Martin Goodyer Blog

Wake up to the brave new world you�re trading in

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Psychology and business are natural bedfellows

Understanding what motivates behaviour is essential to any successful business owner. There are seminars and training courses a plenty to teach business practitioners the skills of effective communication and ways to ‘understand’ your customer better. But psychology is much more than just trying to understand what goes on inside the head of the customer, it’s also about recognising what’s happening in the outside world that will affect them.

The way people think doesn’t necessarily change, but what they think about certainly does

Imagine a future where opportunities for generating more sales, growth and development, hiring the smartest people and then hanging on to them, were lost: Lost, simply because the business leader was thinking in terms of a world that doesn’t exist any more.

You don’t need to imagine that future because it’s already here, today…right now

If you are over 30 then you went to school in the 1980’s and 90’s. Your education in business (either practical or academic) will have begun shortly afterward and will have been based on materials produced some years before. Even the ‘latest’ thinking took some time to make it into workplace development programmes and even longer to filter through to academic institutions. For people of my age (and considerably younger) 1990 doesn’t seem so long ago. Yet in 1990 the world was a very different place: To start with, the internet just didn’t exist. A search engine was something to with fire and rescue and social networking was a night down the pub. Only ‘yuppies’ and posers had mobile phones (about 1 in 60 adults – the thought of kids having them would have been laughable), and pocket pagers were about as high-tech as most people got. In 1993 when Bill Clinton was elected as US President there were a grand total of about 50 websites. In that same year America On Line (AOL) and Delphi started to connect their proprietary email systems to the internet and the most asked question the following year on help desks was ‘What do I do with an email address?’.

The world now really is a very different place

We meet potential partners differently. We apply for jobs differently. We book our holidays differently. We shop differently. We book restaurants and theatre or cinema tickets differently. We buy train or airplane journeys differently. We even sell off our unwanted goods differently; Ebay, eharmony. Jobsite, lastminute and the online versions of every store on the high street all add up to a very different reality for young people who have never experienced anything else.

Because the world is different, we have developed different expectations. Our ‘motives for action’ (motivations) have changed because the experience of living has changed. To get to the bottom of what drives us now requires the deconstruction of all the assumptions built up from our OLD experience of the world, and a whole new set of expectations identified that are relevant and true for what exists today. It’s true in every aspect of business and particularly powerful when it comes to advertising and sales.

The fundamentals however still remain the same; advertising works when it brings value to the customer: It’s a pretty simple equation; the more the perceived value of the information, the more likely it will result in a sale. A small example: I picked up a new business magazine today called ‘Mind Your Business’ (www.mindyour-business.co.uk). The magazine is very nice, and as a regional support for local businesses I wish them well in engaging their audience. However what’s interesting are the adverts: In days gone by advertisements were a great method of adding value by bringing information to a customer that they otherwise would not have had access to. Back in the nineties the most common ways of finding your way to a product was either through some product catalogue (or advertisement) or through yellow pages. The need was information and the value that publishing an advert added was in the information it provided. That however just isn’t the way the world works any more. There is no added value in information about a product. If a purchaser wants to buy something they now have Google at their fingertips. An advert listing the benefits of a product is literally valueless.

The only way adverts can add value to the new psychology of the purchaser is to give something that can’t be gained elsewhere. It has to add value that addresses a problem the purchaser already has and that will be helped (or better still solved) by their product. Flicking through ‘Mind Your Business’ I notice an ad for a rail service featuring the ‘benefit’ of faster journey times. It’s not clear at first glance, faster than what? There are a couple of car adverts with a straight list of features (not even benefits), a convention bureau who’ve almost pinpointed an added value by targeting stress reduction but then drop back into a simple list of benefits. There’s a museum and a football club extolling their location and ‘the power of football’ respectively as their features of note. The advert of an IT company and a group of pubs also don’t get any where near addressing the issue of adding value to a specifically targeted group of potential customers. They are all very nicely produced ads. The trouble is they are little different to ads that were produced that way twenty years ago. They are not wrong, they are just psychologically inappropriate for the world as it is today.

