Kevin Eikenberry is a friend of mine.  He publishes a great ezine called “Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential.”  If you’re not a subscriber, I suggest you log on to http://www.KevinEikenberry.com  and register.  Kevin’s ezine contains some great life and career success advice.

I got an email from Kevin the other day in which he apologized for a bad link in his ezine.  He sent the correct link and then said something that is really good career advice. “Messy success is better than perfect mediocrity.”  This is one way of saying – let’s take action, not make sure everything is perfect.

Kevin is right.  Neither of us suggest that you produce sloppy work.  And we both suggest that action is the key to life and career success.  Some people spend so much time getting things perfect that they miss opportunity.  They look for that one piece of information that will make their idea, report or presentation perfect. 

Often, the search for this information can take so much time, that the idea, report or presentation loses relevance by the time it is found.  I can be guilty of this on occasion myself.

Tweet 99 in my career success book, Success Tweets says, “Get the job done with what you’ve got.  Don’t worry about what you don’t have or would like to have.”

I studied journalism as an undergraduate.  Journalism is a great major.  It teaches you to write.  It keeps you up on current events.  And most of all, it provides you with the discipline of meeting deadlines.  Bob Farson was my advisor at Penn State.  He never accepted a late assignment.  He never gave an incomplete in a course.  Every journalism student in my day heard his mantra over and over again…

“There is no late in journalism.  You can’t put out a blank paper.  A good reporter will never have everything he wants for a story.  You’ve got to learn to go with what you’ve got and do the best job you can with it.”

Bob Farson’s advice – “go with what you’ve got” – really stuck with me.  I finished my four years at Penn State, got an MA at The University of Colorado and a PhD at Harvard, and never missed a deadline.  I never asked for an extension, and I never took an incomplete in a course.

I never worked as a journalist, but my journalism education taught me the importance of getting the job done with what I have – and that, in turn, helped me create the life and career success I so badly wanted.

When it comes to deadlines, I find that people make two types of mistakes: 1) They miss them because they are always looking for that one additional piece of information that will bring everything together perfectly; 2) They get so focused on making them that they don’t dig deep enough to find all the information they need to do an outstanding job.

Both are problems.  When I say “go with what you’ve got,” I mean you need to find the right balance of gathering all the information you need and still meet the deadline.  Avoid problem number 1 by realizing that you’ll never know everything you want to know about a given subject.  I’ve been a career success coach for 20 years, and I still learn new stuff about life and career success every day. 

Avoid problem number 2 by not getting overly focused on the deadline.  If you do, you run the risk of not doing as good a job as you can on any given project.  Go with what you’ve got only after you do an exhaustive information search and make sure that you have all the information you can possibly find and still make the deadline.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people meet deadlines.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 99 in Success Tweets.  “Get the job done with what you have.  Don’t worry about what you don’t have, or would like to have.”  Take personal responsibility for doing the work with what you have – or getting what you need to do the work well.  If you don’t have what you need, do whatever it takes to get it.  Make sure you have what you need to do your job well.  Taking personal responsibility for getting the job done – with what you have, not what you want – will set you apart from the pack and put you on the road to the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s the career advice I take from Kevin Eikenberry’s comment on messy success.  What are your thoughts on this?  Please take a minute and share them with us in a comment.  As always thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS – Success Tweets Explained, a 395 page companion book to Success Tweets is now available.  It  will sell for $39.95 on Amazon.com, but you can get a free download.  Just go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your copy.

Kevin Eikenberry is a friend of mine.  He publishes a great ezine called “Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential.”  If you’re not a subscriber, I suggest you log on to http://www.KevinEikenberry.com  and register.  Kevin’s ezine contains some great life and career success advice.

I got an email from Kevin the other day in which he apologized for a bad link in his ezine.  He sent the correct link and then said something that is really good career advice. “Messy success is better than perfect mediocrity.”  This is one way of saying – let’s take action, not make sure everything is perfect.

Kevin is right.  Neither of us suggest that you produce sloppy work.  And we both suggest that action is the key to life and career success.  Some people spend so much time getting things perfect that they miss opportunity.  They look for that one piece of information that will make their idea, report or presentation perfect. 

Often, the search for this information can take so much time, that the idea, report or presentation loses relevance by the time it is found.  I can be guilty of this on occasion myself.

Tweet 99 in my career success book, Success Tweets says, “Get the job done with what you’ve got.  Don’t worry about what you don’t have or would like to have.”

