TipsForSuccess: How to Take More Control, Part 1

How to Take More Control, Part One Like money or nuclear power, control can be used for good or evil. You can use it to harm, suppress or destroy lives. Or you can use it to help people, increase your income and improve the world around you. Negative, destructive control gives control a bad name. Yet positive, constructive control is essential to successful living. No control over your job, family or life leads to failure. When you are not in control of your sphere of operation, you feel stress, fear and frustration. When you are in control, you make progress, enjoy your work and achieve success. Taking better control of yourself, your time, career, business, equipment, computers, marriage, family, personal property, bad habits and so on, is much easier when you understand and apply these five facts about control. 1. Control is the biggest difference between success and failure. 2. Control consists of three parts: Start, Change and Stop. 3. Your control problems are based on your weaknesses with starting or changing or stopping. 4. If you try to control people or things outside your sphere of operation, you fail. 5. To succeed, you must let others control you. In this first of five articles, we cover the first fact. 1. Control Is the Difference Between Success and Failure "What is control? "Whether one handles a machine of the size of a car or as small as a typewriter or even an accounting pen, one is faced with the problems of control. An object is of no use to anyone if it cannot be controlled. Just as a dancer must be able to control his body, so must a worker in an office or a factory be able to control his body, the machines of his work and, to some degree, the environment around him. "The primary difference between 'the worker' in an office or a factory and an executive is that the executive controls minds, bodies and the placement of communications, raw materials and products, the worker controls, in the main, his immediate tools." -- L. Ron Hubbard (The Problems of Work) Consider two different restaurant owners. Steve owns an Italian restaurant and Kate owns a French restaurant. Steve loves to chat with customers while Kate loves to improve her operations. Steve hires an accountant to handle his bookkeeping while Kate stays late to figure out how to do her own books. Steve hires an attorney to write the employee policies and keep him out of legal trouble. Kate goes to a labor law seminar, writes her own employee policies and has a lawyer check it over. Steve believes his personality will keep people coming back while Kate decides good food and well-trained servers will keep people coming back. Steve has no idea how to cook, clean the kitchen or balance the books. He can only hire experienced people to do these jobs. He must bend over backwards to keep them on the job, despite their bad attitudes. Kate and her cooks invent their own recipes and keep them in a book. Kate establishes checklists for the staff for setting up tables, cleaning and so on. She also enjoys training inexperienced cooks, servers and other staff. Who is in better control? Who is making a better profit? If Steve's top people quit working for him, what will happen to his restaurant? If Kate's top people quit, what will happen to her restaurant? Another Example Two medical transcribers, Jill and Sue, are hired by a large hospital on the same day. They are expected to type medical reports explaining the patients' treatment so the hospital can collect its fee from insurance companies. Jill decides to be a robot and simply type whatever is in front of her. One day, her computer goes down. She calls the technician and paints her fingernails until the computer is fixed. She has no idea what she is typing as she cannot understand the medical terms. She decides to just pretend it is a foreign language. She types every word placed in front of her without using the computer shortcuts. She produces 20 reports per day. Sue wants more control of her position. As well as typing the reports, she learns about the computer. She reads the help screens to learn shortcuts in the program. She learns to copy and paste large sections of text and other time-saving actions. She produces 30 reports per day. When the computer goes down, Sue carefully watches the technician and asks questions so she knows what to do next time. Sue finds a medical dictionary in the storage room and starts to look up the terms in her reports. She buys lunch for a nurse so she can ask about medical procedures. She even listens to tapes about insurance code rules. Who is in better control of her job? Of her career? One day, Jill types a report about a one-year-old receiving treatment for Alzheimer's disease. She types it exactly and sends it to the insurance company. That same day, Sue is typing a report for a eighty-year-old man's immunization shot for chicken pox. She knows this is a mistake and sends it back to the nurse. The nurse realizes the patient names were switched. Another day, Jill's computer goes down. She learns the computer technician is unavailable and asks to go home. Sue overhears the request and offers to fix the computer, which she does. Who is the more valuable employee? Who should get the next promotion? If business slows down, who will keep her job? Certain symptoms show how well you control your job. 10 Signs You Are Not in Control of Your Work Easily fatigued or exhausted Work area is messy and disorganized Job is not interesting Easily stressed Need constant help See no way to improve performance Easily confused by others while on the job Frequently think of quitting Frantically react to emergencies You cannot conceive of greater productivity 10 Signs You Are in Control of Your Work Energized, motivated Work area is neat and organized Work is interesting and enjoyable Feel challenged, not stressed Effectively supervise self Constantly looking for ways to improve Rarely confused while on the job Frequently thinking of more responsibility Rationally respond to emergencies You have good ideas for increasing productivity On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being in full control, how well do you control of your job? Your home life? Your possessions? Your personal habits? Your success? Recommendations 1. Make a list of all your duties, responsibilities and areas of your life. 2. Rate your control of each on a scale of 1 to 10. 3. Work out a plan to take a little more control of each. For more assistance with your control skills, go to www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org.   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2013 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.   Sign up or learn more about TipsForSuccess at www.tipsforsuccess.org.

