Many of you know that my favorite business guru is Brian Tracy.
Brian is a world famous speaker, author and business coach. I have learned an incredible number of proven, practical techniques from his books that have helped me to do more and achieve more in business and in life. Brian’s books are easy to understand because he writes simply and practically. My favorite books of his are Goals, Eat That Frog and The Art of Closing the Sale.
I believe that Vietnamese technology professionals have the ability to be some of the best in the world.
That’s why I’m launching ITviec.com, a new job website 100% focused on technology and IT jobs in Vietnam. Continue reading →
I love this quote from Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the USA:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; Continue reading →
Most bosses hate it when one of their people asks for more money.
I love it. Here’s why.
A friend of mine just sent me this short article that explains why some people are great violin players and why other people are only average violin players. I highly recommend you read it.
The secret is the great violin players set aside concentrated, focused 2-hour blocks of time to practice twice each day. The average violin players do not.
Working with great focus on a difficult subject for only 3-4 hours a day separates the great from the average. Then the rest of the day the great violin players can relax and stop thinking about playing. In other words, “If you’re busy you’re doing it wrong.”
This is a big challenge for me.
I have a couple talks coming up this week. I gotta double down and focus on them. Planning, writing and practicing a talk is consuming and hard work. I’ll start with 1.5 hours in the morning, 1.5 hours in the afternoon of focused work. I won’t check email or do other, smaller tasks during that time. Let’s see how this works out!
Talking is not effective communication. Neither is sending an email.
Effective communication is making sure you are understood.
My “To-Do” List from 25 February. Note I didn’t check off “Product Document!” I probably should break that item down into smaller tasks.
I found an incredible way to increase your productivity, instantly.
It’s called “making a list.”
Last year I wrote about the power of focus and not doing things. Doing fewer things delivers better results at the few things you do.
I thought that was pretty good. Then I read about Peter Thiel’s philosophy of extreme focus. Continue reading →
Mango Seller photo courtesy of Dat’s Diary http://datdiary.wordpress.com
A friend of mine, Dat, writes a blog where he posts his observations of life in Vietnam. Recently I read his post “Price Collusion in Vietnam.” It’s a great little story that gives insight into why so few Vietnamese companies or entrepreneurs innovate.
They just don’t think that way.
“Manage your time like money.”
A Roman philosopher named Lucius Annaeus Seneca wrote that 2,000 years ago.
