Secrets of the Successful is I.M.A.G.E.

I am happy to have stumbled upon a great learning from the book I've been reading recently. And these I will be sharing to you are the idea of the author. I was just amazed at his concepts and principles at winning in life. For the next few post starting this one, I will be sharing to you the concept with an acronym - IMAGE! I.M.A.G.E!

"I" is for INNOVATION!

Innovation always trumps repeating what might have worked in the past. Doing what worked even a year or two ago amid the terrifically unpredictable conditions under which we now do business is a good way to get into some bad trouble. Customers and all the people around you want fresh value and novel forms of excellence - not a repackaging of old goods. 

YOU NEED SOME STRETCHING!

You need to constantly flex your mind and elevate your abilities by consistently asking themselves 'What can I improve today?' You have to deeply hold a commitment to making everything you touch better than you found it. And to constantly reinvent yourself along the way. That's the essence of innovation.  'Innovation' sounds complex, but it really is simply about consistently making everything a whole lot better than you found it. Actually, the clearest way that you can define innovation and creative mastery is to be all about making this day better than yesterday.

COMMITMENT NOT TO BE ORDINARY

Your career will also fly when you commit to being the opposite of ordinary in all the work that you do. Be a visionary. See into the future in a business landscape where most people stay stuck in the past. And don't be afraid of shattering your routines. Relentlessly rethink the way you work. Constantly ask yourself questions like:

How can I boost my productivity?

How can I work faster?

How can I wow my customers even more?

Regularly put yourself in the shoes of your buyers and experience what it's like to do business with you. Then set about to take that experience to a completely new level of world-class.

NO TO MEDIOCRITY CREEP

Just wake up every morning and be all about daily iteration - making each thing you do a little bit better than it was the day before. Develop an innovation mind-set. So making your present better than your past is just the way you think. Also remember that if you're not chasing excellence and passionate innovation, mediocrity is already on its way to get you. Avoid what we call Mediocrity Creep - that subtle and dangerous descent into being average that infects your work without your even knowing it. Just as growth is invisible and incremental, so is falling into the habit of being ordinary. 

REINVENT YOURSELF

So become ever so engaged in reinventing things and improving each thing that you do. Without innovation, life is death. And only the brave will survive these days. Definitely keep challenging yourself to see things as you dream of seeing them. And truly being that visionary that I said. The inner leader within you aches to be a visionary!

EVOLUTION NOT REVOLUTION

The best way to improve the way you work and the organization you work for isn't really through revolution. What I mean is that the best way for you to get your next level of excellence in your work isn't by some revolutionary idea or some radical initiative. Great careers and great businesses are built by evolution. By slow and steady improvements that actually don't look like much when you view them in isolation. But over time, these small, incremental, evolutionary improvements amount to massive gains. Daily ripples of superior performance add up over time to a tidal wave of outrageous success. Please remember that getting to your leadership best comes down to simply doing a few smart moves each day that stack up to unimaginable achievement over a period of time.

You can feel it now. Yes. You can make changes. Because all you need to do is start off small. And then just do little improvements every day. Anyone can do that, no matter what their career - or their lives - look like this very moment. 

DREAM BIG, START SMALL.

Dream big yet start small. That's the key. And start now, exactly where you're at. It's important for anyone ready to make changes. Small steps over time generate big results. And failure, on the other hand comes from a few daily acts of neglect that over time lead to disaster.

"So, if I make those small little steps each day, I'll eventually get to success?," you might ask.

No doubt! Success will actually come automatically, just by performing those little advancements with consistency. Simply remember this line: "small daily improvements - over time - lead to stunning results." I call it the Multiplier Effect. Doing intelligent little acts each and every day accelerates with time to an unimaginable state of success. It's sort of like compound interest. If when you are young, you go down to your bank every day and make tiny, seemingly insignificant deposits, by the magic of compounding, over time you'll become rich. So when it comes to high performance leadership and expressing your absolute best, it's the same thing. Small little leadership acts really compound into breathtaking consequences. And as I was saying on the subject of innovation, the powerful idea is to just dedicate yourself to being all about consistent, focused, and never-ending improvement. Just don't get caught up in the habit that is human nature to fall into; growing complacent. As a matter of fact, the more successful you become, the more hungry you need to be - not only as a person but also as an organization. Nothing fails like success, because the higher you rise, the easier it becomes to stop pushing the envelope, challenging the status quo, and keeping your focus. Sure, it's human nature to try and reach a place where things didn't change, where we can coast along, where everything is certain. This gives us sense of control and security. But I have to tell you, my friend, it's such a false sense of security. In the new world of business, the riskiest place you can be is trying to do the same things in the same way as you've always don them. Few things are as foolish as hoping old behaviors will somehow present new results. 

Why?

Because that means you're not innovating. You're not doing your part to make things better. You're not creating superior value. And that means that rather than evolving to ever-increasing levels of excellence, you are slipping deeper into old patterns of stagnation. And that's when your competition eats you for breakfast. Choose innovation over stagnation and you'll be just fin in this crazy busy business world we're now in. Choose calculated risk taking versus operating the same old way, and you'll do great. You'll be awesome, actually!

In my next pose, I will be sharing to you the rest of the letters in the acronym, their meaning and concept! 

If you learned something from this, please feel free to leave your reply or comment below and share this to your friends. It might help them achieve great results too like you!

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