 

 

TipsForSuccess: How to Strengthen Your Power Base

How to Strengthen Your Power Base To succeed you need a power base. What is your power base? It includes the money and property you control. The number of people who you influence. The groups or businesses you control. The size of your game. How you work with people determines the amount of power you get. For example, Mr. Green is the CEO of a successful book publishing company in New York City. He is retiring and needs to recommend a new CEO to the Board of Directors. Mr. Green's two best managers are Steve, who runs the printing division, and Melissa, who runs the editing division. Steve has wanted to be the CEO for years. He tells his staff, "Someday, I'll be running things and we'll come out of the dark ages. Mr. Green's a nice guy and all that, but he's old." Melissa is also interested in the CEO job. She tells her staff, "Mr. Green is an outstanding leader. He's taught me a great deal. If I run things, I'll try to be like Mr. Green." Steve likes to disagree with Mr. Green. "You don't want me to be a yes-man do you Mr. Green? We can't always do things your way. I have better ideas." Melissa prefers to support Mr. Green. "Tell me what you want done and I'll take care of it for you." Steve is shocked when Mr. Green recommends Melissa for the CEO position. Your Powers Who are your "powers"? Who do you depend on for your success? Certainly your boss, but also your customers, colleagues, partners, leaders of your groups, influential friends and others. Everyone depends on others for their power. Bosses depend on their staff. Fathers depend on mothers. Young politicians depend on senior politicians as well as voters and financial contributors. Who do you depend on? Who are the people who can help you? These are your "powers." Now examine how you treat these powers. Do you build them up or drag them down? Do you make them more powerful or less powerful. Do you give them ease or give them stress? How you treat these people may have more to do with your success than you realize. Pushing Power "Always push power in the direction of anyone on whose power you depend. It may be more money for the power or more ease or a snarling defense of the power to a critic." "If you work like that and the power you are near or depend upon is a power that has at least some inkling* about how to be one and if you make others work like that, then the power-factor expands and expands and expands and you too acquire a sphere of power bigger than you would have if you worked alone." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*inkling: a slight idea) Some movie actors find it hard to share the spotlight. They think they will get ahead if they criticize others. When talking about a movie director, they say things like, "He was the toughest director I've ever worked for" or "She and I had artistic differences." These actors are often out of work. When John Travolta was promoting his movie Pulp Fiction, he constantly complimented and thanked writer/director, Quentin Tarantino. Who was John flowing power to? What happened to John's career? It exploded! He became one of the busiest, best-paid actors in history. Have you heard about assistants, secretaries and clerks who became millionaires? These workers flowed power to their bosses. When these bosses hit it big, they took care of their staffs. Since most bosses have an "inkling" of how to be a power, they love to share their success with those who help them succeed. Employees who bite the hand that feeds them are soon looking for work. Staff who do not defend their bosses, when their bosses are attacked, see their workplace become stressful and unpleasant. On the other hand, if you flow power to your powers, you make them happier and more successful. These powers then have the means and desire to help you. They can give you promotions, raises, freedoms, responsibilities and opportunities you would not otherwise receive. They can help you succeed in more ways than anyone else you know. Ten Suggestions for Flowing Power to Your Powers As long as your power has an inkling of how to be a power, these ten tips will make your own power base increase and increase. 1. Do a better job for your power than he or she expects. Surprise him or her with fast completions, incredible production and amazing results. 2. Support the power's ideas and requests, whenever possible. 3. When the power offers you more responsibility, grab it. Do not hesitate or worry about the pay. 4. If you need to tell the power about a problem, include a solution as well. Better yet, solve the problem so you can relay the problem and the fact that it is now solved. 5. If you see your power is making a mistake, do not let him or her fail, but try to help your power. Provide the information he or she may be missing. Offer suggestions and solutions. 6. Never miss a chance to make a gesture of support. For example, insist on paying for the meal you share with a power, even if he or she is wealthier than you. Never forget the power's birthday. Be as generous as you can be. 7. If you hear criticism about one of your powers, jump in and defend him or her. Change negative attitudes that others have about your power. Encourage them to support your power. 8. If your power is under stress, do what you can to reduce that stress. Help him or her become cheerful and optimistic. If the power is happy, everyone is happy! 9. If one of your powers is being attacked, take some of the heat. Get in front of your power and fight back. Do not let your power go down, or you too, will go down. 10. Help your power make more money. Yes, even if your power is wealthy, find ways to make him or her even wealthier. If your power's income goes up, your income will go up. Three Action Steps Make a list of your powers. Who do you depend on for your success? Who can help you the most? Write down three ways you can flow power to each of your powers. If you then do these three things with each, and flow even more power after that, you will see your own power and success take a leap!   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2013 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.   Sign up or learn more about TipsForSuccess at www.tipsforsuccess.org.

