Start With a Win. Adam Contos

especially when offering a solution. Too often people in business use the business's language or jargon and not the customer's language, complicating and confusing the situation. That problem is faced throughout business and law enforcement as well. People try to use their own language as opposed to the language of the client or other person. People listen when you use their words and turn off when you use yours.

      Nelson Mandela said it best when asked why he learned to speak the language of his captors while imprisoned in South Africa for so many years:

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart. ⁶

      Learning More About You

      Beyond the language used, author and friend Darren Hardy suggests that mapping our goals can help each of us develop a more balanced and focused understanding of life—and, as an extension, business.

      In his book Living Your Best Year Ever, he suggests eight aspects of life to map:

       Physical

       Financial

       Mental

       Spiritual

       Business

       Lifestyle

       Family

       Relationships

      Each has its place around a clock face. How much effort do you devote to each of these aspects of your life? Draw the face of a clock with each of the eight aspects corresponding to a number. Then, starting at the center of the clock, draw a line outward equal to the effort you devote to each aspect of life. If you invest little effort or don't have any tangible goals in an area, the line may inch out only slightly from the clock's center. Or, if you expend a great deal of time and effort on an aspect—spiritual, for example—the line may extend closer to the clock's circumference.

      When you've finished your map, connect the farthest points of the lines with the goal of trying to draw a circle. This may sound complex, but it's really simple. It's an eyeopener, too, when you map your efforts and see what works and what isn't quite there in your attempt at a holistic life.

Likely there are flat spots on your life circle. Those are areas that need more work and greater investment on your part. When you work on all aspects of your life, you will find that success builds success. You will neglect certain aspects of your life at times. That's life. Just don't neglect the same part more than one day in a row. Business works the same way, too, as do your health, happiness, relationships, and overall success.

      This is a concept that I've used for many years. In fact, I start each year with a new copy of Hardy's Living Your Best Year Ever journal. It's a great way to pay attention to your life and maintain a holistic approach. The concepts in the journal help keep you focused on all the necessary parts of your life.

      Leadership Takeaways

       Your success is up to you. Believe “I can,” and you're on the way to win No. 1.

       A win isn't dollars and cents or a place or end point. It's a journey—a series of missions or experiences, and actions—that, done right, brings happiness along the way.

       A win is a set of answers to following questions:What is the challenge?What is the necessary attitude to get started?What action or actions are necessary to overcome the challenge?

       Locus of control determines the degree to which you feel you have control over your results and ultimately your life.

       The most successful people take ownership of outcomes; they exhibit internal locus of control.

       Life is a series of missions or experiences that contribute to our playbook for life.

       Leaders model the right behavior.

       Faced with a business challenge—including generating new business—stop and think about the stressor or the challenge, then determine the solution, and how can you provide it, and then take action.

       Everyone thinks there's a secret to giving a great speech. But there's not. Approach a presentation as you would any mission or any challenge. What's the challenge? What are the solutions (your script)? Then prepare (practice), and take action (present).

       No matter the type of presentation, people want to see and hear a positive attitude, confidence, and a genuine caring.

       Uncertain times call for companies and people to pivot and act quickly to shore up any weaknesses in order to survive and thrive. Those who are slow to react, if they react at all, will falter and often fail to survive.

       Pay attention to the language you use in dealing with others. People listen when you use their words and tune out when you use yours.

       In business and in life, a holistic approach works best in the pursuit of health, happiness, relationships, and success.

NOTES

      1 1 Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, NJ, 1973), p. 48.

      2 2 National Bison Association. “The Bison Advantage.”https://bisoncentral.com/the-bison-advantage/

      3 3 Bonnie R. Strickland, “Julian B. Rotter, 1916–2014,” American Psychology 69 (Jul–Aug 2014): 545-6. DOI 10.1037/a0036918. PMID: 25046717; National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25046717/.

      4 4 Henry C. Link, My Return to Religion (Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com, 2011).

      5 5 Ryan Levesque, Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Method to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy … Create a Mass of Raving Fans … and Take Any Business to the Next Level (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House Business, 2019).

      6 6 Hathitrust, “At Home in the World: The Peace Corps Story” (University of Minnesota), vi, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d012241914&view=1up&seq=5.