© 2000-2002 Elena Fawkner
Rule 4 - It can be done
Don't allow self-imposed limitations to restrict what you can and will do. You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Well, of course, it must be something that is within your power - you can't just set your mind on growing a third arm, for example.
But for anything that is within human power and capability, the saying "where there's a will is a way" is so true.
Get into the discipline of planning your life and where you want it to go. By setting goals and planning the steps that will help you reach them, you can achieve literally anything your heart desires.
Rule 5 - Be careful what you choose, you may get it
Following on from this, it should go without saying that what you set for your goals is something you truly want because if you do practice the discipline of goal setting you will surely get it.
Rule 6 - Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision
Keep your eye on the prize and don't be distracted by what's happening on the sidelines. Sure, you may not have entered the marathon had you known there were going to be 1,000 other runners but does that mean entering the marathon was a bad idea? No.
Make your decisions based on quality information and what's in the best interests of your business. If someone else comes along who represents competition for your business, don't be put off your game. Just run your own race. There's ALWAYS a way to distinguish yourself from your competition.
Rule 7 - You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours
IGNORE your mother when she tells you you're crazy for chucking in your nice SAFE secure little job to start your own business. Follow your dream, no-one else's.
Rule 8 - Check small things
Like the fine print in contracts. Like the URL in that sales letter you've just put the finishing touches on. Like your spelling and punctuation. In other words, pay attention to detail.
Rule 9 - Share credit
You've heard the saying, "no man is an island". No woman is either. Remember and acknowledge the people who have helped and continue to help you get where you want to go. Acknowledge the achievements of others.
Rule 10 - Remain calm, be careful
Frenzy and recklessness are hardly the prescription for long-term success in your business. In the face of unexpected challenges, unexplained downturns in business or failure to achieve the results expected, recognize that these are just part of the thrust and parry of business life and use a calm, methodical approach to the problem.
Don't just react blindly or chuck away all your hard work and try something completely different unless a thorough, calm and careful investigation convinces you that you are completely off-beam.
Calmly analyze your situation and use your intelligence to correct the situation. Sometimes a one degree turn of the wheel is all that is required to get back on course, not a completely new rudder.
Rule 11 - Have a vision, be demanding
This rule goes hand in hand with rules 4 and 5. In order to set goals and plan ways to achieve them you must first set your vision. Think big, be brave. There is nothing you can't achieve so make sure your efforts are going to be for something truly worthwhile.
Rule 12 - Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers
All of us have moments of self-doubt or even fear when embarking on a journey to an unknown destination. If what you have planned for yourself brings with it feelings of anxiety, nervousness, even fear, pay attention to them but don't take their counsel.
They are symptoms of grand thinking, of stretching beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone. As the book says, feel the fear and do it anyway.
Rule 13 - Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier
This rule is closely related to rule 1. Believe that things will work out, that they will look better in the morning, that everything's going to be OK. Repeat the words to yourself as a mantra if you must but instill a spirit of indomitable optimism in your outlook and you will attract success into your life.
Rule 14 - Sometimes being responsible means pissing people off
You can't please all of the people all of the time so don't waste your time or energy even trying. You have a responsibility to the ultimate success of your business and to your own personal success. If that means you occasionally have to say no to people to stay true to your objectives, do it. If it means you have to alienate some people because they don't personally agree with what you are doing, that's their problem.
In other words, stay focused on your plan. If others don't like it or agree with it, too bad.
Rule 15 - You never know what you can get away with unless you try
If you don't ask you don't get. And if you don't take you don't get. Leave nothing on the table. If an opportunity comes along, take it. It may not come again. And remember, in chaos there is opportunity. While everyone else is running around like chooks with their heads cut off, you just bring up the rear and clean up on all the opportunities that are just lying there for the taking among the chicken scratch.
Hindsight truly is 20/20, no doubt about it. Perhaps, like me, you're thinking that if you'd known then what you know now, you would have gone a lot further a lot faster. But as with any form of progress, it's the journey, not the destination, that provides the education and creates the experience and, through it, wisdom. And that's something no book can teach you and money can't buy.