 

 

TipsForSuccess: Are You to Blame?

Are You to Blame? You cannot succeed if you have ideas like these: "I don't want to make the decisions." "I don't want to make waves." "I don't want to get in trouble!" To succeed in life, you must be willing to stir things up! Cause or Effect You are either at Cause over things or you are at the Effect of things. For example, if a computer problem confuses you, you are at the Effect of the computer problem. As soon as you solve the problem, you are at Cause. If you want to be wealthy, and your income is increasing, you are at Cause. If your income is stuck or decreasing, you are at Effect. If you make steady progress toward your goals, you are at Cause. If you are stuck in a rut, you are at Effect. Therefore, if you do not care if someone blames you for their troubles, you are at Cause. If you worry about being blamed, you are at Effect. "You should not minimize* yourself as CAUSE. It is your greatest ability. "Being blamed sometimes blunts* being CAUSE. But if one's total ambition is to be blameless, the best situation is to get one's name on a tombstone. And it's no fun being dead." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*Minimize = lessen, reduce. *Blunts = weaken, make less effective) Who Blames You? If someone blames you for a mistake or a problem, you might decide to be at Effect and try to hide. You want to keep out of trouble. You blunt yourself as Cause. For example, a shoe sales clerk named Mary had an upset customer. He wanted a refund for a pair of shoes that did not fit, but the shoes had scuff marks on them. So despite store policy, she gave a refund to the customer. She decided it was the right thing to do. When Mary's boss saw the shoes, he said, "You idiot! You know it's against store policy to pay refunds for worn shoes! I'm taking the refund out of your check." Mary decides, "I'm never making a decision again!" She blunts herself. She stops being at Cause and becomes a clerk who never makes decisions. The next day, another customer asks for a refund for his slightly-worn shoes. Mary says, "I'm sorry sir, but store policy won't allow me to give you a refund. See here? The bottoms of the shoes are scratched up." The customer says, "But they don't fit! I can't wear them! Here, give them to the homeless." He starts to walk away. Mary decides the store policy is wrong and she's not going to be Effect. She says, "Sir, wait. Never mind. I'm giving you a refund." She feels good. She is at Cause. Mary then walks up to her boss and says, "I gave another refund. It's the right thing to do. Go ahead and take it out of my pay." Her boss is shocked! He says, "I will!" But then he thinks it over. The next day the boss finds Mary and says, "You know, I thought it over and I think you're right. We should give refunds for shoes that don't fit. After all, we're supposed to help them find their correct sizes. I'll talk to the General Manager about changing this policy." Recommendations 1. List the things you would do if you had no fear of blame. 2. Take the easiest item on the list and rise to Cause. Do it, say it, stand up and take the action! 3. Do the next easiest item on your list and so on. Soon, you will find it's okay to take risks and, when necessary, accept the blame. If you do not worry about being blamed, you do not blunt yourself. You are at Cause!    Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2013 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.   Sign up or learn more about TipsForSuccess at www.tipsforsuccess.org.

