Harden up and get Tough!

Written by Grant Thorpe

“It’s not what’s happening – it’s what you do that counts”

In a tough market like we are currently experiencing it’s all the more important to have a clear strategy for success. These are my 5 clever strategies to making a huge gain against your competitors in a tough market.

1.       Get up early and get started. Increase our work rate and your work effectiveness by at least 20% to gain an immediate advantage over your competition. This has a compounding effect over time. If I ran a mile each day and you ate a Pizza, by the end of the year we would be 365 miles apart and 365 pizzas apart. One of us would also have a 10 to 15 year life expectancy over the other – one of us would look far better as well. Start now it’s never too late.

2.       Have a Plan. Start the day with a plan to get in front of the money. Prioritise your focus on the Dollar Productive Activity first -leave ‘busy stuff’ to last.

3.       Get Tough- to survive in a tough market you need to get tough! Harden up and make some tough decisions to ensure your survival. If it’s a cost you don’t need, then get rid of it now! Avoid emotional attachments – just make the call and act on the decision that is required.

4.       Review everything – what was relevant a year ago, a month ago, or a week ago may not be now. Be prepared to change and despite all your beliefs calling you back into your old comfort zone, be prepared to change direction to one that meets the current climate.

5.       Don’t listen to anybody else! In a tough market there are more doomsayers preaching the sky is falling than positive people looking for the raft of opportunities that are right there in front of them. Work out who you are talking to and stick with the positive group. Divorce the others and no matter what, stick to your new plan and don’t deviate from it, no matter how hard others try to influence you.

‘It’s not the strongest or the most intelligent that survive, but the most adaptive to change’

-Charles Darwin