Palatable Insight Concepts

Exacting Standards: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Role of Leadership

Corporate social responsibility issues, such as business integrity, environmental stewardship, employee relations, community involvement, and human rights, are being covered in the media with greater frequency and prominence. Not coincidentally, more people than ever report that they form an impression of a company based on its social responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is no longer just "good PR" or some generalized feel-good concept; it has a definite impact on the bottom line. In this new climate of increased scrutiny and the pressure it brings to bear on companies to modify their behavior, business leaders who understand the importance of CSR are becoming important catalysts for compliance. When the standards change, that's when it becomes more important than ever to have leaders who set the standard.

Corporate ethics programs can be cost-effective. They go a long way toward preventing lost sales, a demoralized workforce, and unethical behavior that can be increasingly costly to an organization, both in dollars and in terms of perception. Such programs can also help to attract and retain good employees who wish to work in an environment with high standards.

Forging stronger links to communities, which builds customer loyalty and reinforces employee satisfaction, often begins at the top. The leader sensitive to CSR, with all of its complexities and ramifications, is one who champions—in a prominent fashion—certain types of behavior whose business function may not be immediately evident.

The CEO who cuts the ribbon on the new company daycare center, for example, or who creates an event out of a meeting with the local wetlands preservation society, is one who understands the intricacies of context. This kind of behavior, these sorts of broad gestures cannot be expected to come from middle management and others focused, and properly so, on relatively narrow operational goals.

The interrelatedness of the company and the community, of the personal relationship employees have with the workplace, are not simple or obvious phenomena. Part of being a leader, though, is having a vision, which means seeing beyond the ordinary and delving below the surface. To effect change in the workplace, or to solidify (or rehabilitate) a company's reputation in a community represents a leadership challenge which, like so many in the upper echelons of business, amounts to setting a standard.

Chances are that a company known for its CSR, that is widely considered to be a genuinely ethical organization, is one whose leader believes in a set of values generally deemed ethical or responsible. It's a good bet that he or she has made it a key order of business that the company will behave in such a way, and that he or she will personally promote such values through the many vehicles companies have to promote their initiatives.

Many fundamental leadership concepts, such as buy-in and change management, could be said to revolve around the establishment of and commitment to standards. To set the standard is to be the standard—through your words, actions, and beliefs.

If you want to set the standard, a good way to start is to learn from others who have already done it. Trump University's upcoming Web seminar series The Trump Way to Wealth features seven standard-bearing masters of wealth creation, including Donald Trump himself. This exclusive event promises to be an interactive extravaganza. You can hear presentations by world-class experts from the comfort of your home or office, and ask questions too! Attendance is limited, so act now. To learn more, click here.


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Set the Standard Every Day


When Lance Armstrong scored his record seventh win of the Tour de France this summer, sports writers around the world observed that he had set a new standard for future generations of bicycle racers to follow. What exactly does it mean to set a new standard? It is an interesting question to explore.

One thing is certain. To be a standard-setter is an honor that not many people achieve. When Enzo Ferrari built the first 12-cylinder race cars half a century ago, he set a performance standard that had other racing teams struggling to keep up. When Arthur Rubinstein played the piano works of Chopin, he set a standard that an entire generation of pianists has been trying to equal. And at Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos has set standards that other Internet retailers will be hard-pressed to match.

I could continue adding names to that list of standard-setters, but you get the point. Certain people set performance standards so high, other people spend their lives trying to equal them.

The real question is, how can you join that select company of standard setters? When you analyze the lives of Armstrong, Ferrari and the others, you arrive at some interesting answers to that question.

First of all, you discover that setting new standards doesn't mean doing things that nobody else does. Look at Lance Armstrong. He is not the only competitive cyclist on our planet. There are tens of thousands of other racers. The difference doesn't lie in what he does, but in the fact that he does it better than anybody else can. He performs routine tasks, but with extraordinary skill.

So the secret of being a standard setter is relatively simple. If you invest the effort to make sure that everything you do exceeds expectations by a healthy margin, you set standards. And you move steadily ahead of the pack.

If you stay alert, you will see that every day presents countless opportunities to set high benchmarks for others to follow:

Beat deadlines. If someone expects you to turn in a project in a week, submit it in three days. Exceeding expectations is a quick path to setting new standards.

Keep every promise you make. If you tell a friend that you will write a letter of recommendation for his daughter who is applying to college, have that letter on his desk within 48 hours. Don't make him call in a week to remind you. There are no small promises—only small people who don't fulfill them.