 

TipsForSuccess: Negative Emotions Make You Fail

Negative Emotions Make You Fail Pete, the new Sales Manager of ABC Autos, was yelling at the salespeople to do better, but with no improvement. The company owner, Mr. Christopher, was getting desperate. He sat down with the sales manager and said, "Pete, since you took over the Sales Department, our car sales have been going down. You've got to quit yelling at the salespeople. Our old sales manager never yelled. Please give it a try." Pete said, "Where I come from, you have to yell at the sales people if you want to get sales. Fire me if you want, but I'm gonna yell." Mr. Christopher said, "Okay, I don't care what you do, just get the sales numbers back up this week." So Pete held a sales meeting and screamed, "IF YOU DON'T MAKE AT LEAST ONE SALE THIS WEEK, YOU ARE FIRED!" The sales staff ran out and started calling people on the phone. They said things like, "You HAVE to call me back!" "I know it's been six months since you were here, but I need to see you." "Your old car is dangerous; you must come in NOW!" A couple walked in to browse. Four salespeople charged at them. The couple jumped back, mumbled "No thanks" and headed for the door. Another salesperson was blocked the doorway and said, "Did you find what you were looking for?" The couple fought their way out the door and the salespeople went back to their telephones. Emotional Reactions When things don't go your way, how do you react? Some people get more emotional, more reactive. They get frustrated, sad, angry or worse. They react without thinking. Unfortunately, this can make a short-term improvement. This is why bosses will threaten, scream and pound. They don't realize FORCED productivity is slavery and always backfires. In 1971, L. Ron Hubbard wrote: "THE PRIMARY BARRIER TO PRODUCTION IS HUMAN EMOTION AND REACTION." Careers, jobs and businesses fail when emotional reactions take over. Mr. Christopher Hires a New Manager Of course, sales at ABC Autos went from bad to worse and Pete was fired. The owner, Mr. Christopher, decided to run the sales people himself. First, he held a sales meeting with gourmet pizza. They celebrated Pete's departure. Next, he showed the staff how to use kindness and intelligence to sell cars. No more emotional outbursts and reactive behavior. By the end of the week, sales increased and continued to increase each week. Everyone -- managers, employees and the self-employed -- all ruin their productivity and income if they dramatize their negative emotions. Sixty Examples of Human Emotions and Reactions That Hurt Your Income You must remove, control or ignore the following types of emotions and reactions to improve your personal power and performance. They are wrecking your forward progress. Whining, snippy comments, avoidance, the silent treatment, revenge, disrespect, acting up, resentment, moaning, sulking, death wishes, blaming, fear, mocking someone, hate, getting upset, yelling, lump-in-throat sadness, emotional pain, complaining, being grouchy, mood swings, hostility, false sincerity, making someone wrong, political games, jealousy, preaching, overwhelming someone, anxiety, sarcasm, despair, harassment, pretending to be hurt, disagreeing without thinking, giving sympathy, demanding sympathy, getting even, antagonism, terror, being critical, belligerence, exasperation, acting stupid, regret, pity, gossiping, feeling useless, apathy, anger, lying, hopelessness, being stressed out, crying, confusion, sighing, being glum, hysteria, being a victim and cutting off communication. Reaching your goals and succeeding as never before means you need high-level performance. You must be capable of high-volume work. The road to success does not include negative emotional reactions. To succeed, you must shake off the emotional reactions, get focused and get working. Recommendations 1. Lighten up. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Read "Being Too Serious Can Drive You Crazy" at www.tipsforsuccess.org/seriousness.htm. 2. Set goals you can get excited about. Focus on your goals whenever you feel negative emotions. Read "How to Set Goals You Can Get Excited About" at www.tipsforsuccess.org/goals-link.htm. 3. Be stronger using the recommendations outlined in "How to Generate Personal Power and Command of Life" at www.tipsforsuccess.org/personal-power.htm. 4. Take better control of yourself. Use the free coaching tools at www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org. 5. Improve your mental health. Buy and read the book Self Analysis. Available at http://bridgepublications.com/30-minute-mental-workout.   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2013 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.   Sign up or learn more about TipsForSuccess at www.tipsforsuccess.org.