The back page of the magazine gets closer to being effective. It’s an advert for a delivery company. The headline is simple; it say’s ‘Delivering YOUR commitment to YOUR customer’. It shows a nice picture of a shiny van on the move and then clear contact details. No features. No benefits. Just a straightforward sentiment aimed at adding value by meeting a need they know their potential customers already have – a need to fulfill a commitment. Adverts don’t have to be clever but they DO have to be cleverly targeted and cleverly add value to a potential customer.

It’s not just adverts that need to be designed with the reality of today’s real world in mind, but every aspect of the way we do business.

If you are a business owner who wants to thrive rather than survive, I recommend joining the ‘Business Success Strategies’ monthly audio coaching programme from BusinessCoaching.co.uk . They are offering £800 of FREE material just to take a RISK FREE trial. Take a look at http://tinyurl.com/yhh6zjb

Suggested reading material on this subject: 'Sales Therapy' by Grant Leboff, published by Capstone

Keep your eye on the ball and don�t do a �Gordon�

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

So the PM announces on International Women’s Day that there aren’t enough women directors

…and that companies may now have to report on their progress to get more women into the boardroom. PM calls for more women in boardrooms | Number10.gov.uk

Priorities and focus

…will determine how successful anyone becomes in business. A laser focused determination wins out over an unfocused shotgun approach every time. The ‘butterfly’ entrepreneur may flit from idea to idea but only starts to make serious money when one venture takes precedence over everything else and receives their full attention. It’s the difference between hustling and having a bona fide sustainable business. That’s why the brilliant but scatterbrained entrepreneur with an apparent attention deficit disorder, ends up hiring people around them to ‘steady the ship’ and provide the consistency and clarity of focus any successful business needs.

The psychology of running a country isn’t so different

…from that of managing a successful business; hoping from one ‘good idea’ to another may look appealing but it’s not good for business. Sometimes (what might appear at first sight to be) good ideas must be set aside in favour of a consistent approach to solving more important issues. There are good (and not so good) reasons why there aren’t as many women as men in UK boardrooms. One of the inescapable and universal causes is that of choice; many women CHOOSE not to progress their life in that way. The biological imperative for women to conceive and then nurture children inevitably takes a large number of them out of the potential director ‘pool’. Of course there are many who DO want such a career and don’t make it. But let’s not forget that there are also men who aspire to greatness too but never get there. Chat’s at number ten to talk about helping more women into top posts is all well and good, and I’m sure all the participants had a lovely time, but is it really something the leader of the country should be doing at this particular time? It’s not wrong to engage in debate but it IS damaging to exchange high value opportunities for the relatively inconsequential. There are only 24 hours in a day and only 1 Prime Minister. The country has never been in such a financial state. There are companies sinking in a tumultuous business sea. It is therefore hard to believe that ruminating on gender ‘fairness’ can be justified no matter how ‘politically correct’ it might appear to be. Will he host a meeting next week to promote the number of gay directors? Why not more left handed directors or more directors who support Chelsea? I have no idea if there is merit in having more gay directors left-handed directors, Chelsea supporting directors, or indeed any gay, left-handed Chelsea supporters as directors. There may well be, but that’s not the point. The point is, should the leadership of a country in such difficulty be spending their time at that particular coal-face or perhaps one that offers a seam of hope for turn-around?

Business is already a meritocracy

…particularly entrepreneurial business. Only the best make it to the top and the ‘bottom line’ makes no gender distinctions. Those who make it to the boardroom do so because their best has been combined with preparation and opportunity; in other words they were both good and lucky. That doesn’t always happen. Trying to force equality with quota’s or edicts and hot air about there not being enough female directors is an example of ‘flitting’. At best it’s a distraction and at worse an attempt to run away from the ‘real’ issues far more deserving of the Prime Minister’s attention. Whatever the issues are in your business right now, make THEM your focus of attention. DON’T be sidetracked by fancy ideas or the siren calls of distraction. Stick to your knitting, do what you know will eventually work, and be consistent – because that is what will see you through.

Get what you want by SUPERSUASION

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

You could call it ‘Breakthrough Persuasion’

It's the same kind of neurological magic that most people have already experienced when what once felt impossible became a reality, when fear turned into power and when a mind could be changed in an instant. Coined by Cambridge University Faraday Institute’s research fellow Kevin Dutton, supersuasion is something he describes as a brand new kind of influence that disables our cognitive security systems in seconds.

