Organize

What do you have in mind today?

Most people will think of the things that needs to be done today. But have you forgotten about the things that are still undone from yesterday? There are so many things each person have to handle every single day. How do people get by and still have time for fun?

Are you a person who has to scramble through things every single day just to finish a task? How much time do you need to find something you need? How does your desk look like? How anyone lives through their daily lives really depends very much on the person and has got nothing to do with the aesthetics of what our eyes can see.

Some people live great in a total mess. These are called the creative bunch. We may see papers everywhere, totally disorganized and we get a headache but for them, this is their way to higher understanding. If one day, you cleared up their desk, they would have a hard time looking for that one thing that they need at that very moment. If left in a mess, it would just take them seconds. If all organized up, it would probably take them hours if not days, and in some cases, they may not even be able to locate it in their entire lifetime.

Some people need space for clarity. If things are in a mess, they cannot function at all. They need everything to be organized. You will see that their desk is often empty you really wonder how anything can get done. Where are the notes? Where are the “to do” lists? Where are the plans? Everything is just not there for anyone to look for. If someone puts something on their desk, they would be freaked and they immediately want it off. So, they get on is in the speed of light and then leave their desk empty again. There would probably be files upon files elsewhere as long as the desk is empty.

Most people are a little bit of both. You are probably the messy person when you are busy and the tidy person when you have a little time to get organized.

It is perhaps the greatest feeling of all to get things lifted off your shoulders. It makes you feel light. How you want to do it depends on the task itself and how you actually organize its route to finishing. Sometimes, drastic measures are necessary.

Humans are social animals. We need to live amongst other people and get things done together. Even if you are an introvert, there is no avoiding human contact. Even if we are all in a lockdown, there is no avoiding communication between each other. Everything needs to be planned out strategically in order for anything to work out the way it should. Time will tell that if we work together as a team, we are stronger.

A team means there is a leader. The leader is responsible to get things organized and moving. A great leader will plan small tasks for each member of the group. A great leader knows who is best at each task. A great leader gives opportunities. A great leader encourages brain storming. A great leader builds paths for exploration and enhancement. It is all about how well the person can deal with situations in a strategic way.

You may have thoughts that the current situation do not permit any organization because it is ad-hoc and of high urgency that needs to be done this very second. Sometimes, you just need to jump into action before even having the time to think. This happens all the time in stocks and business where decisions a second later can mean a total disaster. It is okay during that urgent time. Have you ever thought what needs to be done afterwards? Most people forget this. Post-mortem. When you have been stripped off your rights to think then, you think afterwards. Can it be done better? Is there another path to take? How to tackle such situations in future? These are all very important information for the entire team so that when you are not there to guide them through, they can function as they should.

Think the way successful people do. Organize your thoughts to help others help you.

 

Once you have a clear idea of your priorities – that is your values, goals and high leverage activities, organize around them.

Stephen Richards Covey (Stephen Covey), American educator and speaker, 1932-2012

Create

Why now? Perhaps the question one should be asking is why not now, instead of why now.

Now is a good time. Considering the situation around the world right now, it is a good time to start anything that we have been dreaming of doing. This is a calling. A calling for something to change.

All along, we are just living the life we thought was the life that is. Day in day out doing the same routine over and over. Life is just as is because it is just as is. There seems to be no way out of the situation at all. Life seems to be fixed, whatever life we are living.

A farmer seems to be just living the life of a farmer. Wake up, head out to the farm, sow seeds, water the crops or harvest the crops. Send the reaps of hard work to dealers and get some money in return. During the lockdown, people are just not allowed to move around too much. Though categorized under essential services, because of the lockdown, a large number of harvested crops are left to rot. Farmers have no choice but to take another route. They go online. Now, consumers can directly purchase from them at a cheaper price, while they are making higher profits without the need to go through middle men. It is a win-win situation.

As for the middle man. Life was great prior to the lockdown. They source for good stuff, then they resell to the end user at a marked up price. There is no need to produce anything to sell, they only need to know where to find something to sell and where to market it to the right audience. However, during the lockdown, many things cannot be done. Perhaps it seems like efforts lost in translation. If they do not change the way they run their business, there will be no business to run after this ordeal. When people can no longer move around like before, it is a good time to bring the business online.