 

TipsForSuccess: Excuses Vs. The Supreme Test

Excuses Vs. The Supreme Test When faced with a difficult situation, you either make up excuses or find solutions. If you prefer excuses, you have low production and stress. If you find and implement solutions, you pass the Supreme Test. "THE SUPREME TEST OF A PERSON IS HIS ABILITY TO MAKE THINGS GO RIGHT." "This, of course, is a rather savage and brutal datum for it thrusts aside all justification, reasonableness, excuses and even does not take into account the size or obstacles of the opposition." "People who explain how wrong it is all going and who have reasons why and WHO AREN'T PUTTING IT RIGHT are the real crazy people in the universe. The only ones crazier than they are, are the ones who are quite happy to have everything fail and go wrong with no protest from them. And the only ones even worse are those who work endlessly to make things go wrong and prevent anything from going right and oppose all efforts instinctively. "Fortunately, there are a few around who DO make things go right in spite of everything and anyone." -- L. Ron Hubbard Examples of Excuses "My car was stolen and I have a cold. I'm taking the day off." "January and February are always bad months because of the weather." "I can't do any other projects right now because I'm switching to a new computer." "Profits are down because the new guy is too slow." "We can't fill more orders until we get a bigger space." "I can't . . . . " "I'm doing my best . . . " "I tried . . . " Examples of Passing the Supreme Test "Even though my car was stolen and I have a cold, I made it to work and will do a great job today." "If we complete the marketing plan, January and February will show a 5% increase." "Give me those projects. I'll get them done while I set up my new computer." "I'll train the new guy on Saturday." "I will find a bigger space by Friday. Meanwhile, let's work faster and add five hours to the schedule." "I will do whatever is necessary. . . " "Nothing will stop me." "I will make it go right." If you want a highly successful career, you make it go right. If you want a successful business or group or department, you make it go right. You never give up, blame others or whine. "Make it go right" applies to any area of your life. If you want a wonderful marriage, you create one despite all failures or obstacles. If you want to be a successful parent, you do the same thing. To succeed in anything, you get educated. You communicate. You get assistance. You face and handle obstacles. You persist until you succeed. What is the biggest problem you have ever confronted in life? If you had to solve that problem or go to jail, what would you do? You would find a way. Ten Tips on How to Pass the Supreme Test 1. Focus your attention into present time. 2. Make orderly progress. 3. Dive into problems. 4. Do not agree with anyone's excuses. 5. Learn more. 6. Take more responsibility. 7. Take better control. 8. Ignore the losses and make the wins firm. 9. Stay cheerful. 10. Persist until you win.    Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.     Copyright © 2013 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard.   Sign up or learn more about TipsForSuccess at www.tipsforsuccess.org.