There are five elements to Supersuasion:

Five ingredients that come together to form a powerful magic potion that flips a person from one state to another; simplicity, self-interest, confidence, empathy and humour potently unite physiology, psychology and neuroscience to become a switch just waiting to be flicked. As a business owner you can learn to apply the same principles in your day to day business activities. If every aspect of your existing attempts at persuading a customer to buy, buy more or buy more, more often were upgraded to SUPERSUASION then you are likely to see immediate and significant improvements.

Simplicity – clear and simple wins every time

Given a choice between having to think something through or simply follow a simple set of instructions, the brain will choose simplicity every time. Contrary to what appears logical, people don’t make decisions based on their intellectual understanding of what’s going on, but always on their emotions; if it feels like the right thing to do, then you’re much more likely to do it.

Self Interest – matching with what you already want, works

If something is presented as meeting your existing self interest then it literally becomes a ‘no-brainer’. Your brain processing misses out all the normal checks and balances that would otherwise automatically cross your mind.

Confidence – tell rather than ask

People love feelings of certainty and control; it’s a fundamental need that everybody shares. Linguists and hypnotists know only too well the power of ‘embedded commands’. Making a statement that is actually an instruction has been tried and tested – it’s effective.

Empathy – stepping into their shoes is like slipping into their mind

When you’re convinced that the other person really cares about you, you’re attitude will be very different to how you’d feel if there were suspicions about them or their motives. Seeing the world from someone else’s point of view aligns you with them; and there is no persuasion without alignment.

Humour – laugh and the world laughs with you

A light touch is often all it takes to turn something around. Magic happens in the mind when a smile pops up unexpectedly. Just like the street magician whose unseen hand makes the trick while you are distracted by some other action, the humorous nature of the unexpected serves a similar purpose. The brain is forced to do a double-take; the logic of what was expected is superseded by something new, and in that moment any notion of ‘normal’ questioning just goes away.

So the key to SUPERSUASION is to take a simple message coded in the perception of self-interest, delivered with confidence and empathy, and wrap it all up with humour and a smile.

For a FREE report on the application of SUPERSUASION including business examples and details of the science behind the underpinning principles, simply leave your name and email address either on the form below (click the header to get to the appropriate full page if you are not already there) or alternatively email me at martin@martingoodyer.com

Kevin Dutton’s new book ‘FLIPNOSIS: The art of split second persuasion’ will be published by William Heineman later this year

Being honest and brave means taking tough decisions

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Rule #1 if you have any kind of cash or liquidity problem in a business is to answer this question: ‘Do I have a sound business with a sustainable future?’

If the answer is yes, then by definition the problems you are facing are temporary; and short term problems always have a solution if you are prepared to search hard enough. If however the answer is no, then the short term problem you appear to have is not really the issue. Any solution would only be temporary and the underlying fragility of the business will eventually lead to its demise.

Tough but true

Many businesses find that the world changes while they’ve stayed still; what was once a solid business platform has become a floating pontoon set adrift on an ocean of terrible weather and brutal storms. The trick is not to try and hold back the waves of change. They are inevitable. Sticking with your business model however is not. If you find that your business is no longer sound and sustainable as it is at the moment then change it, and change it quickly.

The manufacturer that has become uncompetitive because of costs of production but who own their premises, can switch to distribution and marketing; utilising their assets in different ways by holding on to their expertise while meeting the needs of a changed market. The specialist retailer that can’t survive on the footfall outside their shop can slash their overheads and move out of town; by aligning with the way their buyers purchase in the second decade of the twenty first century rather than the way people shopped in the latter half of the nineteenth! Whatever the business, the fact remains true to all; if the business isn’t working then change it or call it a day.