Be a better communicator than everyone around you at work. Listen to people and ask follow-up questions to be sure you have understood. Not many people invest even a few extra minutes in these steps. Yet if you do, you will set a standard for the way people should communicate in your organization.

Respect everyone, especially people who are different from you. That's not simplistic advice. Stop and think about how rare genuine respect for others can be in our world. Practice it and watch your leadership profile grow.

Make your products shine. If you are a real estate developer, for example, make your properties more elegant than those being offered by your competitors. Standard-raisers often create things of beauty.

Opportunities to set new standards are literally right before you, every day of the week. Look for them, seize them, and for your efforts you will be rewarded with exceptional recognition and an exceptional life.



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Set the Standard (And Others Will Follow....

People who work for me know that my media persona of being positive and enthusiastic isn't just a façade. I really am that way, from the inside out. I have big ideas and enough energy to follow through on them. Those who are around me will eventually catch on that this is how I operate. It's a good approach that obviously works. It's contagious in the best sense of the word. One thing everyone knows about The Trump Organization is that we get things done. A big reason for this is because I've set the standard and everyone follows suit.

If you like to work hard, you will attract people with the same ethic. The people who work with me enjoy the daily challenges and set their own standards to meet those challenges. Their pattern of thinking matches mine: How do we accomplish more? How do we get to where we want to go? It's a combination of vision, courage, and discipline to realize that the possibilities are always there. But if you're thinking too small, you might miss them.

Ask yourself this question: What standard would you like to be known for? Then go about setting that standard for yourself. No one else can set it for you. I remember when my father couldn't understand why I wanted to develop properties in Manhattan. I'd had my eye on Manhattan since I was in college; it was a longstanding goal of mine. Years later, when I was describing my ideas for Trump Tower to my father, including the glass and bronze exterior, he couldn't understand why I would choose anything other than bricks to build with. Bricks worked for him, why not for me? Because I was setting my own standard. When Trump Tower opened to wonderful reviews, and became a landmark building, it was clear that my standard had been accepted, and in a big way.

I had also been advised to put up beautiful paintings in the lobby of Trump Tower. Even though I like beautiful art, to me this seemed old fashioned and unoriginal. I decided to put up a waterfall instead, which is like a sculpture in itself. It has attracted far more attention than if I had put up paintings. It's over 80 feet high and cost $2 million to build. It's absolutely spectacular. It's larger than life, and a big attraction in New York City. Once again, I was setting my own standard.

When I decided to rebuild Wollman Rink in Central Park, I did so with my own principles in mind: Do the best job as quickly as possible and for the least amount of money. The city had been trying for seven years to rebuild and restore this beautiful skating rink, then I stepped in and finished it in three months and at less than 10 percent of the City's $21 million cost. Everyone benefited. Those are my standards, and I met them.

You can do the same. Just focus on your own standards and stay with them tenaciously. You will be defining yourself and your future success in the process. Good luck!


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Turn Your Intuition into a Power Tool for Success

One 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 had a funny-looking device called a mouse that let the user open files by clicking on pull-down menus. The moment he laid eyes on the Alto, Jobs knew he had seen the future of home computers.

He spent a few years developing the Macintosh. Then he launched it with a commercial during the 1983 Super Bowl that showed mighty IBM being vanquished by his Mac—a little mouse-equipped computer that greeted its users with “Hello” instead of a line of incomprehensible code. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What was going on over at IBM at the time? In 1981 IBM had succeeded with its introduction of the IBM PC, which was luring business customers away from mainframes. But to develop computers for the home, IBM was relying on committees. Build something cheaper and more stripped-down than a full-size IBM PC, they reasoned, and IBM could steal the home market from Commodore and Atari. That line of thinking culminated with IBM’s 1983 launch of one of the biggest duds in computer history—the PC Junior. It looked like an IBM PC. The only problem was, it didn’t do anything.

The story of the Mac and the PC Junior tells us that, in most cases, inspiration beats intellect.
Access will automatically follow, right? Well, not necessarily. When Edison invented the phonograph and the light bulb, the marketplace responded. When he invented a concrete house that could be built in just one day—an equally astonishing idea—nobody was interested.

How do you know whether to trust your intuition? The best way is to adapt the principle that Ronald Reagan developed for U. S. foreign policy: Trust, but verify.