I studied journalism as an undergraduate.  Journalism is a great major.  It teaches you to write.  It keeps you up on current events.  And most of all, it provides you with the discipline of meeting deadlines.  Bob Farson was my advisor at Penn State.  He never accepted a late assignment.  He never gave an incomplete in a course.  Every journalism student in my day heard his mantra over and over again…

“There is no late in journalism.  You can’t put out a blank paper.  A good reporter will never have everything he wants for a story.  You’ve got to learn to go with what you’ve got and do the best job you can with it.”

Bob Farson’s advice – “go with what you’ve got” – really stuck with me.  I finished my four years at Penn State, got an MA at The University of Colorado and a PhD at Harvard, and never missed a deadline.  I never asked for an extension, and I never took an incomplete in a course.

I never worked as a journalist, but my journalism education taught me the importance of getting the job done with what I have – and that, in turn, helped me create the life and career success I so badly wanted.

When it comes to deadlines, I find that people make two types of mistakes: 1) They miss them because they are always looking for that one additional piece of information that will bring everything together perfectly; 2) They get so focused on making them that they don’t dig deep enough to find all the information they need to do an outstanding job.

Both are problems.  When I say “go with what you’ve got,” I mean you need to find the right balance of gathering all the information you need and still meet the deadline.  Avoid problem number 1 by realizing that you’ll never know everything you want to know about a given subject.  I’ve been a career success coach for 20 years, and I still learn new stuff about life and career success every day. 

Avoid problem number 2 by not getting overly focused on the deadline.  If you do, you run the risk of not doing as good a job as you can on any given project.  Go with what you’ve got only after you do an exhaustive information search and make sure that you have all the information you can possibly find and still make the deadline.

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people meet deadlines.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 99 in Success Tweets.  “Get the job done with what you have.  Don’t worry about what you don’t have, or would like to have.”  Take personal responsibility for doing the work with what you have – or getting what you need to do the work well.  If you don’t have what you need, do whatever it takes to get it.  Make sure you have what you need to do your job well.  Taking personal responsibility for getting the job done – with what you have, not what you want – will set you apart from the pack and put you on the road to the life and career success you want and deserve.

That’s the career advice I take from Kevin Eikenberry’s comment on messy success.  What are your thoughts on this?  Please take a minute and share them with us in a comment.  As always thanks for reading my daily musings on life and career success.  I value you and I appreciate you.

Bud

PS – Success Tweets Explained, a 395 page companion book to Success Tweets is now available.  It  will sell for $39.95 on Amazon.com, but you can get a free download.  Just go to http://budurl.com/STExp to claim your copy.

I’m really enjoying writing this series of posts further explaining the ideas in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I hope you’re enjoying reading them.  I’m pleased to say that Success Tweets is now in its second printing.  You can pick up a copy at your local book store, or online at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download the eBook for free at http://www.successtweets.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Tweet 97…

Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.

I got this one from Jerry Rice an American Football player.  He is in the NFL Hall of Fame.  When he retired, he held all of the important records a wide receiver could amass.  I’ve never seen anyone better – and I’ve watched a lot of football over the years.  Growing up in Pittsburgh, Sunday’s meant two things – church and watcing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jerry Rice was well known for his commitment to fitness.  He worked out harder and longer than any other pro football player.  When he was asked the secret his success, he said, “I am willing to do the things today that others won’t do, so I can do things on Sunday that they can’t do.”  In other words – work hard, prepare, commit to taking personal responsibility for your own success.

It’s simple, really. Success is all up to you, and me, and anyone else who wants it. We all have to take personal responsibility for our own career success. I am the only one who can make me a career success. You are the only one who can make you a career success.  When you become willing to do things that others aren’t willing to do – and this can be a million little things like keeping your clothes in good repair; shining your shoes; rehearsing your presentation out loud; proofreading your emails, not just relying on spell check; staying up to date on your company, your competitors and your industry; building relationships by doing willingly for others.

If you already do these kinds of things, bravo.  You’re in the minority.  Too many people do only what they have to.  Successful people always go the extra mile.  As Jerry Rice says, they do the things others won’t.

Think for a minute.  What are the kinds of things that you can do that go above and beyond, that demonstrate your commitment to your own career success?  Make a list.  Then go about doing these things regularly.

Here’s a bit of important career advice.  Stuff happens: good stuff, bad stuff, frustrating stuff, unexpected stuff.  Successful people respond to the stuff that happens — especially the niegative stuff — in a positive way.  Humans are the only animals with free will.  That means we – you and me – get to decide how we react to every situation that comes up.  When you take responsibility for responding positively to people and events – especially negative people and events – you’re taking personal responsibiliyt for you career success, doing the things that a lot of people won’t do.  This means that you’ll be more successful in the long run.

