abigail Adams (in a letter to her son, future president John Quincy Adams, when he was 12) When Abigail Adams ...
Views: 1203 - ***Wizards of Wall Street: Market Timing and the Allure of Prognostication - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVSince the dawn of civilization, man has tried to predict the future because knowledge of the future could influence decisions that would greatly affect the welfare of individuals and society. If the farmer knew exactly what the weather was going to be like, he could adjust his planting schedule ...
Views: 1016 - ***Don't Read Tea Leaves, Read Trends Instead and Grow Rich - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVBack in the sixties when I was a teenager, my Uncle George used to visit my family every Sunday night. He was a very smart guy, but very eccentric. And boy, could he talk. One night he told us an amazing story. It seems that while he was tinkering in his garage in the late 1940’s, he discovered ...
Views: 962 - ***Timing + Good Instincts = Wealth - by Submitted on Apr 16, 2009 from John AOVA few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us. --Ralph Waldo Emerson Handling money well requires instincts. It can be learned, but it also requires a sixth sense that needs to be developed. Gamblers know about timing. Some people have it, some people don't. Life isn't exactly a roll ...
Views: 1000 - ***Different Paths, One Destination - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVMany are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal. --Friedrich Nietzsche There are many paths to a single goal. There are those, however, who confuse a path with the goal. A goal is a destination, while a path is the means to get there. The water in a raging ...
Views: 1103 - ***Be a Chameleon: Today's Top Achievers Redefine their Goals and Themselves Every Day - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVDuring the last century, many people were able to achieve great success by chasing just one goal. Henry Ford got a lot of mileage out of his dream to sell an affordable car to every average American. H. L. Hunt, at one time the richest man in the world, drilled for oil. When you look at today’s ...
Views: 939 - ***Be Fast, Get Ahead - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVWe live, work, and compete in markets where you must be more like a laser than a floodlight, more like a gazelle than an elephant. In today’s complex and competitive business environment, three critical factors form a mantra for success: “Make it short, fast, and direct!” Our customers, ...
Views: 1046 - ***Speed Kills (The Competition) - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVHe who will not economize will have to agonize. --Confucius I have to tell you that I can relate to the "agonize" in this Confucian saying. As someone on the receiving end of conversations by people who do not know how to edit themselves, I know what agony means. I think to myself, “How long ...
Views: 1411 - ***Can't You Do Any Better Than That? Yes You Can...And You Better Start Today - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVAfter he graduated from college, Aylwin B. Lewis took a job as manager of eight Jack in the Box restaurants in the Houston area. He was not too happy with the job. Then one day a customer approached Lewis and asked if he was the boss of the place. Lewis said he was the person in charge. The ...
Views: 924 - ***Don't Be Satisfied - Do more! - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVNo person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life. --Samuel Goldwyn If you see each day as an important day for your future and a special day just because you have it, you will be amazed at how productive and energetic you can be. It’s the best way to be at your best ...
Views: 826 - ***The Fast Track to Success - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVtempo: the rate of motion or activity. --Webster's Dictionary I’ve mentioned before that when you’re the CEO of a company, it’s like being a general. You have to be in charge. You have to take responsibility. You have to instill confidence. It's also a bit like being a conductor, which is one ...
Views: 858 - ***Results are What Matter - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVMen acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way. --Aristotle We all have different ways of accomplishing things. Some people deliberate for a long time and then move quickly. Some people make a quick decision and then take a long time to act on it. Sometimes the ...
Views: 1076 - ***Don't Just Work, Create! - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVWhat does it mean when someone claims his or her work is art? Some people actually do make their work into an art form. In addition to competence and real talent, their accomplishments stem from their strong belief that what they do is art. Raising one’s every day work to the level of art is, as ...
Views: 874 - ***The World's a Stage. Command It. - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVWhat does a great actor like Sir Laurence Olivier have in common with a great executive like Jack Welch? At first glance, not much. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll see that brilliant actors and gifted business leaders share many critical skills. They command attention the moment they ...
Views: 905 - ***Find the Right Mindset - by Submitted on Apr 15, 2009 from John AOVFinding someone with the right mindset for a job should not be an accident. Obviously, you must first determine just what the right mindset for the job is. Then you need to use job ads to attract the right mindset and repel the wrong one. Interview using simple questions that help you learn ...
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