You should respect the value of what your gut is telling you, but you must expose it to some brutal tests. After all, the world is going to beat the heck out of your ideas. The best way to understand their worth is to beat the heck out of them first.
I once interviewed a man who taught me a lot about the danger of trusting instincts alone. His job was to recruit undercover operatives, people who were very likely to be taken hostage in foreign countries. If he made the wrong choices, people could die.

“How do you get a sense of how people will behave if they are kidnapped?” I asked. “What questions do you ask them in interviews?”
“Oh, we don’t get a sense of how they will behave,” he told me. “We have to know, so we kidnap them.”

That’s right. He and his team actually abducted the candidates they were screening because they needed to know how they would behave if they were snatched off the street, blindfolded, and driven to a remote location. The recruiters had to know, not just think they knew. The cost of failure was too high.

The cost of failure can be just as high for your ideas. But if you break some rules, you can find ways to test what your gut is telling you.

You just saw a house and your gut feeling is that you could fix it up and sell it for a quick profit. Okay, fair enough. But first, why not run a fictitious ad for the house in a few newspapers and see if anybody calls? The $50 you spend on the ad will be the best money you ever spent.

You have an inspired idea for a new cell phone accessory that you just know will make you a fortune. You could hire a patent attorney and start spending big bucks to develop it. Or you could call your neighbors into your house, show them what you have in mind, and invite them to destroy your idea.

When you do all you can to shoot down your best ideas, you end up rejecting many of them. But the ones that survive are often real winners.

With prudence and hard work, you can be another Steve Jobs. Your gut, in partnership with your mind, will show you the way.


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Nurture Your Instincts

We all have instincts. The important thing is to know how to use them. You may have superb academic credentials, but if you don’t use your instincts you might have a hard time getting to and staying at the top.

Knowing how to use your instincts is one of those gray areas that remain an enigma even to those who have finely honed business skills. It’s hard to explain how business instincts are acquired. Some of them are inexplicable. Nevertheless, there are signs that can guide you to or away from certain people and certain deals.

It’s also a matter of tuning in. Have you ever noticed that when you are in a situation, which produces heightened alertness, whether it’s a matter of survival or trying to pass an important exam, you are very careful in your responses? Suddenly, everything you say or do matters a lot. That’s one situation in which your instincts are there for you. Logic may say one thing, instincts may say another. Honing both logic and instincts will help you make the best decisions.

Listen to what your instincts are trying to tell you. Spend some time with this innate aspect of yourself. Look at handling your instincts as an acquired skill that can give you an edge in many situations, business or otherwise. There are a lot of things we can’t see or hear, which is when we use instincts to guide us. I remember someone once asking me whether I’d rather have a guide or a map if I were in a jungle. I’d choose a guide.

Follow your instincts, go with your gut, and you’ll have yourself a guide. Good luck!


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Engaging the Audience: The Point Where Learning Begins

For 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 audience in mind. It seems like a basic rule of thumb, but judging by so much of what passes for education these days, it is a rule that is too often ignored.

The lecture format is inherently flawed because it overlooks the way that people learn. “People learn best when they care about what they’re doing and are emotionally engaged in the process,” says Robert Kaeding, Trump University’s vice president of course development. Mr. Kaeding has spent years studying the learning process to create practical, interactive courses that prepare students for the real world.

“Lectures are hard to do well because they don’t engage students on a personal level,” says Mr. Kaeding. “In a sense, any given lecture is a compromise because some people know what you’re talking about, some don’t have a clue, and some just don’t care.”

Sometimes there’s no avoiding a lecture. For example, when a visiting luminary comes to town for a conference, he must say his piece quickly and efficiently to a large group of people. So, the throng of well-wishers and knowledge-seekers gathers with enthusiasm, hoping to be edified and inspired. Then, like so many podium lightweights—too weak to carry a crowd—the exalted expert in his field prattles on until the audience is thoroughly numbed.
All lectures are not created equal. What makes a good one? “A good lecturer tries to relate his content to what people in the audience care about,” says Mr. Kaeding. “One of the best ways to do this is through personal anecdotes, which make the lecture less of a one-sided speech.
“A story will strike a chord with audience members when it relates to something in their own lives. The personal story is a way to learn through someone else’s experience, and it gives the audience something that’s personally relevant, in an immediate, visceral way.”
A good teacher is by definition a good storyteller, and a good storyteller is not a bore. Charisma, charm, and showmanship, those seemingly frivolous attributes, are not unimportant when it comes to educating people or simply getting a message across. Few if any business leaders have taken this to heart more than Donald Trump. He is a showman par excellence, strikingly distinct from the drab cadres of corporate officers content to drone on about headcounts and shareholder value.

