Expert Marketing Blog - Page 61

Everyone at some time in their lives has felt that their world has curved in. Things become heavy, dark and almost impossible to keep afloat - but there is light at the end of the tunnel, if only we all can see it.

It's how we handle these experiences of difficulties that show our real character and ability to be resilient in the face of adversity now and in the future.

The Wolf of Wall Street was in many people's opinions a celebration of the bad life - drugs, sex, expensive toys, opulent homes and super expensive suits.

As we watched on as Leonardo DiCaprio spruiked, "The way I look at it, their money was better off in my pocket," many of us couldn't believe that world existed quite like that. But it does. And it's right here on our doorstep too.

I had to laugh when I came into work today and found these three balloons. It's so true that in a consulting company, if clients are happy, employees are happy and the end result is "boss is happy".

But it is a tough gig and anyone who says otherwise must know something that I certainly do not know.

Today, I have an amazing team of people. They are bright, energetic, young, vibrant, thought-leaders. That's right... thought-leaders. They are not just sitting there doing their jobs, but instead they are thinking about what's next for our clients and how can they help grow Marketing Eye in new, exciting directions while fulfilling their own career goals.

There is one thing that employees can learn from a Navy Seal that will be life changing - and that is to make your bed every morning to perfection. By completing this task, according to Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, who gave a talk to 8000 graduating students from the University of Texas last month, you would have completed the first task of the day.

I watched the video of his speech that clocked up 1.7 million views in 2 weeks on YouTube a few weeks ago and was inspired.

Of his 10 Life Lessons From A Navy Seal, here are 4 that resonated most with me:

1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your own bed. This makes perfect sense to me as once you have completed this task, it is easier to complete others. It also signifies that its the little things that we all have to do in our lives that at times we may see as pointless, that are instrumental in helping us achieve our goals.

2. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle. You cannot do it by yourself no matter how good you think you are. Working as a team can help you accomplish things more quickly and effectively, keeping employees accountable to each other and increasing motivation to achieve the end goal.

3. If you want to change the world, don't be afraid of circuses. This means that you should not be afraid of failing and the repercussion of that. There will be times where you fail and as McRaven says, it will be painful, discouraging and will test you to your core. The ability to get through this and know that not only have you come through to the other end, but there will be more circuses in the future, will make you stronger and more determined to succeed.

4. If you want to change the world, don't ever, ever ring the bell. Giving up means you won't have to have any more circuses and it will give you immediate relief from the pain or challenges you may be facing, but if you do this, you will have the same situation pop up over and over again in life and you will do the same thing - ring the bell. It is impossible to succeed if you keep ringing the bell.

Start-ups by their very nature are exactly that; just a start. The journey to building a successful business is often equal parts energizing and anxiety-inducing. The creator of Little Sale Birdy Laszlo Szabo shares his experience of operating a successful start-up and reveals the hard truths that he learned in his first year (that they won’t teach you at marketing or business school).