The UK faces some tough times ahead

We are like a business with a flawed model. The attempts by the Government last year to ‘do something’ about the problems are as pathetic as the person up to their ears in debt who borrows from a loan-shark; the temporary reprieve is never worth the beating that follows when you can’t cough up the cash. Lowering VAT only to force it back up again hasn’t won plaudits but condemnation, as prices of essentials like fuel hit the pockets and confidence of a nation already in difficulty. The temporary raising of the stamp duty level might have nudged some house sales forward but the backlash this month is a 17% drop in new mortgage approvals from this time last year and another fall in house prices (just to add a little more gloom to the overall economic picture).

The truth is that many of our ‘models’ are not working

Of course progress has been made; thousands of children are still on a poor diet but at least they can watch more TV channels while they eat their chips and burgers; the NHS teats more patients than ever, it’s just a shame that so many of them are ill as a result of self inflicted anti-social behaviour; schools turn out more children with exam results that purport to be higher grades than ever, even if they do apply for jobs using ‘text speak’ and seem to actually know less than previous generations. The list could go on and on, from so-called progress in the number of university graduates (of course employers are calling out for graduates in ‘Manchester United’ or ‘Media studies’), to the appalling legacy of single-parenthood and state benefits. Just like a business, if the underlying platform isn’t sound then it MUST change. If there is a housing shortage (and there is), then a system that encourages the growth in single occupancy just isn’t going to help (in the 1970’s one person occupancy was around 19% of the housing stock, it now sits at around 33%). Prioritising lone adult occupancy housing for teenage single parents paid for by the state while at the same time penalising families who want to extend their homes to cater for elderly relatives (and save the state money) with higher council charges etc. is madness. Mad because the results are plain to see; higher borrowing that can’t be sustained and depressed currency values that will never improve while the unsustainable models are in place.

Seeing the wood for the trees can be difficult

You only have to listen to a political debate to experience that. But with clarity of purpose comes clarity of mind. If your goal is to have a sustainable and profitable business then the number one rule and its tough question will yield a level of clarity that would otherwise be difficult to achieve. Don't be mad, be honest and brave; make the tough decisions and you stand a much better chance of being rewarded with success.

The PC Brigade are in danger of �shoulding� all over themselves

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

OK, bullying is beyond political correctness...

...but only when political correctness isn’t taken to extremes. At the risk of offending, I cite the following examples of what appear to be extreme cases, where the word ‘should’ or 'shouldn't' would have been better replaced with ‘MUST’:

Police officers shouldn’t attend 999 calls unless the crime has already taken place (even when an assailant is outside your front door waiting to beat you up).

Ambulance crews shouldn’t rush to an accident if they are on an ‘official’ break (even when to do so might save a life).

Fire officers shouldn’t wade into a few feet of water to save a child without a 'risk assessment' (even though a child may die).

Prime Ministers shouldn’t take the stress of their job so personally that they occasionally lose their temper (even when to do so might stimulate some passion into a situation that could use some)

I’m certainly not saying that bullying is acceptable

Far from it. But there such things as extreme circumstances; and running a country into the biggest debt any of its citizens has ever seen, risking the social wellbeing of generations to come and the quality of life of those here today, may quite reasonably be considered as extreme. Therefore the sentiments of one Fleet Street editor in his column today when he said something like; ‘What kind of wimps are working in Downing Street these days?’ is perhaps understandable.

If you are a business owner you know all about living with stress. And yes, I hope you are able to cope with it better than our PM seems to be, but don’t let yourself get lulled into the ‘should’ frame of mind. If you find yourself complaining that things…

Shouldn’t be as bad as they are
Shouldn’t be as tough as they are
Shouldn’t be so difficult
Shouldn’t be so frustrating
Shouldn’t be so irritating with so much red tape, barriers etc

...Then all you are doing is ‘shoulding’ all over yourself. Turn your shoulds into MUSTS and then find a way to make USE of them. Perhaps if you did, then in your world the situation might be viewed more like this:

Things…

MUST be as bad as they are so that I can learn from them
MUST be as tough as they are so I get to toughen up too
MUST be so difficult so that I find better ways of succeeding
MUST be so frustrating so that I discover my own inner calm
MUST be so irritating so that I can rise above it all and keep focused on my end goal; only ever asking the question “Is what I’m doing now taking me closer or further away from my ultimate goal”

Is �Business Link� for the chop?