In his public persona, Mr. Trump has made the personal anecdote his trademark, and it serves to connect his own singular life with other people's lives. You may never have the billionaire’s assets or lifestyle, but you can learn from his stories. You may never be as deep in debt as he was at his low point, but you can certainly gain some measure of insight by hearing how he deftly climbed out of such a gargantuan hole.

In the learning process, entertainment should never be an end in itself. It is a way to connect with the student, and make the learning experience real. That's what Trump University curriculum does; it is practical, success-oriented education that engages the student in a personal way.


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Value Your Audience as Individuals (And Maximize Your Profits)

We 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 us to know our audience and to know our customers.

Unfortunately, this advice frequently gets lost in a sea of demographic and psychographic facts and figures. Far too often, “know your audience” gets boiled down to nothing more than, say, “age 25 to 49, married, two kids, and a $400,000 house in the suburbs.”

In this blur of statistics the actual person, the human being on the receiving end, is ignored and often disrespected. It is this impersonal mentality that drives companies to put us on hold for 20 minutes, and then tell us not to hang up because they value our business. If they really knew their audience they would know that such false assertions of caring antagonize, rather than build, customer loyalty.

There are, however, different approaches to customer service. The other day I walked into a Kinko’s/FedEx center to photocopy and ship the manuscript for my next book. The clerk greeted me pleasantly and then asked if I had been to Singapore recently. Startled, I said, “Yes, about six months ago, but how did you know that?”

She replied that she had noticed Singapore written under the small design on my knit shirt. This customer service representative continued to make conversation. She asked about my trip to Asia and my book. She helped me make my photocopies and complete the FedEx paperwork. When I started to leave, she bid me adieu and said she would look forward to my return.

Although I suspect that she had never read Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends and Influence People, she was inadvertently putting his wisdom to work. She showed sincere interest in her customer.

More than 20 years ago I stayed at a Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas. At that time, the hotel had five different restaurants that opened onto a common circular entry area. As I was wandering around comparing menus, one maitre d' stepped out, asked me about my dining preferences, and invited me to try his restaurant. Of course I did, but that’s not the main part of the story.
Four nights later I was back wandering around the same circular area. The same maitre d' again stepped out to greet me. Only this time he said, “Hello, Mr. Eldred. Nice to see you. Will you be joining us again for dinner this evening?” Of course I did.

Although two decades separate these experiences, each illustrates the most important part of “know your audience.” Much more than abstract statistics, these experiences remind us to relate to others in a sincere and respectful manner. Sure, demographics and psychographics may help us “target” customers (a rather ugly metaphor that, unfortunately, seems all too apt). But to best persuade, influence, and motivate others, we should express interest and appreciation, attend to details, and let other people understand that you value them as people first and as customers or “profit centers” second.

When you say to yourself, “I need to know my audience,” think first about our universal need to feel valued. Before you define your audience in terms of statistical differences and market segments, take care to recognize those human needs that apply to nearly everyone in every audience.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 10:25:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

All the World’s a Stage

One key to winning is knowing where the other side is coming from. Whether you’re involved in negotiations, a war, or public speaking, this information can be invaluable. It’s also necessary if you hope to connect in any way with other people.

Life is a performance, no matter what field you’re in; large parts of life and business involve acting. Acting encompasses people skills, negotiation skills, public relations, salesmanship, and the ability to read your audience, whether that audience consists of the four people in your office or 40,000 people when you’re making a speech.

In the performance that is social interaction you need to begin by considering this: Is there a common denominator between you? Sometimes, even the weather can be a good starting point. Severe weather can affect all of us, whether we’re billionaires or college students. Though there are some obvious commonalities, others take more time to determine. I remember negotiating with someone I didn’t like very much, which put up an invisible wall between us. Then I discovered he was an avid golfer like myself. We suddenly had something to talk about that we both enjoyed, and proceedings went much better after that.

I’ve heard many stories about people who got terrific jobs, not because of their college grades, but because of their hobbies and endeavors outside of their field. Granted, they had the credentials to begin with, but so do a lot of people. The people in charge of hiring were looking for something else, something extra—a common denominator aside from the obvious requirements. I know a young lawyer who was hired by a top law firm because, in addition to doing well in law school, he also had a master’s degree in music. His music degree mattered because the partner doing the hiring happened to be a musicologist in his private time so he was aware of the amount of discipline a degree in music requires. It would also provide them with a common denominator outside the usual legal environment, which would enhance their daily routine.

