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Now that we have entered 2024, we bet you have asked yourself how to become successful in life.

It all comes down to how you define success.

According to The Britannica Dictionary, the definition of success is “the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame.”

Even with this definition, the interpretation of what makes a successful life depends on your perception.

For some, being a famous movie star is more successful than being a famous race car driver.

For others, the wealth of Elon Musk is the mark of success.

Some of us think of social rights leaders who have made great strides in making our world better, like Martin Luther King Jr., Women’s Rights Activist Dolores Huerta, and Greta Thunberg.

So, how do you become successful in life?

It is clear that how you view success would be dependent on your personal circumstances. A good start would be to define what success means for you.

Is it more about wealth, fame, respect or your impact on the world?

You must remember, though, that once you become successful, it does not mean that everything is smooth sailing.

How to become successful in life: Is success a double-edged sword?

Think of your favourite celebrities: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Serena Williams, and Will Smith, for instance.

They have all climbed great heights in fame, wealth and respect.

However, they have all also been hounded by paparazzi and had their private lives become part of public debate.

Their actions are examined under a microscope, with less room for mistakes.

Remember when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in a fit of anger at the 94th Academy Awards?

Netizens heavily scrutinised the lead actor of the films “Ali” and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” and there was a massive debate on whether his act of violence was warranted.

“Now I know to do what we do, you gotta be able to take abuse,” he says in a later acceptance speech for the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’s dad Richard Williams in King Richard.

“You gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you have to be able to have people disrespecting you. And you gotta smile and pretend that’s OK.”

With all his success, Smith still has to face the court of public opinion, which can make or break the future of his career and life.

Success can be a double-edged sword.

This is also applicable to technological advancements. The growth of AI means that so much more automation can happen.

This tool was created to help us with tedious tasks to free us up for more creative and fun pursuits.

However, there is an impending worry that AI will take over creative jobs and put people out of work.

It goes to show that while you are looking at how to become successful in life, it does not mean that life will be easy and breezy after.

5 tips on how to become successful in life

Forget the tired mantras about grinding relentlessly and hustling till you drop.

In 2024, unlock your success with a toolbox of uncommon strategies that spark joy, nurture resilience, and propel you towards a fulfilling life, not just frantic.

1. Find your north star – Define your “Why”

Imagine a ship without a rudder tossed about by every wave. That’s what life can feel like without a clear purpose.

Before you set sail, take time to define your “why.”

For Albert Einstein, it was cracking the secrets of the universe. For Malala Yousafzai, it was championing education for girls.

What does success look like for you? Is it the corner office, the six-figure salary, the viral video fame? Or perhaps it’s quiet moments of fulfilment, the joy of creating, the deep connections with loved ones?

Success is not a one-size-fits-all dish. It’s a bespoke recipe crafted with unique ingredients and seasoned with your values.

Forget chasing societal expectations, celebrity trends, or outdated definitions. Instead, ignite your inner flame this year and ask yourself:

• What brings me meaning and purpose?
• What makes me feel alive and engaged?
• What legacy do I want to leave behind?

Once you define your success on your terms, the “how” becomes a personalised roadmap, not a rigid blueprint.

2. Embrace the power of “Small, consistent steps”

Once you know your “why,” start doing.

You can’t achieve success if you haven’t done anything. There’s no big financial reward just for showing up. It would help if you put the time and energy into building something.

In his book “The Compound Effect,” author Darren Hardy echoes this sentiment: “You only need to take a series of tiny steps, consistently, over time, to improve your life radically.”

Instead of overwhelming yourself with grand goals, break them into bite-sized, achievable chunks.

Schedule daily or weekly micro-actions that inch you towards your dream. Read a chapter of your book, practise your instrument for 15 minutes, or network with one new person each week.

These seemingly insignificant steps, strung together with discipline, will form a ladder to your ultimate success.

On a side note, to make your goals tangible, grasp the reins of SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

This isn’t about rigid constraints; it’s about giving your aspirations a roadmap, a GPS to guide you.

For example, instead of wishing to “be a writer,” you can set a SMART goal: “Write and submit one short story to a literary magazine by March 1.”

Now, you have a clear destination and a deadline to fuel your journey.

3. Befriend “failure”

Think of failure as a bumpy road on your journey to success, not a dead end.

Every misstep and rejection is a valuable lesson waiting to be learned. Embrace failure as a chance to pivot, refine, and return stronger.

Example: J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series, faced countless rejections before her manuscript found a home.

But she used each rejection as fuel, refining her story and resilience. The rest, as they say, is magical history.