Personal responsibility means recognizing that you are responsible for your life and the choices you make. It means that you realize that while other people and events have an impact on your life, these people and events don’t shape your life. When you accept personal responsibility for your life and career success, you own up to the fact that how you react to people and events is what’s important. And you can choose how to react to every person you meet and everything that happens to you.

The concept of personal responsibility is found in most writings on success. Stephen Covey’s first habit in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Be proactive.” My friend John Miller’s book QBQ: the Question Behind the Question asks readers to pose questions to themselves like, “What can I do to become a top performer?”  When you ask and answer this question, you’ll be on your way to doing the things that other won’t do – and getting the promotions and recognition that they can’t get.

In my opinion, all of this comes down to two words: activity and persistence.  Activity and persistence are my watchwords.  I set some very high goals for myself for every year.  I begin each year in high gear and then I kick it into overdrive.  And, I persist until I achieve all of my goals, no matter what.  I am committed to activity and persistence.

My friend, Mike Litman has some interesting things to say about activity…

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  Too many people are standing still.  Too much pondering, too little action. Too much scatterness, too little focus.  Too much talk, too little results.  In 2009, commit to a year filled with activity.  Be 1% more active each day in your business.  Start at 1%.

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  When you stand still too long, moving becomes real tough.  Very tough.  Every day, do at least one action that moves you forward.  What I love best about a lot of activity, is that I get to make mistakes and learn what works.  You can do the same.  Activity. Activity. Activity.  2009 is about you being more active then you’ve ever been.  Are you in?  Are you ready to commit to a year filled with activity?”

Kevin Eikenberry writes to leaders, but his ideas apply to anyone who wants to create life and career success.  He says…

“Let me be blunt.  We can create and engage in the best leadership skill training, we can create the best leadership development opportunities, and we can provide coaching and mentoring that is outstanding, and yet, if all of these programs and leadership activities, don’t include an ongoing persistent process of improvement – a way to instill and inspire persistence, we will fall short of what is possible…As a leader, when we practice proactive persistence – persistence that is positive and supports people through both an example and support to pursue the desired objectives persistently, we are truly leading…Ask yourself today what you can do to create greater persistence in yourself and your organization.  Your answer (and the action taken on that answer) will pay you rich rewards.”

These guys are right!  Activity and persistence will make you an outstanding performer.  And they are the key to putting the career advice in Success Tweet 97 to work.  Activity — even 1% more than you currently do — and persistence — fighting through problems and setbacks — will yield positive results in the long term.  But you have to commit to them. 

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people commit to taking responsibility for their life and career success.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 97 in Success Tweets.  “Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.”  Be willing to put in the time necessary to create the life and career success that you want and deserve.  Successful people are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.  They are active and they are persistent.  The law of inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  That’s why activity is so important.  Once you get moving, it’s easier to stay moving towards your goals.  And it’s easier to persist in the face of problems and setbacks.  To paraphrase Muhammad Ali – “Inside a ring or out, ain’t no shame in going down.  It’s staying down that’s shameful.”  Persistent people don’t stay down; they get back up and keep moving.  Make activity and persistence your watchwords.  You’ll amaze yourself with how much you will accomplish, and the life and career success you will create.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 97.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud

I’m really enjoying writing this series of posts further explaining the ideas in my latest career success coach book, Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice, All in 140 Characters or Less.  I hope you’re enjoying reading them.  I’m pleased to say that Success Tweets is now in its second printing.  You can pick up a copy at your local book store, or online at Amazon.com.  Better yet, you can download the eBook for free at http://www.successtweets.com.

Today’s career advice comes from Tweet 97…

Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.

I got this one from Jerry Rice an American Football player.  He is in the NFL Hall of Fame.  When he retired, he held all of the important records a wide receiver could amass.  I’ve never seen anyone better – and I’ve watched a lot of football over the years.  Growing up in Pittsburgh, Sunday’s meant two things – church and watcing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jerry Rice was well known for his commitment to fitness.  He worked out harder and longer than any other pro football player.  When he was asked the secret his success, he said, “I am willing to do the things today that others won’t do, so I can do things on Sunday that they can’t do.”  In other words – work hard, prepare, commit to taking personal responsibility for your own success.

It’s simple, really. Success is all up to you, and me, and anyone else who wants it. We all have to take personal responsibility for our own career success. I am the only one who can make me a career success. You are the only one who can make you a career success.  When you become willing to do things that others aren’t willing to do – and this can be a million little things like keeping your clothes in good repair; shining your shoes; rehearsing your presentation out loud; proofreading your emails, not just relying on spell check; staying up to date on your company, your competitors and your industry; building relationships by doing willingly for others.