Comedians know how to play to their audience. The best public speakers know how to do that, too. Step number one is to know who your audience is. In my book How to Get Rich, I mention the common denominator as a way to relate to people. Ask yourself, “What do we all have in common?” I may be a billionaire, but I get stuck in traffic jams, too. I have bad days just like everyone else. Realize that a lot of your experiences can be understood and appreciated by your audience because they’ve had them, too. Make an effort to find what you have in common and lead with it. If you take the time to think about it, you can create a bond that didn’t exist before.

I recently spoke to an audience of about 40,000 people. Afterwards, a member of my staff asked me if such large speaking engagements make me nervous. I said no because I had finally realized a large part of life is acting, and public speaking is an act. That perspective frees you from nervousness and allows you to focus on and know your audience.

You can save yourself from some unnecessary (and unpleasant) learning experiences if you realize that life is like performance art. Understand that as a performer, you have a responsibility to your audience to perform to the best of your ability. You also have to have the goods to captivate your audience, no matter how many people are there. Performers prepare for every performance. That’s showmanship, and that’s life. It’s also a way to the top. Learn, know, and show. It’s a proven formula. Start putting it to use today.



DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

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Experience and Learning: The Guided Path to Perfection

You’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 you learn. Learning by doing, then, actually means guided practice makes perfect.

Some business practitioners boast 20 years of experience. But really, they might have had only one year of experience 20 times over. I know an owner of a paint and wallpaper store who complained about the failure of his business to make a big profit. This owner blamed his “cheapskate” customers, he blamed government taxes and regulations, and he blamed the weather. He blamed anything and anyone but himself.

During the 22 years this small business owner struggled to survive, he never read a book on sales or marketing, never enrolled in any type of professional development course, never conducted a customer survey, and never shopped his competition to gain insight from their practices and operating procedures. Yet, whenever I suggested that he should try these or other methods to improve, he would respond with something like, “I’ve been in this business for years, ain’t nobody going to teach me nothing I don’t already know.”

This owner erred in the worst way possible. He violated the cardinal rule of learning by doing. He failed to acknowledge his own ignorance. He failed to ask probing questions like:
How can I improve?
Are there better ways to run this business?
How can I generate new ideas?
What am I doing that I should change?
How might I better serve my customers?
This owner fooled himself into believing that “doing” alone would give him the ability and experience necessary to grow his business to the level he wanted. He was unwilling to understand that to learn by doing you must first admit imperfect knowledge and imperfect practice. Then you must experiment, measure results, and compare them against ideal standards and principles. You must consciously work to improve. Even if you achieve Nirvana today, you must prepare for change tomorrow. What worked in the past won’t likely work in the same way in the future.
A Personal Odyssey of Learning

I have owned rental properties since I was an undergraduate in college. I have consulted with Fortune 500 companies. I have written two dozen books. I have taught in the graduate business programs of top-ranked universities. Nevertheless, I am always trying to learn more. I read widely, attend seminars, speak with other professionals and, most importantly, I listen closely to my customers.

For example, if I lose a tenant, I want to learn why. If market vacancy rates weaken (or tighten), I want to learn why. I persistently look for ways to cut my properties’ operating expenses, increase my rental rates, and offer my tenants a better value for the money they pay. Instead of blaming others for my weaknesses and shortcomings, I realize that by devoting attention to my ventures, I can consistently improve my performance—and so can everyone.

I learned this lesson years back when I first became a college professor and was leasing many of my rental apartments and houses to college students. These students routinely complained that their landlords treated them poorly and offered less than desirable rental units. To me, these complaints signaled an opportunity.

I discovered that most landlords not only ignored such complaints, but they firmly believed that the student tenants deserved what they got. “They will just tear the place up” was the common attitude that experience had supposedly taught these owners. So why worry about student-tenant complaints and protests? These owners had learned by doing, but they learned the wrong lesson—much to my benefit.

I figured that if I listened more closely to the students' comments, they would tell me what they really wanted. In response, I could fashion a rental property that would “wow” my tenants. With a better, more competitive property, I would attract a higher quality tenant, and at the same time charge higher rents and have lower vacancies and lower turnover.