Nelson Mandela once said, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Grit is the fuel that propels you through setbacks, the resilience that keeps you chasing your dreams even when the sun dips below the horizon.

Reframe your failures as “learning experiences.” When you face a setback, ask yourself: “What can I learn from this? How can I improve next time?”

Embrace the growth mindset, and watch failures become stepping stones to triumph.

4. Get rid of distractions

Increased productivity is not guaranteed by working more hours.

Parkinson’s law says that “work tends to expand to fill the time we have available for its completion.”

Any remaining time is typically filled with distractions, as our minds are wired to conserve energy.

When not obligated to do something, there’s a high likelihood that we’ll fall to distractions like watching YouTube videos or playing games on our phones.

Conversely, we often experience a heightened, laser-like focus when facing a deadline and actively avoid distractions.

The awareness of needing to accomplish a task compels us to find ways to complete it efficiently.

To eliminate distractions and regain control of your time, consider the following examples for eliminating distractions:

• Shut off your phone for a few hours
• Give yourself a shorter time frame to finish your work
• Put your phone in a different room while you work

Take Philippe Wilson, founder of boilerbooker.com, for an example. He turns his mobile phone off for two-hour blocks in a bid for focus.

“I work well to deadlines, so I give myself less time to do things and take fewer but longer breaks, such as playing tennis, going to the gym or cooking food.”

Wilson also plans, so he knows precisely how his focused work blocks will be used.

“Every Sunday evening, I write down my goals for the year,” he says.

Goals give direction to blocks of time and create a compelling reason to stick to them.

5. Invest in relationships

Success isn’t a solo act. It’s built on the foundation of solid and supportive relationships — personal and professional.

In 2024, surround yourself with people who cheer you on, challenge you to grow, and believe in you even when you doubt yourself.

Find mentors who have walked similar paths and can offer guidance. Build a network of peers who inspire and challenge you to be your best.

Join online communities, attend workshops, and connect with people in your field.

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban once said, “In business, you’re the total of the people you spend the most time with.”

This means when you surround yourself with people who inspire and challenge you, you’ll develop a similar mindset, ultimately leading to your success in the professional world.

By investing in personal relationships, you’ll develop the key skills for effective business collaboration, communication, and problem-solving in a business setting  — all of which can lead to long-lasting partnerships, a robust professional network, and a thriving career.

Source: Study International

It’s the question we anticipate with dread the most: “Do you have any questions for us?” You’ve already expended a great deal of time and effort to prepare the answers for the questions the interviewer would ask you. Now surely, this part of the interview doesn’t require much thought?

Huge mistake! This is the time you have free rein to ask what you like and continue to sell yourself and shine in the process—so as a candidate for a leadership or management role, choose carefully.

Why Do They Ask ‘Do You Have Any Questions For Us?’

The questions you ask during the interview put you in the driver’s seat to explore and weigh up your options, helping you analyze if the company is one you would like to work with. Do their values align with your core values? Will accepting an offer to work here further your career goals and help you develop to be a better manager? How do they support their managers and leaders? These are all factors that need to be considered, and asking strategic questions provides eye-opening opportunities for you to get the answer, right from the horse’s mouth.

Additionally, the question, “Do you have any questions for us?” opens the opportunity for you to showcase more of your leadership expertise and strategic management thinking. This is because employers are looking to see you demonstrate your interest in the role and, especially in a management position, they want to see that you are committed for the long term.

What Are Good Questions To Ask At The End Of The Interview?

Let’s have a look at 12 excellent questions you can ask towards the end of your job interview for a leadership or management role:

1. Can you describe the composition of the team I will be leading, and what key roles do they play for this project/organization?
2. What are your key priorities and goals for this department in the coming year?
3. Where do you see this organization a year from now? Three years from now?
4. Can you tell me about a leadership initiative you are currently undertaking and how I will factor into this/what role will I play in it?
5. What are your expectations for what you’d like to see me achieve within the first 90 days? What would you like for me to have accomplished in this role six months from now?
6. How do you measure success in this management position? What will my KPIs be?
7. What avenues and resources do you offer managers for professional development, ongoing learning, and career progression?
8. What is your performance review and feedback process like for this position?
9. What are your growth plans for this year and next year?
10. Are there any new projects coming up that may impact my role in any way?
11. How does the company support work-life balance organization-wide, and especially for managers with demanding roles?
12. Is this a newly-created post? If not, what did the last person who filled this role do that you would like me to emulate in this role, or not do that you would like me to change/do differently?

