Recently, I came across a concept to awaken your productivity by Eben Pagan. It’s easy to apply – I only wish I had only done this years ago!

I’ve been in the habit of checking my emails first up in the morning. Now I’ve stopped doing this until I first attend to my needs, and they are:

• Attend to my physical needs first. Drink a whole glass of water to help my kidneys wash out all the impurities.
• Do stretching exercises first, then followed up by a 20 minute exercise routine consisting of stomach crunches, leg raises, deep breathing, dumbbell curls, rubber strap pulls, light squats and push ups.
• After my exercises, I cool down first, and then take a shower.
• Next, a BIG bowl of cereal with soymilk. Yummy!
• Then I spent about 30 minutes to an hour (if I don’t have to be in training for the morning) on reading something uplifting. This could include an article, or a section of a self-help book, or a book that I’ve recently bought.
• Then I check my emails and reply to those that need attention and action.

This procedure puts me in charge of the day and makes me a whole lot more productive. Before this routine, the first thing I did was to open up my emails, which would have meant that I’d be stuck to my MacBook Pro for the next hour and a half!

I’ve also got into the habit of using a digital timer. For large chunks of work, I set it to 50-minute intervals. Nothing else is done during that time except focusing on the task in front of me. 

I swear by this method. It focuses your attention 100% on the task at hand, and I don’t do any multi-tasking during the 50 minutes of concentrated work.

So that’s my routine now of rise up productive. Try it. You’ll be amazed at the amount of work you can get through just by laser focus.

Most people know about Emotional Intelligence (EQ). They’ll tell you what’s good about it and lament the fact that either their bosses or some of their colleagues don’t have EQ.

However, it’s not about what do know about EQ, it’s about what you DO. A favourite saying of mine is, “To know and not to do is not to know.” So to know it, but not to DO it doesn’t amount to a thing.

Rate yourself on a scale of 1-5 below. What level of skills do you display EQ?

1. Below average

2. Average

3. Good

4. Exceptionally Good

5. Extraordinary

Then take a few of the people that you get on really well with. Rate them.

Then take a few of the people that you don’t get on well with. Rate them. Any surprises? Bet there’s a difference in rankings!

The measure of EQ is not at the knowledge or intellectual level. The measure is at the doing or skills level. Most people only talk about it. Most are incapable of executing extraordinary levels of behaviour that reflects an extraordinary level of EQ.

When you can really double your EQ levels you can imagine the quiet confidence that radiates out from your very heart and soul. You do not need to stoop to bullying others. Nor do you use anger nor hurt to manipulate others to your way of thinking.

Your relationships with others blossoms. You become a leader of people. People want to follow you. You empathise with others, know what ideals and values they have, and you help them to reach their goals.

Imagine yourself leading teams. With an easy ability to develop others, to bring out the best in them. What treasures and goals could they get for you and the organisation?

That’s the power of being able to do EQ! So it’s not about knowing about it, it’s the actual practice of putting into place certain competencies that challenges the human spirit to do more than what is necessary to obtain the goals of the organisation.

A reliable source, herself a Gen Y, shared with me the main issues that Gen Ys face:
1. Being liked and fitting in with their peers
2. Expect parents to know their emotional state
3. Weak presentation skills in class projects
4. Lack of courage to stand out and speak their mind
5. Communicating with their parents

So you can see why there’s such a miss-match between the older and the younger generation. Yet, there’s a very simple solution – if only people knew how to relate to each other, understand their different perspectives and attempt to gain rapport to compromise or to collaborate with each other.

So when you’re talking with your young adults, often, all it takes is a deep breath or two to not get angry when someone in front of you is not making any sense to you. Actively listening and clarifying the other person’s intent will go a long way towards understanding each other.

Of course, it may mean that you’ll need to negotiate or compromise to a solution. Whoever said that it’s your right to gain all?

Just like eating an elephant in bite-sized pieces, take it a step at a time in re-building relationships that have soured or gone awry.

Play fair, don’t play dirty. Don’t belittle or scold anyone. Be understanding, firm but friendly. Be a guiding light.

If you need to learn how to manage your emotions and relationships better – join us at our next 1-day program on “EQ in Challenging Times”. You’ll learn the inside secrets to managing your own and others’ emotions, and the techniques and strategies to manage your relationships better.

© Ricky Lien

Most salespeople do not know the difference between selling features and the benefits of ownership to the buyer.

They hard sell. They forget the one fundamental thing that buyers want. Buyers want to buy, not to be sold to. It’s a poor salesperson indeed, who doesn’t know that the key to being a rock star in sales is knowing this important fundamental difference.

There’s also another very important fact that average salespeople do not know about or do not know how to get into – and that is, what’s behind the thinking of the buyer?  The average salesperson seldom asks what the customer does or what their business is.

So they don’t know where the customer is coming from and they do not know or understand what the customer’s buying motive is. The customer may be thinking of buying the product or service, but has issues about how this product or service will mix or fit back at their organization.

Maybe they have concerns with the compatibility of the product, whether it’s complementary to the current range of machinery back at their office or whether it will be incompatible in use.

For example, I was recently in the market for one of the newer High Definition Video Cameras. The latest model Videocams have a AVCHD codec software and may clash with the MP2 codec MP2 which is the software of my older Videocams.

The salesperson did not ask me the important questions that are in my system. You guessed it, little progress ensued as I hesitated and grappled with the question of compatibility. Since the salesperson could not advise me on this, I walked away and did nothing as I didn’t have the answer that I was looking for.

Unfortunately, not many salespeople know the answers or how to explain the differences and where the traps and solution lie. So many begin their pitches, and start giving away concessions such as a larger discount, or if you buy today, they’ll give away ‘x’.

So I ended up walking away from several camera shops, totally frustrated. And the shops lost a sale. I wonder how many businesses lose customers because their sales people do not know how to find out the buyer’s motives and do not prepare for it.

© Ricky Lien