This strategy worked. My experimental apartment building soon established itself as one of the most desirable places for students to live. When residents did move, their units were nearly always filled with referrals. All in all, my changes boosted the value of the property and at the same time greatly reduced the time and effort spent managing that property.

You can achieve similar results with whatever business ventures you pursue. Just remember, experience often confirms our preconceived biases. Other property owners used their experience to justify treating their tenants poorly. My friend who owned the paint and wallpaper store used his experience to blame everyone but himself for his failure. You will always learn by doing, but what you learn depends greatly on the mindset you bring to the learning experience.

So I encourage you to open your mind, experiment, discover the best practices and principles and seek feedback. Then put what you learn into practice. In that way, you will not only learn by doing, you will learn to improve by doing, and that is your ultimate goal.


DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

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Book Smart vs. Street Smart

We 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 whose members had less formal education. When you look closely at both sides of the spectrum, you realize that the key ingredient to success is experience. Experience comes from action and action is synonymous with doing.

Learning by doing comes down to proving yourself. When I was in school, I worked hard and even studied foreclosures in my spare time. This wouldn’t have meant much, though, if I hadn’t put my knowledge to the test by actually finding a foreclosure to invest in and then doing it.

I found a 1,200 unit residential development that had 800 vacant apartments. It had become a disaster. The developers had gone under and the government had foreclosed, but I saw it as a great opportunity to learn by doing. I learned a lot, and I made a good profit. Plus, I got the confidence to move forward in my real estate career.

This would not have happened if I hadn’t put my knowledge to work for me. It also wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t spent time studying and preparing for such an opportunity. Learning and doing have to work together to be effective. Knowledge alone isn’t enough. You have to act on it, but it’s hard to do anything effectively without good information.

Did you ever notice how easy some things look until you try them yourself? Golf can look effortless and non-athletic until you try to play a decent game. Suddenly, it takes on an entirely new dimension. Don’t underestimate anything until you’ve tried it yourself. The real pros make extremely difficult maneuvers look easy because they’ve spent thousands of hours perfecting their technique. You probably haven’t seen them practicing, but they have been. They’re not armchair golfers; they’ve been out there doing it for a long time. It’s one thing to prepare, but it's another thing to do.

I think a lot of people are afraid to fail so they don’t try. They talk, but don’t do. That’s a great formula for failure. My advice is to take some risks, even if you fail. There has never been and there will never be an Olympic ice skater who hasn’t taken a spill on the ice, no matter how much she knew about ice-skating. She's acquired her skill by doing, not by watching.

When I was interested in acquiring the Commodore Hotel near Grand Central years ago, a friend told reporters my idea was like “fighting for a seat on the Titanic.” I worked against great odds, but the Hyatt Hotel not only became a huge success, it began the redevelopment of the dilapidated area around Grand Central. I learned by doing, but I was also motivated by all the talkers who just complained about how crummy the area had become. They made me think: Why not do something about it instead?

Apply this thinking to yourself and to your situation. You will not only learn a lot, you will learn how much you didn’t know, which is equally important. So give yourself a challenge, not once in awhile, but every day.

Knowledge requires patience; action requires courage. Put them both together and you’ll be a winner.


DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 10:13:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

The Path to Success: A Long, Winding Road

Jamie 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. He left school with a degree and a working business plan. Now, more than five years later, he is on schedule to open the first of many Surfparks facilities in Orlando, Florida in spring 2006.Tenacity and vision were crucial factors in Mr. Meiselman’s realization of his plan. He discovered, though, that these qualities, often thought of as wholly personal, are subject to a number of external factors that can ultimately determine whether an entrepreneur succeeds.

When Mr. Meiselman began circulating his plan, he was greatly encouraged by the positive feedback he received—many business experts and savvy investors told him his idea was solid and had a lot of potential. Market conditions, however, were less than favorable. The internet bubble was about to burst and most investors were wary of even the most promising ideas. A variety of other factors combined to create a challenging environment for Mr. Meiselman’s idea. The odds were stacked against him and the entrepreneurial process itself seemed to present other major difficulties.

“Even if your idea is great and you come across as a manager who will run the business competently, you’re only as good as the other business plans on a potential investor’s desk,” says Mr. Meiselman. “Your idea may not be right for a potential financier for reasons that have nothing at all to do with you.”

As Mr. Meiselman continued to modify his business plan and integrate the advice he received from those to whom he showed the plan, the positive feedback he received helped him weather the adversity.