There you have it! Ask these questions, and most importantly, ensure that they are tailored to the specific information you have gathered from your research on the company, and throughout the interview process. Be thoughtful about the questions you choose; for example, don’t ask about KPIs, if the information is already there in the job advert, or if they’ve already told you in the interview.

When you tailor according to the context and ask questions that are deep and insightful, you will leave a lasting positive impression on the interviewers, while gathering critical details to ensure you are making an informed decision.

Source: Forbes

As the calendar flips to a new year, leaders worldwide set resolutions to enhance their effectiveness, drive innovation, and foster a positive work culture. However, the real challenge lies not just in setting these goals but in ensuring they stick and lead to tangible changes in behaviour and organizational culture.

The Power of Temporal Landmarks for Leaders

Temporal landmarks, like the New Year, offer unique opportunities for leaders to reassess and redefine their goals. These landmarks provide psychological impetus, making long-term objectives more salient. This clarity often highlights the gap between current behaviours and desired outcomes, motivating leaders to initiate meaningful changes. For instance, a leader might reflect on their current team dynamics and envision a more collaborative and innovative future. Such reflection, spurred by the New Year, can be a powerful catalyst for change.

Evidence-Backed Strategies For Lasting Change

Katy Milkman’s research at the Wharton School provides robust evidence supporting this strategy. Her studies reveal that notable temporal markers initiate new “mental accounting periods,” essential in psychologically distancing one’s current self from past shortcomings. Moreover, contrasting the present state with an aspirational future can effectively align actions with expectations. Leaders can capitalize on this by transparently sharing their vision and existing challenges with their team, fostering collective commitment and readiness for change.

The Challenge Of Making Resolutions Stick

The notion of a ‘fresh start,’ such as the beginning of a new year, inspires positive behaviors like regular exercise or healthier eating habits. But how can leaders ensure these resolutions endure beyond the initial enthusiasm? It’s about finding regular ways to reignite that ‘fresh start’ feeling. A recent study on gym attendance led by DaiDAI +0.1% and others revealed a spike at the start of the year, followed by a gradual decline. This pattern is mirrored in organizational settings, where initial excitement about new goals gradually wanes.

Leadership In Action

Let’s consider how leaders can effectively harness this ‘fresh start’ effect:

1. Regular Reflection Points: Just as the start of a new month or a birthday can be as motivating as the New Year, leaders can establish regular intervals (quarterly reviews, for instance) for reassessing goals and celebrating progress.
2. Inclusive Goal Setting: Involving the team in setting and updating goals ensures buy-in and maintains momentum. This could be through regular team meetings or using digital tools for collaborative planning.
3. Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Goals: Leaders face the challenge of balancing immediate operational needs with strategic, long-term objectives. Creating a roadmap that includes short-term milestones leading to long-term goals can help maintain focus and motivation.
4. Utilizing Diverse Perspectives for Innovation: Leaders can leverage diverse perspectives in their teams to drive innovation. Encouraging team members to contribute ideas and solutions that may challenge conventional thinking can lead to breakthrough innovations.
5. Encouraging Continuous Learning and Growth: Leaders can foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging team members to pursue professional development opportunities. This not only aids in personal growth but also ensures the team stays adaptable and skilled to meet future challenges.

The Secret To Making Resolutions Stick

For leaders, New Year’s resolutions are more than just personal commitments; they are pledges to drive organizational success. Leaders can ensure that their resolutions translate into sustainable, positive change by leveraging the psychological impact of temporal landmarks, involving their teams in goal setting, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. As we move into the year, it’s not just about sticking to resolutions but about adapting and evolving them to meet the ever-changing landscape of the business world.

Source: Forbes

LinkedIn remains the leader in professional networking and will continue to have a tremendous impact on personal branding in 2024. Your LinkedIn profile should reflect your brand … and it begins with the profile summary (the About section).

Before spilling secrets about how to create a LinkedIn profile summary, let’s get clear on the difference between using LinkedIn to build your brand over another social media platform like TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram. Each platform draws a different audience. YouTube and TikTok are video-based platforms with a clear distinction: YouTube is primarily long-form videos with in-depth explanations of a topic. YouTube attracts users in all age groups who want detailed information, particularly in tech, gaming, and health and wellness. TikTok hosts short videos (or shorts), which are videos under 60 seconds. TikTok videos are summaries or highlights of a topic, and two-thirds of users are between 18 and 34. Instagram is image-based, with a predominant user base under 35.

