21 Greatest Practices for Personal and Business Mastery

BE A ROCK STAR AT WORK – Be a star at work today, and everyday... Walk on to the stage of this day and play your heart out. Give the performance of your life. Give your best shot today and each day. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed – “If a man is called to be street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or as Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘here lived a great sweeper who did his job well.”

EXPAND YOUR MIND THROUGH READING – Reading a book by someone you respect allows some of their brilliance to rub off you. “Knowing how to read and not reading is almost the same as not knowing how to read.” Make the time to read something good each day on your subject. Remember if you want to lead, you really need to read.

MAKE TIME TO THINK – Making time to think is a superb strategy for success at leadership and in life. Too many people spend the best of the hours of their days solely engaged in doing, on the execution aspect of things. Peter Drucker, the management expert said: “There is nothing as useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Being thoughtful and strategic is step number one as you walk to greatness. 

LEADERSHIP BEGINS WITH THE EXTRA MILE. Leadership is shown when an employee takes an additional work at the end of a tiring day – not because it’s the easy thing to do but because it’s the right thing to do. Ordinary people don’t spend much time on the extra mile. But who ever said you were ordinary?

BUSINESS IS NOT ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY BUT IS ESSENTIALLY RELATIONSHIPS. People want to know that you are real. You are decent, kind and trustworthy. They want to feel you and sense you and look into your eyes to see what you are made of. They want to know your passion for whatever it is you stand for. And when they sense that you are the real deal, they will open up to you. When they see that you have their best interests in mind, they will trust you – and keep your best interests in mind. 

WORK HARD, BE LUCKY. The old line remains so true: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” Life helps those who help themselves. Work really hard. Hard work opens doors and shows the world that you are serious about being one of those rare – and special – human beings that uses the fullness of their talents for the highest and the very best.

GENIUS FORMULA. Focus plus daily improvement plus time equals genius. Understand that formula deeply and life will never be the same. Find your genius points and then develop them ceaselessly. Focus + daily improvement + time. Start today and in three to five years people will be writing about you. Calling you a genius. Celebrating your magnificence.

LISTENING IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS. In today’s world, you have to be an aggressive listener apart from possessing the skills of writing and speaking. Listening intently to someone is one of the best ways to honor that person and forge a deep human connection. When you listen to someone – not just with your mind but with every fiber of your being – it sends them a message: “I value what you have to say, and I’m humble enough to listen to your words.” 

THINK AND ACT LIKE A CEO AND YOU WILL BECOME A CEO. Take personal responsibility for the success of your business. Show up like an entrepreneur, grow sales, cut costs, and get good stuff done. Why don’t you think you are a CEO of your department or section? Take responsibility and do whatever can. Be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem. You will shine in your career and your CEO will love and like you.

CUSTOMERS BUY WITH THEIR HEARTS. Human beings move when their emotions are moved. The competition in today’s marketplace is not for customers’ money. Not at all. The only real competition is for their emotions. Touch the hearts of the people you serve and they’ll be back for more. Engage their emotions and they’ll become your raving fans. Miss this insight and you just might lose your business.

PRESSURE GETS YOU TO DO THE BEST. Challenges and pressures serve beautifully to introduce you to your best – and most brilliant self. How fully would you show up each day – at work and in life – if retreat just wasn’t an option? How high would you reach, how greatly you would dare, how hard would you work and how loud would you live if you knew “your backs up are against the wall.”

YOUR SCHEDULE DOESN’T LIE. Your schedule is the best barometer for what you truly value and believe to be important. Too many people talk a good talk. But talk is cheap. Less talk and more do. You can say that your primary value involves putting your work first, but if time with your work is not all over your schedule, well then the truth of the matter is that the work in your office is not your priority.

BE A MERCHANT OF SENSATION. In this “experience economy” we now live in, the customers must be taken on a journey from start to finish that makes them go triumph. Under promise and over deliver. It is not enough in today’s world that you fulfill the customer’s requirements / wants but as an employer through your employees ensure that at each and every given opportunity delight and amaze them with your products and services. By doing so, you will win over your customers.

PROBLEMS REVEAL GENIUS. Great organizations have a culture that sees problems as opportunities for improvement. Don’t condemn them – learn from them and embrace them. World-class human beings turn their wounds into wisdom. They leverage their failures to bring them closer to success. They don’t view / see problem, they see possibilities. And that is what makes them great. Remember, a mistake is only a mistake if you commit it twice.

SPEAK LIKE A SUPERSTAR. The words you use determine the way you feel. The language you choose shapes the way you perceive reality. Articulate a series of spectacularly positive words that will serve you-words that you imagine a superstar in your field using. Bring them into your daily vocabulary. You will discover that speaking these words will make you feel better. More powerful. More passionate. And when you feel great feelings, guess what? It rubs on all and the work place becomes a heavenly place to work with.

THE INNOVATOR’S MANTRA. There is no safety in being the same person today that you were yesterday. That’s an illusion that ends up breaking your heart. Leaders that don’t innovate are displaced by those willing to take risks. So go to work each day and refuse to carry out the same thing you did yesterday-just because it was what you did yesterday. Keep challenging yourself to think better, do better and be better. Shake thinks up, confront your fears and limitations, and refuse to be average. Stand for the best.   

BUILD SUCCESS STRUCTURES. We all need systems installed into our days to ensure consistency of results, order and superb outcomes. Success in your work place does not just occur. It’s a project that is worked on each day. You need to swim out to it. You need to make a deliberate attempt to make it happen. Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up to the step; we must step up the stairs.  

APPLY THE U2 STANDARD. Greatness arrives for those who are never satisfied with what is, no matter how nice it looks. Each day – and every day until you take your last breath apply the U2 standard. Feel like you are coming – never that you’ve arrived. Strive for mastery and brilliance and excellence, in all that you do. You will join the realm of those rare individuals who reached the end feelings few regrets and little remorse. You will delight in the fact that you squeezed out the best from life and played out loud.

BECOME AN INSPIRATIONAL HUMAN BEING. Greatness in business as well as in life comes by being an inspirational human being. We need to lift people by our attitude and our very presence. When we see someone feeling down or experiencing a struggle or doubting their potential or in need of a kind word, it’s for us to influence our people is to lead by example. Extraordinary human beings live their message. They walk their talk.

THE BEAUTY OF TIME. The big idea on time is that once it’s lost, it can never be regained. Time is a beautiful commodity. It is part of the hardware of life. What you do with it shapes, in so many ways, what your life looks like. And yet, while almost every one of us wishes for more time, we misuse the time we have. Use your time productively, effectively and efficiently in such a way that you become indispensable for your organization. 

GET BIG ON SELF-CARE. Organizational leadership begins with personal leadership; you can’t be great at work until you feel great. Leadership begins within. Organizational leadership begins with personal leadership. You can’t make someone feel good about themselves until you feel good about yourself. You can’t be a source of positive energy if you have no energy. Make the time to care for yourself. Get into great shape. Read good business books and inspiring autobiographies. Plan and improve your skills. Work with a coach.