“Seeing evidence for the potential of my idea ultimately kept me going. A business plan is all about assumptions, and when you see your assumptions validated by others—including potential investors and customers—it really motivates you.”

Tenacity, beyond the role it plays in personal motivation, is a key factor in how others involved in an entrepreneur’s enterprise perceive him or her. “With most business ideas you can’t do it yourself,” says Meiselman. “I have two partners and 50 investors. Tenacity is important because it shows the people around you that you’ve got what it takes to get through the rough times, and that you’re going to maintain your focus and keep a level head.”

Tenacity, vision, and motivation are the key elements required for any entrepreneur to reach the starting gates of his or her business. These three elements, Meiselman says, are completely interconnected, and must all be present to ensure that an entrepreneur succeeds. “Motivation is the engine, tenacity is the fuel, and vision is the course you’re following. If you’re missing any one factor, the others won’t work or will be weakened.”


DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 10:10:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Reinvent Yourself to Reach Your Dreams

Dr. 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 noticed an ant that was trying to find its way around a big stick that lay in its path. First, the ant tried to climb over the stick. It was too high! But that didn’t slow the ant down. It sped up and started to dart right and left, constantly trying new angles. In a few minutes, it got around the stick and was on its way.

This story teaches two essential success secrets:
Never stop moving if you are blocked. Don’t sit down. Don’t make excuses. Don’t call a meeting about the stick. Feel your energy rise and bring all your fighting spirit to the process of finding your way around.

Keep trying new approaches. Don’t keep batting your head into the same obstacle in the same way. Be flexible instead and try everything you can to get around.
The Power of Reinventing YourselfNever stop moving . . . and keep trying new things That’s another way of saying that to reach your dreams, you need to keep reinventing yourself.
How do you reinvent yourself? Start by studying the lives of successful people:

Bill Gates started as a computer nerd. At some point, he realized that to attain his full stature, he needed to refashion himself into a highly skilled entrepreneur. He did, and now Microsoft is everywhere.

Donald J. Trump has reinvented himself many times. Early in his career, he developed properties in Queens, New York. He could have stopped there and built a lucrative real estate enterprise that would have been the envy of many. But to attain his fullest potential, he had to reinvent himself as a Manhattan real estate developer. He did, and then he kept reinventing himself as hotel owner, casino owner, author, celebrity, and more.

Sam Walton was an old-school retailer who distrusted computers. But when growth of Wal-Mart slowed, he honestly admitted that his personal technology intolerance was the reason. He did an about-face, studied computer science and made Wal-Mart a leader in retail computerization. The rest is history.

Reinvent, ReinventReinvent yourself wherever you feel blocked. If you dream of becoming a legendary salesperson but the big accounts elude you, reinvent yourself as a consultant who helps businesses meet their needs with products you can provide. If you dream of building a real estate empire but feel blocked, find a partner and start investing as a team. If those things don’t work, try something else. Don’t sweat it. Don’t slow down. Behave like that ant and you cannot be defeated.

And don’t forget that education plays a central role in self-reinvention. Be sure to access all the learning tools you can. Find online courses and other resources that meet your needs. What you understand, you can become.


DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 10:05:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Be Tough and Tenacious and Never Give Up

Sometimes 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 you don’t know about me, like how I waited thirty years for one project to get going. That’s a long time to wait.

Be tenacious. You won’t get very far otherwise. You also have to be tough. Tough is what you are when you refuse to give in or give up. You have to fight the good fight. Very few things of worth are easy achievements. That’s just the way it works.

I remember attending a lecture on creativity, and the speaker was making the point that creativity and tenacity go together and are important for great accomplishment. He asked us, “What if Michelangelo had said ‘I don’t do ceilings’ and walked away from painting the Sistine Chapel?”

It was an interesting thought. But considering Michelangelo’s character, painting a ceiling probably represented a creative challenge, and it certainly was. The only reason it got done was because he was a tenacious guy who never gave up. But as I’ve mentioned before, you’ve got to love what you’re doing, then nothing will seem impossible. Challenges will become pleasures, not chores.

There will always be obstacles and problems along the way. Being tough will enable you to work through them without becoming worn-out or negative. In fact, you should expect problems. That will save you the time wasted on surprise or dismay when they surface.