LinkedIn is geared toward business-to-business (B2B) and professional marketing. More than half of its members have at least a bachelor’s degree and an annual household income greater than $75,000. LinkedIn users reach 180 million senior-level influencers. Additionally, LinkedIn members have twice the buying power compared to other online audiences.

If building a professional personal brand is on your to-do list, LinkedIn is the platform to use. Here are three tips to create a stand-out About section to grow your brand.

1. Tell a good story.

This section lets you define yourself and your brand in your own words. You’re free to include career highlights, stores, achievements, or showcase your personality.

The most important part of this section is to tell a good story. It’s the first glimpse of who you are for LinkedIn users, so don’t forget to let your personality shine — it can be the difference between someone wanting to work with you or not. Let’s face it: no one wants to work with someone who doesn’t have a personality!

Just like any good story, you need a beginning, middle, and end.

Set the stage early in the summary. Give some context as to why you do what you do. What life events shaped your brand? Are you a communication expert because you were a talkative preschooler? Is diversity important to you because of your heritage, where you grew up, and where you went to college? Do you like research because of some event from your childhood? Finish these sentences to help you uncover your start:

• One of my first memories [in school / on the playground / at my first job / etc.] is ….
• I love [selling, baking, writing, etc.]
• I was born [in a foreign country], grew up [in a big city], went to school [in the mountains]

2. Skip the details.

Save the juicy details of each role for the Experience section of your profile. Stick to the highlights in this section and weave those into the story.

If you travelled a winding path to fully blossom into who you are, tell the story to show the skills you picked up along the way that shape your uniqueness — your signature brand. Here’s an example:

I joined the debate in high school as a way to meet new people. I learned to argue well, which is what sent me to law school. By chance, I took a design class as an elective and at that moment, I knew I found my calling.

This example highlights communication and problem-solving skills, shows that they like to meet new people, and finishes by connecting the dots to their career in design. Plus, it’s quick (bonus!).

3. Finish strong with a call to action.

You have options for how you choose your ending, and those should be based on what you want from your LinkedIn profile. Most successful summaries finish with a call to action or a list of skills or experiences.

The most important aspect of your closing is to maintain a focus on your brand. Use tone and words consistent with how you want to be perceived: Give me a shout via LinkedIn. I’d love to connect over a latte where we can polish our high school debate skills for old times’ sake.

If you decide to include your skillset, give it personality: My biggest fans tell me I’m pretty good at web development, and I would have to agree! I’m a bit of a tech nerd with a passion for HTML, CSS, Python, SQL, and JavaScript.

A captivating profile summary is just the beginning, give your entire profile a lift and learn how to use the platform to build your LinkedIn network. LinkedIn is a powerful platform to build your professional personal brand and, if done well, can open doors to lasting connections to help you grow in your career.

Source: Forbes

Innovation is the lifeblood of future success. While 95% of the more than 30,000 new products introduced each year fail, they all share a common origin point: They began as an innovative idea.

Beyond luck and timing, what transforms an innovative idea into a tangible success? Discipline. Consider tapping into the following five key strategies when evaluating your innovation process.

1. Research The Problem You Want To Solve

Uri Levine, serial entrepreneur and founder of Waze and Moovit, has said that the art of successful innovation centres around one’s ability to fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

The foundation of any successful innovation is a deep understanding and appreciation of the problem or business pain point you intend to solve. Before diving headfirst into development, take the time to thoroughly research the problem from various angles.

From an internal perspective, this means understanding the nuances of the issue for your organization, as well as the short- and long-term toll the problem takes on both your business and your clients’ businesses.

Conducting a market analysis is equally important during this phase. Investigate whether similar problems have been solved before and whether you can adapt existing solutions to your needs. Building upon the work of others can accelerate your progress and save valuable time.

Lastly, before embarking on the development process, seek to understand your innovation’s impact on the organization. Assess its significance, and consider the opportunity cost involved: Is it worth pursuing relative to other ideas in your pipeline?

2. Embed The Voice Of Your Users

Once you have a solid grasp of the problem and a clear idea of how your innovation can address that problem, it’s critical to involve stakeholders and users in the design and development process. The voice of the client and the user should be at the forefront of your efforts. Soliciting feedback, preferences and pain points from those who will ultimately use your solution ensures that your innovation aligns with their needs and expectations.

3. Continuously Improve And Adapt

Innovation does not end with the launch of your solution. Failure to incorporate new trends can result in your innovation becoming obsolete. If your innovation involves technology, it is essential to recognize that technology continuously evolves. To maintain the relevance of your innovation, commit to ongoing nurturing and improvement.

