Whoops! I've Been Doing It All Wrong.

"Your mind is not a warehouse, it's a factory." So many people (me included), tend to use their mind as a warehouse. We keep arcane facts, appointments, commitments, to-do's, worries, plans, and passions all whirling around in our heads.

We think we are more productive when we have the ability to instantly 'touch' each of these items if we need to. Unfortunately, all of these items tend to get in the way when you want to do serious work or thinking.

We tend to focus on the urgent and put the important on the back burner. And when the mental whirlwind causes you to forget something or procrastinate on an important task, your mental Jenga stack of blocks fall apart.

Stop being a warehouse — try to delegate/outsource all of these items to paper, planners, and assistants so they can help you focus on the important and not only the urgent.

Start being a factory — where great ideas and plans come in, are addressed and executed, and are shipped out to your clients.

P.S. If you want to be more productive, efficient and effective, Let’s talk. I’ve worked with people from all over the world who want to expand their horizons — call me to schedule a free session.

Great Business Lessons From The Movies – Working Girl.

Let's zip back to 1988 and watch one of my favorite Harrison Ford movies . . . Working Girl! Yes, I know, Working Girl. I love this movie — it's a romantic comedy directed by Mike Nichols. It tells the inspiring story of Tess, a secretary, played by Melanie Griffith, who works in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank.

When her boss, Sigourney Weaver, breaks her leg skiing, Tess uses her absence and connections, including Weaver's boyfriend, Harrison Ford, to put forward her idea for a merger deal.

I can't believe it's 26 years old. So let's go to the business lessons:

Image Gets Your Foot In The Door.

Tess is a secretary — and back in 1988, there was a distinctive separation how secretaries and executives dressed. So she changes her whole wardrobe to fit in with the big guns.

What do you wear every day? First (and subsequent) impressions play a huge part with everyone you meet and interact with. Where do you dress with your peers? Do you wear t-shirts and shorts? Jeans?

If you want to play with the big boys and girls, you need to dress like them. Pay attention to what they wear — compliment their shirt, jacket, blouse and find out where they shop. Imitation is the sincerest form of getting ahead.

If you don't know what to wear, go here — Boys click here — Girls click here.

Who You Know Is As Important As What You Know.

Tess instantly realizes and proceeds to introduce herself to higher ranking people to get ahead.

Who do you hang around with? Who do you talk to? How's it working for you so far?

If you want to get ahead, move up and play with the adults, you need to begin to connect with other groups of influential people. Read this.

Getting Ahead Involves Taking Risks.

Throughout the movie, Tess takes calculated chances to get ahead, She absconds with her boss' wardrobe, crashes weddings, and barges into meetings.

I'm not saying for you to do that (it's a movie) — but you should step out on the ledge every so often to not only see the view, but to also move your career ahead — turbo style.

Get invited to that meeting, reach out to the dream client you always wanted to work with, ask for the business instead of shutting up. Take a chance every day.

You'll Never Know Where A Great Idea Might Come From.

Tess gets her brainstorm from reading her daily newspaper's gossip column and puts two-and-two together. It ultimately brings together two media titans and gives her a new job.

How do you get your ideas? When was the last time you pitched a new idea to your boss or client? A new product, offering or service?

You need to take a chance sometimes and tell other people — important people — influential people — your ideas. Read this.

Be Ready, In Case Opportunity Knocks.

As the scouts always say - Be Prepared. 

Get your ideas in order. Get your style in order. Get your connections in order. Start taking risks. Because in the near future, someone will be knocking at your door.

Are you ready to answer it? To let them into your business? To sell them on an idea?

You only have one chance — time to make sure you can make it happen. Like this.

Do you like Working Girl? What other lessons did you get from it?

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Which rule resonated clearly with your career? Which one made you think twice? Let's talk. I've worked with a number of clients — and we developed a successful strategy to grow your career exponentially. If you’re not a client . . . pick up the phone and call me — I offer only one complimentary session each week.

How To Think Creatively.