Never giving up is courage. Courage is the opposite of fear. Do not allow fear to paralyze you. Mark Twain put it well: “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

Being tough and tenacious can help you move forward to achieve what your creativity has presented to you. Sometimes the most talented people fail and those who are far less talented succeed. Those who succeed, regardless of their talent, move forward with confidence and know they will never have a good reason to give up. There are some areas where I do not accept excuses, and this is one of them. Keep that in mind. So, get to work. Be tough, be tenacious, and win big.


DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 10:02:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Thinking Big: Your Vehicle to Success

Reach 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 means, whose lives just don’t play out on the grand scale of everything around them. They can turn on a TV anytime or visit a multiplex and see a world that dwarfs their own. Some react with indifference, while others seethe with jealously and frustration. Then there are those who are emboldened by this grand landscape. It helps fuel their ambition to reach their outsized vision. These people think, “I may be little now, but not for long.”

When you truly think big, you never feel small. Your vision elevates you above your surroundings. Your vision protects you, too, by providing a bulwark against bitterness and resignation, afflictions common to the smalltime and small-minded.

Your vision of the future may be at odds with the facts of today. Now, this moment, might hold only failure and doubt, but to succumb to the moment before your dream takes shape is to veer toward surrender. Thinking big is what carries you past the moment.

Business, art, or any creative endeavor isn’t just a few "eureka" moments. It’s hard work, and it’s not always fun. Ideas of any complexity advance by increments and require a certain combination of broad strokes and big-picture thinking (the fun stuff), and intense concentration on details (the real work). To do it right and to see it through you need time and energy, but above all, you need discipline. Thinking big is a discipline, a means of getting past the minutiae. You can say to yourself, “Right now is a chore, but just imagine the final outcome!” That’s thinking big. It's not a passing thought: it’s a mindset.

If you think big, you will have at least the engine of genius. Palatable Insight Concept can help add the rest. Knowledge is a vehicle, and our coaching, professional package, courses and other learning products are fully compatible with any model of success, whether it’s advancing your career, starting a business, or creating wealth through investment. The biggest thoughts need a corresponding strategy to harness them. Marketing yourself and your ideas is key.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY?
WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 9:53:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

How to Think Big Every Day

“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 opportunities you don’t think you can handle. When people in authority ask you to take on a challenge you don’t think you can manage, say yes. It means they see abilities in you that you have missed. You will prove yourself and make a big impression—fast.

Example: The late Katharine Graham, probably the most powerful woman ever in American media, started life as an upper-class girl who wanted a society life. She married the editor of the Washington Post and her prospects seemed set. But then her husband killed himself in 1963, and the Post board asked her to take over the paper. Her first response was, “Who, me?” But she threw herself into it, built the Post into a world-class paper, acquired Newsweek, and even won a Pulitzer Prize over the course of a long career. The message? When opportunity knocks, answer the door.

Think Big Secret #2: Put yourself in situations that make you nervous. Seek out high-stakes circumstances that challenge you because they promise the greatest growth.

Example: Terrie Williams, who founded her own public relations firm, represents giants of sport and entertainment. She started her company by walking up to Miles Davis and saying she wanted to represent him. He became her first client, and the next one was Eddie Murphy. She says that if she feels butterflies in her stomach before negotiating with powerful people, she knows she is in the right place, not coasting.

Think Big Secret #3: Stay alert all day long for opportunities. About 99 percent of the things that happen every day might be repetitive busywork. But there is another one percent that is different because it brings significant opportunities. Stay alert for this one percent throughout the day, and don’t let it escape you.

Example: Like many people, I get hundreds of e-mails and phone calls every day. But when a chance came to use my journalistic experience to write for Trump University, I saw at once that I had been offered something significant, if I could make it happen. Unless you screen all incoming events for their “think big” potential, some important ones might slip away.
And One More Think Big Secret . . .

Constantly try to envision the significant places that your abilities and enthusiasms can take you in the world. Remember:

“Good with numbers” is not a career goal, but “CFO of a Fortune 500 Company” is.

“Excellent people skills” is not a career goal, but “head of my own HR consulting firm” is.

If you find it hard to link your abilities to big enough dreams, consider having a session or two with a qualified career counselor who can help you see the big opportunities that lie hidden in your unique gifts. An objective outsider can sometimes see your future triumphs more clearly than you can and help you plan how to achieve them.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET RICH THE PIC WAY? WITHIN 30 DAYS OF CONSISTENT FOCUS, YOU CAN MAKE IT. GIVE IT A TRY.

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 9:48:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Palatable Insight Corporation at 9:28:00 pm | Permalink | Comments