Develop a road map for the future that outlines how you’ll monitor, refine and expand your innovation. Keep an eye on technological advancements such as AI, blockchain and AR/VR to explore how they can enhance your solution and stay ahead of the curve.

4. Adopt A Scalable Mindset

Given the rapid pace of change today, your innovation may serve as a foundational technology or platform that can be adapted to solve future problems or generate additional revenue streams. Think of it as a “design to scale” concept, where your innovation becomes a versatile asset that can pivot and address new challenges. By adopting this mindset, you can position your innovations to have a lasting impact on your organization and the industry at large.

As an example, in 2022 under the leadership of Denny Ard, my firm launched a cloud-based platform, focused on the new markets tax credit, that allows our service teams and clients to work collaboratively, preparing the necessary transaction model more quickly than traditional methods.

Driven by the firm’s in-house innovation lab, EDGE, the application of this technology was far-reaching and is now extending to other available tax credit and deduction opportunities.

5. Measure The Return On Innovation

Measuring the impact of your innovation is essential for strategic progress. You need to have a process for tracking and measuring ROI, to ensure your focus remains on the most effective products. Implementing a process to accurately capture the development costs and revenues of external innovations or the cost savings of internal innovations is crucial, with each innovation type requiring a distinct approach.

While tracking the ROI of an external product is straightforward, by evaluating the revenue generated by the innovation compared to the development costs, calculating the ROI on internal innovations can be more complex. The development costs for internal innovations are similar to those for external innovations. But, since there is no direct revenue associated with internal innovations, the value must be measured as the cost savings that are recognized. In other words: How much employee time is saved by using the innovation?

Taking it a step further, as a professional services firm utilizing a billable hour model, our firm also assesses how that saved time is used. For the cost savings to be meaningful to the firm, the saved time must be redirected to higher-value opportunities.

Understanding ROI, positive or negative, guides decision-making and resource allocation, informing which innovations to pursue, which to enhance and which to sunset. It’s about learning from outcomes, improving efficiency and quality and making smarter choices for future innovations. This approach ensures that time and resources are invested in projects that yield the most value to the firm.

Turning Your Idea Into A Success Requires Discipline

Transforming innovative ideas into tangible successes requires more than just resources. A creative idea is just that—a creative idea. Discipline is key to transforming an idea into a tangible success. Following this discipline enables you to lay a solid foundation based on thorough research, embed the user’s voice at every turn, invest in continuous improvement, adopt a scalable mindset and, ultimately, measure the return on your innovation.

Doing so will help make innovation a fundamental element of your organization’s DNA.

Source: Forbes

Aspiring new business owners often have formidable technical expertise, key to developing a new product or service, but a great naïveté in management skills.

They run into difficulty when their business reaches the million-dollar annual sales range or their employee count exceeds a few. It’s here that owners must shift their thinking from tactical and operational, to strategic and managerial.

I’m convinced that management is a learnable skill. It can come from experience, or training in a prior company.

It can even be self-taught from the Internet by smart professionals, just like they learn to establish a company, negotiate a contract, or file a patent.

There are also many books on this subject, including this classic from the master of management, Brian Tracy, Full Engagement!: Inspire, Motivate and Bring Out the Best in Your People. In it, he outlines a long list of key management principles for success. I’ve extracted here some key ones from my own experience relevant to businesses just entering the growth stage

1.    Communication clarity is essential

Management is “getting results through others,” not doing it yourself with the assistance of others. That means your chief responsibility is to communicate clearly about what you need done, and who has the responsibility to do it. Your new team doesn’t automatically know what you are thinking.

2.    Planning has priority over doing

Planning is one of the key learning areas, in moving from a doer to a manager. Your ability to plan, to think through what needs to be done, in advance, on paper, is a critical skill that largely determines your entire future. Your job moves to determining what should be done, instead of how it should be done.

3.    Organize your work before you begin

Most new businesses first focus on creation and think about organization later. Organizing means bringing together the necessary resources, and assembling the right people, then assigning work to specific people to be accomplished at specific times to specific standards of performance.

4.    Delegate effectively and often

Delegation doesn’t work when you are creating your new venture. ‘Not delegating’ doesn’t work when you are growing it later. Remember that delegation is not abdication. It’s still your company, so you have to follow up, step in for disaster recovery, and keep the interplay between tasks and organizations working.

