Pursuit of Excitement

What it takes to be great

What it takes to be Great

Seth Godin has a recent post about the secret to be successful on the web (it’s a virtue).  This secret is what it takes to be great in any endeavor that you pursue.  Greatness comes only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. There is increasing evidence that shows that the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, it is often referred to the ten-year rule. The best people in any field devote the most hours to deliberate practice.  This practice is intended to improve performance, goes beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.  Also consistency is key with an aim to get better over time.

 

So the reality of this is, talent has little or nothing to do with greatness.  We can make ourselves what we will.  Sometimes this idea is not popular with people who are not an overnight success and encounter a dip.  Then they conclude that they just aren't gifted and give up.

Seth puts it like this: 

“But the strategy still takes forever. The strategy is the hard part, not the tactics.  I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago:  you can outlast the other guys if you try.  If you stick at stuff that bores them, it accrues.  Drip, drip, drip you win.”

When the difficult challenges arise (the Dips), will you quit or will you push through and leap ahead of the competition?

Beyond Time Management

Beyond Time Management

There is a great article on the Lifehack Blog entitled "10 ways to find time to follow your dreams" by Dustin Wax. In the article he talks about “rescuing” an extra 30 minutes a day to accomplish something we have been dreaming of doing.  This extra time would come from minor sacrifices such as forgoing one TV show, getting up a littler earlier, or using your lunch break.

Another great way to think about this is what Linda Stone calls Attention Management.  Robert Scoble discussed this on the Maketing Edge podcast hosted by Albert Maruggi.  I like how Robert explained it.

He prioritizes what aspects of his life are important, which is different than time management.  With attention management, the first priority in life, other than family, is to have experiences where you are really doing work so you are not overwhelmed. Time management is the ability to deal with tasks efficiently, such as having to do 15 emails in an hour.

So the process would be to first have a life strategy and ask yourself what are the goals for your life?  What is it going to take to get you there?  Then the tactical part is how do you block out your days to accomplish your goals? This is where you will rescue your time. You can start with just 30 minutes a day at first, and over time, you will have found the time to follow your dreams.

I will keep you posted on how I’m doing with this…

Doctor, may I see a menu?

Are doctors pricing themselves out of the market?

There are now some low cost alternatives spinging up for patients that need to see a Family doctor or General Practitioner.  You can go to a Minute Clinic located inside select CVS retail stores.  Here you can be seen by board-certified practitioners for illnesses such as strep throat, bronchitis, and ear, eye and sinus infections.  No appointment necessary, open 7 days a week, and most insurances accepted.  The best benefit of all might be that you will know the price you a re going to pay ahead of time!    

There are also specialty clinics opening up like Diabetes America that offer Complete, personalized diabetes care under one roof with one copay.   

Then there is the next generation of healthcare with American Well that is connecting physicians and consumers anytime and anywhere. Patients can talk to a doctor anytime, without leaving home or scheduling and appointment.  They have also partnered with insurance companies like Blue Cross/ Blue Shield and Technology companies like Microsoft.   

And Speaking of technology companies,  AOL founder Stave Case has jumped into the healthcare marketplace with Revolution Health whose mission is to change healthcare by giving people the tools, information and support to manage their health and wellness actively.   

With all of these new threats to doctors it is more important than ever to focus on what Seth Godin has recently referred to as the intangibles.  There are some things doctors can offer that are so good that customers will value it more than it costs you to provide them.

Example of some intangibles could be personalized service, being genuine and authentic to people and really listening to them, fast service, and a really big one is to offer patients Hope and Encouragement!  These are all priceless intangibles that a consumer will not receive from the low cost provider.

Seth Godin sums it up very nicely when talking about intangibles, he writes:

“When providers are stressed or scared or pressured, they instinctively resort to price. It feels real and reliable. It's a trap, I'm afraid. It's the intangibles that drive all of the non-commodity decisions, and your job is to build remarkable ones and tell stories about them".

 

No Free Lunch

    No Free Lunch?

Steve’s Article on Business Brickyard asks “Who is your business showing love to?”  Well, as of Jan. 1, 2009, The Drug industry will be severely limited in showing love to phycisians like it has in the past.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade association recently announced that it has revised its conduct code for interacting with health care professionals. The updated guidelines ban the knicknacks bearing company and product logos.  In addition, sales representatives are prohibited from providing restaurant meals and entertainment or recreation.

The industry will now really have to get creative to get the attention of its customers now that they will not be able to use current permission marketing tactics to get doctors to pay attention to product messages.  The Pharma industry is going to need new influencing techniques and probably explore new social media that this industry has mostly ignored.  Will some of these dollars be spent on consultants to help the drug companies market in this space?

Pursuit of excitement

      Pursuit of Excitement

This blog is entitled "The Pursuit of Excitement" because I think, in life, this is ultimately What makes life worth living.  I have recently read much of the book "The 4 hour work week" by Timothy Ferriss where he talks about how to lead a happier life.  In it he says that the opposite of happiness is not sadness or depression, but rather boredom.  So I believe when we are truly happy, we a pursuing interests that are exciting and even thrilling.  Dustin Wax has a great post on Lifehack where he tries to answer the question "What makes life worth living?"  He gives a great answer:

"I think we need to address the question with our own actions, the things we do that make life worth living. Verbs, not nouns. When I think of how I would answer the question, the following behaviors come to mind:

• Creating: Writing, drawing, painting (though I’m not good at it), playing music (though I’m not especially good at that, either). For others, it might be inventing something, building a business, coming up with a clever marketing campaign, forming a non-profit.
• Relating: It’s not “family” that makes life worth living, I think, but the relationships we create with members of our family, and the way we maintain and build those relationships. Same goes for friends, lovers, business partners, students, and everyone else.
• Helping: Being able to lend a hand to people in need – however drastic or trivial that need may be – strikes me as an important part of life.
• Realizing: Making, working towards, and  achieving goals, no matter what those goals are.
• Playing: Maybe this is a kind of “relating”, but then, play can be a solo affair as well. Letting go of restraints, imagining new possibilities, testing yourself against others or against yourself, finding humor and joy.
• Growing: Learning new things, improving my knowledge and ability in the things I’ve already learned."

This blog is allowing me to pursue my excitement by writing about subjects that are interesting to me, and I hope, as a result will also be interesting to you.  What are you doing to pursue your excitement in life?