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Lots of people hope so

The use of (albeit well meaning) but largely ineffective advisors looks like it might be coming to an end. Even the most fervent supporter of the existing system will admit that the calibre of the people hired to give the advice is simply consistent with the prescriptions of the system and the funds available. Most of those supporters won’t be found in the ranks of the business community however. They have been vehement in their criticism of the lack of help available: From the most senior sources all the way down to the grass roots. The newspapers are full again today with condemnations of the Government’s Enterprise Tsar Lord ‘You’re fired’ Sugar. Successful he may be but rapport building he is not. Banks also still come in for heavy criticism as does the Government in general.

The FT reports today...

... that a survey of over 2000 small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) with an average turnover of £1.23m has slated Government help. The survey asked them to rank 10 different sources of advice: Most widely used were the professionals (which is a relief) but right up there with them on the list are family members, other entrepreneurs and mentors. At the bottom of the list were Government agencies like Business Link. They report that Mark Prisk (shadow enterprise minister – yes, I hadn’t heard of him either) has said that one of his first actions (if he gets the chance) will be to axe Business Link and hand over its functions to local enterprise agencies. We just have to hope that if (or when) that happens they find economic ways of delivering the professional help that is both so clearly needed and so obviously wanted.

Don�t risk your own cash unless you�ve got deep pockets

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The big news today was the Government wanting to delay making spending cuts

Of course they do! Who’d want to go into an election with the public sector up in arms about slashed budgets, pressure groups going crazy about lack of funding and loud shouts of ‘foul’ from everyone who doesn’t get the cash they think they deserve. Are the 60 economists the Chancellor cobbled together any more to be believed than the 20 that the Opposition lined up yesterday with a completely different view? As the wonderful Frank Bruno once said (and I was there) ‘There’s pro’s and con’s for and pro’s and con’s against’!

Personally I put more faith in real those with their own cash at stake than commentators

Richard Branson has a point when he says that a plan to get out of this situation would be a good idea. The advocates of the ‘lets put it off for a year and hope the economy has a chance to recover’ have an understandable point. But the facts are that the single biggest driver of new cash in the UK is The City of London and it’s hard to see why anyone would invest in a business without a plan. The greater good might suggest that we should all pretend that our worries have gone away; to have blind faith and invest as if all were hunky dory, then we’d all make pots of money and the world would be a wonderful place. The trouble is that blind faith carries risk. If the world doesn’t follow a disneyesque script and it all goes to hell in a hand basket taking your business with it there will be no one to save you. No knight in shining armour will pick you up and dust you down, pay off your losses and give you a fresh start (unless you happen to be a bank of course).

The issue is risk

If a sailor can see a storm brewing he’ll stay in port until it blows over. The reality is what it is. There is a storm out there and it is brewing. Of course, there will always be opportunities; however the prudent will plan their course with an awareness of the surrounding risk. Those with a small or medium sized business who are most aware will thrive while the majority struggle to survive. So if you haven’t done it already, identify the inherent risks in your business and plan for how to deal with them in tough times. If one or other of the economists are right and it all blows over without a noticeable storm surge then nothing will have been lost. If however it does blow a hoolie then you’ll be prepared:

Don’t take on debt that risks your future unless you are very confident
Don’t take on work at rates below your ability to make a profit, or at least break even, just to be ‘busy’ (unless it really is very short term and there is light at the end of the tunnel)
Don’t start new projects that risk the success of your core business (or at least be aware of what you are doing)
Don’t panic and take actions that in your most confident state you wouldn’t do
Don’t take your eye off the ball – keep focused on your core activity: Consistency sits well with sustainability.
Don’t look for a magic wand when what you need is a straight forward business tool kit

Get your finances in order because things are going to get worse

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry to be the harbinger of gloom and doom but sometimes it’s necessary to park over-optimism and focus on risk. Of course we can still do that with a positive frame of mind. In fact I’d say that a positive head is an absolute must, given the circumstances.

