Your weekly source of sales, marketing, customer service, and management insight - compliments of ETE REMAN

100 Ways to Succeed in Business

February 14, 2013 By Captain Reman Leave a comment

Today marks our 100th weekly Reman U column. 100 articles. 100 ideas. 100 newsletters. 100 Mondays/Thursdays. And, 100 times the effort.

©istock.com/efesan

©istock.com/efesan


What does it take to do something every week, without fail, 100 weeks straight? Pretty much the same things it takes to be successful at anything. As I write about the elements and attributes the Reman University ezine requires, think about your own situation. Think about your own business. Think about what you need to be successful and what you need to hit your target.
1. Put your promise out there. Holding yourself accountable is difficult, but it becomes considerably easier when you make your promises public. I can rationalize almost any failure to myself, but I would never try to explain why “I didn’t” or “I couldn’t” to my colleagues, my family, or my friends. Tell others what you plan to do. We asked you to sign up for our ezine and promised to email you every week. We would never let you down. Post your mission on Facebook or hang it in your cubicle. Make a commitment to deliver.
2. I will instead of I want. Instead of saying, I want to write an ezine every week, say I will write an ezine every week. Same thing for weight loss, sales calls, and revenue goals. It’s a subtle change that leads to not-so-subtle results.
3. Consistency. Get on the path and never stray. Once you have a streak going, your focus will invariably sharpen. Hit your deadline every time. No matter what.
4. Persistence. Calvin Coolidge said it best, so I’m not going to try:

5. No excuses. This one requires little explanation, but you have to understand that no means no! I mean no excuses. Not your dog ate your homework, not you’re not feeling well, not there was a snowstorm, not my boss is a jerk, not I’ve been too busy, not but I could do better if I had more time, not nothing. There is simply nothing that excuses your failure to deliver. This element is hard to hold yourself to, but it is paramount. The moment you accept one excuse, you’ll create another.
6. Let go of perfection. Don’t let yourself chase perfection to the point that it prevents you from finishing. Give yourself a timeline, work your tail off, and then call it quits when the buzzer rings. Done is the new perfect.
7. Get a team. There’s no reason to work alone (even if you really do work alone). Get some cheerleaders (friends and family), an understudy (maybe an employee who can step in and complete your work if you’re indisposed), a partner (someone who is working on a similar goal or project), a mentor (someone who has done what you want to do, or someone who can guide you the work), or anyone else you think you need to help you along the way. I may have started Reman University alone, but I certainly would have never been able to deliver the past 100 issues of this ezine without my team.
I’d like to wrap up our little milestone by saying thank you to those of you who have helped make Reman U what it is today.
Thank you, to those who simply read this ezine every week.
Thank you, to those who forward an article to friends, employees, and colleagues.
Thank you, to those who respond with insight, ideas, and questions.
Thank you, to Jim Lang for supplying us with great Aftermarket Insight.
Thank you, to CustomerLink for being our newest sidebar feature.
Thank you, to those of you who have submitted articles – namely my amazing team of sales and service people at ETE REMAN.
Thank you, to Phil Gerbyshak for helping us to get started and for passing the reins to us when we were ready.
Thank you, to Aimee Brock for her beautiful design work.
And, thank you, to Jennifer Porter for being the driving force behind Reman U’s last 50 editions. And for teaching me the value of #5 above.
Yours in Reman,
Noah Rickun (aka Captain Reman)
FILED UNDER: REMAN U ARTICLES

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