What once was a decaying NYC eyesore is now a hugely successful financial engine. The High Line, an old elevated rail-bed turned world-class park, has generated $2 billion in private investment and 12,000 new jobs in the area, including 8,000 new construction jobs.

Who would have thought?

A simple idea, mixed with enthusiastic support equals powerful change.

So how do you think creatively? Here's how I do it:

Step One - Eliminate Distractions

Turn off your email. Set your phone to voicemail. Go to an area where there are no home or work distractions. Sit in a comfortable chair with a clean table (a dining room table works best - dining rooms are BORING). Tell everyone to leave you alone for one hour.

Step Two - Get A Clean Piece Of Paper

If you can get an 11" x 17" sheet, great! Or regular size is fine too. Just make it white and clean. Get your favorite pen, pencil, or marker - we are going for broad-brush ideas. No erasers  - allowed mistakes and changed directions are encouraged!

Step Three - Don't Second Guess . . . Brainstorm

Now start laying out your idea. What are the basic elements? Don't write sentences . . . keep it to bold words or short phrases. Circle them. Cross stuff out (don't worry about making a mess). Fill the page with all the disparate ideas, tasks, activities, people, things, etc. you can think of.

Step Four - Step Back . . . Look For Connections

Now step back and look for ways to connect ideas together. Connect the What to the When to the Who to the Where. Forget about Why and How for now. Just focus on connecting, building, modifying, editing, and forming your creative vision.

Step Five - Build An Idea . . . Develop Activities . . . Set Dates

Now take a clean sheet and begin to move over the salient elements to coalesce your vision. Start to priortize each step, which one should come first, then second, then third. Start assigning how long each will take (ballpark) and who needs to be involved. Then align them all and develop a schedule.

Try it. This is how I develop new ideas for my business. It's worked for me for over 30 years. 

Now it's your turn.

If you're interested in The High Line, click here.

Grow Your Business and Have Fun With A Blog.

I'm late to the blogging game — I started on January 1, 2009. But over the past two years, I've seen my business explode and in the process, I've had more fun, engaged in more powerful discussions, and I'm thinking about business at a higher level. Why do you think this is happening?

A blog makes you think, ponder, develop and publish important ideas. Every day. It's almost like a crossword puzzle — if you do one every day, it exercises your mind, making new synapse connections and keeping them healthy. A blog does the same thing — it forces you to think of innovative ways to present information that's easy to absorb by the reader.

A blog makes you communicate to the world. Communication in business is paramount and most executives and business owners tend to forget that. My blog is followed by roughly 500-700 people every day — I'm beginning to get future clients calls from California, Hawaii, Canada, UK, and even Stockholm!

A blog invites two-way communication. I get many comments on my blog, not only on my site, but in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. People all over the world are expressing their interpretation of my blogs while agreeing, disagreeing and spreading the word.

A blog is easy. For all of you out there who think, "I don't have time to write." or "I don't have the ability to write well." — welcome to my world. I felt that way for years — until I met Rebecca Morgan (link) who convinced me to blog every single day.

At that moment, I realized that my blog, my site, and my ideas should be given freely to the world. It's the 'giver's gain' model — I give freely, and business comes knocking at my door.

A blog is fun. Try not to be serious all the time — have fun with it. Post cartoons, be irreverent, and add a bit a humor every so often. It also is a blast when people call you up, clients comment, and strangers exclaim, "You're Rich Gee? I love your blog!"

In fact, I was sitting in a Starbucks a few weeks ago (my favorite pastime) and someone approached me and asked, "Are you Rich Gee? I was just reading your blog over at that table!" — within 30 minutes of conversation, he was my client.

If you have your own blog — what do you like about the experience? If you don't blog, what's holding you back?

P.S. By the way, if you want to learn more about my blogging experiences (successes and failures) give me a call! I use Wordpress (link) and highly recommend two other sites - Problogger and Copyblogger. Brian & Darren bring lots of great ideas, innovative topics and powerful info — stuff I would never think about on my own. (link) & (link)