The reason for the dire warning is government debt

The UK has had to borrow huge sums that can’t possibly be paid back in the short term. Crippling debt that has started a trickle of discomfort flowing into our every day business lives but that’s about to become a torrent of pain. Last month the UK Government borrowed an additional £4.3bn (yes billion), to prop up our spending needs. That’s about an extra £70 for every man, woman and child in the country. Imagine how you’d feel if you didn’t have a plan to take in more money than you spend and that the financial situation required you to borrow extra cash like that just to survive. Imagine what state your business would be in if you had to borrow more cash, not for investment but just to pay the basic bills. Assuming again that there is no prospect on the immediate horizon of any respite or way out, it’s not going to be a good feeling. In fact, the only choices you’d have are; to go under or find a new way of staying afloat. The stark reality for most of us is that we can’t accept what isn’t working because the financial reality won’t let us. If WE don’t change our situation then someone will change it for us, and that’s not a pleasant reality.

Of course it’s a bit different for Governments. We are a country not a company; there won’t be bailiffs at the door of Number 10. We can trundle on in massive debt for ages and all that’ll happen is that our taxes will get higher and Government investment and expenditure will get squeezed. There will be lots of political screaming and shouting and people may even take to the streets, but the situation is what it is. Progress will no doubt be made albeit slow, and the world will carry on. But it will have a big effect on how we do business. The size of the problem means that it must have a major impact on the businesses that interact and come into contact with Government funded or supported services and projects.

The public sector deficit stands today at £90.7bn

To put this in perspective that’s more than doubled since this time last year. The cuts that we have started to see in local authority spending have only just begun. To make any dent in this at all there will have to be serious implications. Those implications are as much about the caution and reticence that will become apparent as they are about actual cuts in spending. Managers at every level in the state machine will feel less inclined to risk being criticised for unnecessary expenditure. The culture of fear that’s already started to permeate into the workplace will be heightened resulting in a scarcity mindset for all concerned. Trust me, this WILL spread into the general economy and it will be hard to shift.

The stark reality is that this country is now £845.5bn in the red

We’ve never been here before and if the political pages are anything to go by no one seems quite sure how we are going to get out of it. For us mere mortals running a business and getting on with life, what we must do is this:

Recognise the seriousness of the situation and start planning what to do
Don’t make it any worse than it is but don’t diminish the seriousness of the situation either – be realistic about what you can do
Plan how to survive and thrive in tough times and you’ll do even better if (or hopefully when), it improves
Involve your team in the planning; they are not stupid and can see what’s going on around them – they know you’re not trying to fleece them; without you being successful they will have no job
Don’t cut back on the wrong things – cut out luxuries if necessary but don’t do anything to damage either your sales funnel, customer service or product quality
If you’re not sure what to do then get some help – don’t wait until it’s too late – money spent on survival is money well spent

Saying �No!� can lead to more of what you DON�T want

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

In the 40 days before Easter, believers are urged to demonstrate repentance by abstaining from something that they enjoy but would be better off without

At almost the same time that thousands like me are attempting to give up chocolate for Lent, the supermarkets ratchet up their sales campaigns for Easter Eggs and all things chocolaty! The trouble is that because the addictive sweet tasting stuff becomes high on a persons mental agenda, those marketing efforts will appear all the more evident. We become more aware of what we focus on, even when that focus is to try and avoid something.

If you don’t believe me just try this: in a moment close your eyes and try NOT to think of a big bright and fluffy PINK ELEPHANT. Try NOT to imagine a big bright and fluffy pink elephant! Of course you HAD to imagine one and think of one in order to make sense of the request. That part of your brain can’t tell the difference between positive and negative; it just provides the images and meanings for the words or thoughts you give it to deal with. So focusing attention on NOT eating chocolate just makes all the chocolate adverts stand out even more. But both the significance of focus and focusing for 40 days are useful concepts in business success.

Focus on what you want

Focusing on what you DO want rather than what you don’t will make it more likely you’ll start to notice things that are helpful. Focusing on things you don’t want will simply reinforce how bad things are and so won’t do you any good at all:

If you hold meetings with your staff do you focus on what you want them to do or the things that have gone wrong?
When you are giving feedback do you focus on things you want to see more of or negatives you want improved?
When you discuss business performance do you ask more questions about how to do more of what’s working or more about what isn’t going so well

Make your focus consistent

It’s no coincidence that Lent runs for 40 days. 40 days was probably an early guess at how long it takes to form a new habit. Nowadays it’s become commonly ‘accepted’ that 21 days is enough to get something new in place but that figure was just a guess and came from a1960’s book by Maxwell Maltz, (a plastic surgeon who noticed that it took about 21 days for an amputee to accept the limb was missing). More recent research suggests that it can take up to 66 days for a new habit to get as embedded as it ever will, but that by 40 days it’s got pretty close to a plateau of effectiveness.