If you already do these kinds of things, bravo.  You’re in the minority.  Too many people do only what they have to.  Successful people always go the extra mile.  As Jerry Rice says, they do the things others won’t.

Think for a minute.  What are the kinds of things that you can do that go above and beyond, that demonstrate your commitment to your own career success?  Make a list.  Then go about doing these things regularly.

Here’s a bit of important career advice.  Stuff happens: good stuff, bad stuff, frustrating stuff, unexpected stuff.  Successful people respond to the stuff that happens — especially the niegative stuff — in a positive way.  Humans are the only animals with free will.  That means we – you and me – get to decide how we react to every situation that comes up.  When you take responsibility for responding positively to people and events – especially negative people and events – you’re taking personal responsibiliyt for you career success, doing the things that a lot of people won’t do.  This means that you’ll be more successful in the long run.

Personal responsibility means recognizing that you are responsible for your life and the choices you make. It means that you realize that while other people and events have an impact on your life, these people and events don’t shape your life. When you accept personal responsibility for your life and career success, you own up to the fact that how you react to people and events is what’s important. And you can choose how to react to every person you meet and everything that happens to you.

The concept of personal responsibility is found in most writings on success. Stephen Covey’s first habit in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is, “Be proactive.” My friend John Miller’s book QBQ: the Question Behind the Question asks readers to pose questions to themselves like, “What can I do to become a top performer?”  When you ask and answer this question, you’ll be on your way to doing the things that other won’t do – and getting the promotions and recognition that they can’t get.

In my opinion, all of this comes down to two words: activity and persistence.  Activity and persistence are my watchwords.  I set some very high goals for myself for every year.  I begin each year in high gear and then I kick it into overdrive.  And, I persist until I achieve all of my goals, no matter what.  I am committed to activity and persistence.

My friend, Mike Litman has some interesting things to say about activity…

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  Too many people are standing still.  Too much pondering, too little action. Too much scatterness, too little focus.  Too much talk, too little results.  In 2009, commit to a year filled with activity.  Be 1% more active each day in your business.  Start at 1%.

“Activity. Activity. Activity.  When you stand still too long, moving becomes real tough.  Very tough.  Every day, do at least one action that moves you forward.  What I love best about a lot of activity, is that I get to make mistakes and learn what works.  You can do the same.  Activity. Activity. Activity.  2009 is about you being more active then you’ve ever been.  Are you in?  Are you ready to commit to a year filled with activity?”

Kevin Eikenberry writes to leaders, but his ideas apply to anyone who wants to create life and career success.  He says…

“Let me be blunt.  We can create and engage in the best leadership skill training, we can create the best leadership development opportunities, and we can provide coaching and mentoring that is outstanding, and yet, if all of these programs and leadership activities, don’t include an ongoing persistent process of improvement – a way to instill and inspire persistence, we will fall short of what is possible…As a leader, when we practice proactive persistence – persistence that is positive and supports people through both an example and support to pursue the desired objectives persistently, we are truly leading…Ask yourself today what you can do to create greater persistence in yourself and your organization.  Your answer (and the action taken on that answer) will pay you rich rewards.”

These guys are right!  Activity and persistence will make you an outstanding performer.  And they are the key to putting the career advice in Success Tweet 97 to work.  Activity — even 1% more than you currently do — and persistence — fighting through problems and setbacks — will yield positive results in the long term.  But you have to commit to them. 

The common sense career success coach point here is simple.  Successful people commit to taking responsibility for their life and career success.  They follow the career advice in Tweet 97 in Success Tweets.  “Today, do the things others won’t do; so tomorrow you can do the things they can’t.”  Be willing to put in the time necessary to create the life and career success that you want and deserve.  Successful people are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.  They are active and they are persistent.  The law of inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.  That’s why activity is so important.  Once you get moving, it’s easier to stay moving towards your goals.  And it’s easier to persist in the face of problems and setbacks.  To paraphrase Muhammad Ali – “Inside a ring or out, ain’t no shame in going down.  It’s staying down that’s shameful.”  Persistent people don’t stay down; they get back up and keep moving.  Make activity and persistence your watchwords.  You’ll amaze yourself with how much you will accomplish, and the life and career success you will create.

That’s my take on the career advice in Success Tweet 97.  What’s yours?  Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us.  As always, thanks for reading.

Bud