When everyone goes online, this will mean the initial online businesses will be affected because the pie has been cut into way too many pieces. Perhaps this is a great time to think out of the box. What else can you do differently from all the other businesses out there? How can you differentiate yourself from the norm? How to find your perfect niche within an ocean full of sharks.

Some may say that it will be easy for things that people will definitely need to buy to do business. How about those things that are considered redundant?

Nothing ever is redundant. It is the perception of people that makes things useful or not. There are more than 7 billion people in the world. There bound to be people finding something that you are offering. You just need to know where to market and how to market. Knowing the where and how is of utmost importance for any business, regardless of whether or not you are in an industry that many say is dead now.

Take tourism for example. Many companies have ended their business because it is impossible for sustenance when nobody is allowed to travel around. Perhaps it really is the right time to think of something else. Perhaps tourism is not the right business for you. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to change your business model. Every business should be able to sustain even if they are running for at least 6 whole months without any income. If the business is running on a day to day basis, then there must be a weak point in the business model itself. If you are still holding on to it, you will just end up stressing yourself about it right till the end.

It does not matter what life throws at us. It only matters how we look at life. When you know that something is not working well, stiffen your heart, cut loss, and let go. There is no reason to keep hanging on to something that you know will end up nowhere.

The old you will have to first die to create the better you. You do not die literally, you just let go of everything that are pulling you down, and you start anew.

 

To create is to live twice.

Albert Camus, French-Algerian philosopher, 1913-1960

Niche

Niche is probably one of the most heard words in this day and time.

Everyone is talking about it. What is it that makes everyone so interested in it? Why is it important to focus on a niche? How exactly do we find that niche that suits us? Everyone is probably asking the same questions.

We live in a world full of distractions. The more information there is, the more difficult it is to understand what is best for us.

The most commonly discussed topics on any search engine are the niche that we should be looking into if we are aiming to be successful in this era. The more discussed the topic, the bigger the market.

WEALTH! Everybody wants to be wealthy. Who does not? We are made to believe, since young that money matters a lot to us. Without money, we would end up in the streets begging for a piece of bread. With money, we can buy anything we want.

There are many ways to become prosperous. Somehow, when the whole world is on lockdown, wealth gurus sprout like mushrooms all over the internet. There are some who are genuine but there will always be those who are only in for the big buck. As a hungry learner, we have to be vigilant. We have to find out the history of whomever we are looking to mentor us.

Learning is a process. Once we have chosen the mentor, we must go all in. We must be committed to make things happen. We must be committed to do all the work. We must commit our time and money to really make things happen. We have to understand that in order for our life to change for the better, we have to first make the change. Doing things the old way will just leave us stagnant.

HEALTH! When we have the wealth, we can talk about health. When we are still young, we should be trading a little bit of health for wealth. This is good and bad at the same time.

It is common to see students burning the midnight oil studying or trying to finish up assignments. They are still very young, they have a lot of time to trade for knowledge. It is also common to see people who are keen to climb that corporate ladder work late nights to finish up the presentation. They are still young, they have time to trade for success. It is even more common to see young entrepreneurs working day and night in their homes. They sometimes even work with a laptop on the bed. They are comparably still young, they have time to trade for money.

Some people are very lucky. Despite having had a rough start, they are still happy and healthy in their older days. How is that possible? Perhaps there are some things that they do that we did not. May be it is a great time to start looking into health differently. Study ourselves and the people around us. What makes some people happy all the time? What makes everyone happy some of the time?

RELATIONSHIP! It is believed that people in great relationships are happier than those who are not. While this may be true to a certain extent, it is not typical.

If we look around, there are quite a huge number of people who prefer to remain single, and they are very happy people. There may be times that they will feel lonely but there are certainly some who enjoy the loneliness. Perhaps it is the freedom of never needing to answer to anyone. They can do whatever they wish, whenever they like, however they prefer. Nobody has the right to tell them otherwise.

As humans, we tend to like to compare. There are those who would compare and envy. There are also those who would compare and improve. It all depends on the personality and also the way we look at life. After several years of observation, we should understand that every human is different and unique in their own way. We should only compare with each other for positive inputs and outputs. Never ever should we lower our self-esteem in any situation.

Wealth, health, and relationship. They are all related. How do we niche down on one?

 

If everybody is doing it one way, there’s a good chance you can find your niche by going exactly in the opposite direction.

Samuel Moore Walton (Sam Walton), American businessman and founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club, 1918-1992