Do it for 40 days

40 days appears in ancient literature again and again; 40 days of Noah’s flood (and 40 more before he opened a window), 40 days for Moses on Mount Sinai, 40 days for the people of Ninevah to repent, 40 days for Jesus in the wilderness, 40 days for an Egyptian embalmer to make a mummy, 40 days of mourning for Islamic observers of Arba’een, and even an old Arabic proverb that says; ‘To understand a people you must live among them for 40 days’. For the ancients 40 days represented an astrological cycle (with 9 of them making up a year) so it’s fair to say that the idea of 40 being a significant number has been around for a while. To make use of this ‘ancient wisdom’ all we have to do is choose something to focus on and then do it consistently for 40 days. So what better time to do that than Lent?

Ask yourself one simple question: What’s the most important thing that I’d like me or my business to have adopted as a habit by Easter? Whatever the answer is to that will tell you what you need to focus on every day until then. Write an entry in your diary on each of the 40 days to remind yourself to DO the new habit every day. By Easter your new habit will have become part of your on going routine.

Why eating pancakes make more financial sense than borrowing on credit cards

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Today the BBC reports that credit card interest rates are the highest in the past 12 years with an average of 18.8% being paid when the bank rate is still at 0.5%.
http://tinyurl.com/yaaw2jr. Someone’s getting fat and it’s not because today’s Mardi Gras!

Yes, today is Mardi Gras: Fat Tuesday or for us Brits Shrove Tuesday or…Pancake Day! Shrove Tuesday: Eating a pancake today reflects the idea that this could be the last chance for fat for a while. To Christians it’s a day that represents absolution and penance and a day to ‘get sorted’ in readiness for the trials and abstinence that go along with the observance of Lent. Raising cash on a credit card is a really fatty thing to do; it’s like eating greasy burgers. They may take the edge of your hunger but you’ll sure as heck pay for it in the long run. That’s the kind of fat you really want to avoid! I’m suggesting that instead of the greasy option you opt for a pancake instead. If you are funding any part of your business (or personal life for that matter) with a loan from a credit card then maybe today would be a good day to seek penance for that ‘sin’ and find another way. If you haven’t spoken to a main stream lender then do it. It has to be cheaper than the cost of a credit card. If you have spoken to your bank and they said no, then speak to another one; and if that say no then go to another and another…and another. Apparently Walt Disney went through hundreds of potential funding options before he got the cash he needed, and while he’s dead and gone – the mouse lives on! You don’t need to be another Walt to simply borrow from his persistence.

I’m no Disney either and there’s no Mardi Gras parade where I live. The closest a sleepy Warwickshire village gets to marching bands in the streets is later in the year for our terribly pagan May-day festival; and that’s hardly New Orleans. Morris dancers on the green aren’t quite the same as Jazz singers in Jackson square! The best we can do on Fat Tuesday is to whip up a pancake or two for sharing. In fact we look forward to Pancake Day. It’s not just bad lending decisions we can put behind us today. What about also putting other issues to bed at the same time; maybe thinking about new ways to solve old problems by bringing our ‘team’ together and being ready to face what’s to come?

The religious significance might have gone for most but it’s still a significant date in the calendar. Just because our kids (both direct and inherited) are now all old enough to cook their own pancakes if they want them, doesn’t mean they do. Those that can make it will be here tonight to feast on them with lashings of sugar and lemon. I love it; there are no Hallmark cards, no retail countdowns and no pressure for presents – it’s not that kind of celebration day. There’s just good wholesome food, cooked and shared with people I care about. Pancake Day may not be a commercial high point, but if every employer took the time to (metaphorically at least) don an apron and provide pancakes for their team, to sit and share together, then perhaps a little of the magic we’ll share tonight would be felt by them too.