5.    Staff properly at every level

This is not the same as finding a partner with complementary skills to start your business. It means not only hiring but also training and measuring performance. It means mentoring less experienced team members, and quickly replacing incompetent staff members. These are all skills you can learn.

6.    Focus on high productivity

For growth and success, you need to continually look for ways to increase output, while lowering costs. That’s a big step from one product to one customer.

The three R’s for attaining higher productivity are reorganization, re-engineering and restructuring. No business professional is born with all these skills.

7.    Set the standard with visible actions

You can only lead by example and set equally high standards for the people around you. You learn and gain credibility by committing to excellence and asking customers and team members for feedback and ideas.

8.    Concentrate on the important tasks

All successful managers never forget to concentrate on their most important task and stay with it until it is done. As a business grows, it’s easy to try to do too many things at once, while doing nothing particularly well.

9.    Identify constraints and their source

Between you and any goal is a constraint setting the speed at which you achieve that goal. The best managers are the most creative in overcoming constraints.

Constraints follow the 80/20 rule – eighty per cent are from the inside, and 20 per cent are from the outside. You need to tell the difference.

10. Concentrate on continuous improvement

No static company can grow or survive. Continuous improvement requires strategic planning to set new objectives and work toward them. Every growth company needs to innovate continually, maybe spending 20 per cent of its revenues on research and development.

Some business professionals, on seeing all this, will decide they have no interest in being a manager. They should voluntarily bow out early, to join another business.

Others will get pushed out, with some pain, by investors who see the need for a new team to lead the growth stage. Even more painfully, too many others won’t change their style, resulting in everyone being unhappy, and a business that stagnates, or even fails.

Things that great professionals have in common with great managers are that both are results-oriented and action-oriented. They have a sense of urgency and move quickly. Thus it should be easy to apply those attributes to the learning required for the next stage of your company. Just start now, and do it!

Source: Inc.Africa

Author: Martin Zwilling

Warren Buffet is known for many things as the world’s most famous investor. One of them is his infamous reading habit. He is a voracious reader who spends 80 per cent of his day reading. Buffett suggests that anyone hoping to achieve similar success should read 500 pages per day.

While that suggestion may be unrealistic to non-billionaires, there’s something else of greater importance that many entrepreneurs and business leaders lack.

It’s much easier to pull off than reading stacks of books and could be a daily habit that may launch your success.

Thinking.

“I read and think,” Buffett once said. “So I do more reading and thinking and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”

Think more, do less

In Michael Eisner’s book, Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed, Buffett dispels the notion that he and his late partner, the great Charlie Munger, just sit all day obsessing over other people’s opinions.

“No,” says Warren. “We don’t read other people’s opinions. We want to get the facts, and then think.”

Munger also told a reporter, “Neither Warren nor I is smart enough to make the decisions with no time to think. We make actual decisions very rapidly, but that’s because we’ve spent so much time preparing ourselves by quietly sitting and reading and thinking.”

Buffett adds, “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business.”

He’s right. We’ve conditioned ourselves to the stimulus and dopamine drip our devices provide; if there’s silence or inactivity, we think we’re missing out and have to feed our digital addiction.

Buffett’s “sit and think” methodology creates a growth mindset. People who take the time to sit in their quiet and sacred spaces, free of digital or people interruptions, are able to process their thoughts more clearly and come up with sound solutions to important decisions. For Buffett, sitting and thinking is as natural as riding a bicycle.

Taking time for thoughtful reflection is crucial for leaders for several reasons:

1. It clarifies your vision

Leaders often have to navigate through a sea of information and make critical decisions. Taking time to think helps them clarify their vision and align it with organizational goals.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, was known for his “think time” walking meetings. During these walks, he would reflect on challenges, envision future products, and strategize for the company’s success.

2. It helps you make good decisions 

Effective leaders need to make well-informed decisions. Allocating time for thinking and reflection allows them to analyze situations from various perspectives and consider potential outcomes.

3. It leads to innovation and creative problem-solving

Leaders who encourage their teams to think innovatively often spend time contemplating new ideas and solutions. Bill Gates, for example, famously took “Think Weeks,” where he secluded himself twice a year in a secret cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

During this time, he read and pondered future trends and challenges while also reviewing papers written by Microsoft employees pitching innovations or potential investments.

4. It prevents burnout and promotes well-being

Leadership can be demanding, and constantly being engaged in hustle culture and taking action without taking time for reflection can lead to burnout.

Leaders need to take time to think, assess their work-life balance and well-being and prioritize self-care to sustain long-term success.

Incorporating dedicated thinking time into a leader’s routine is a practical strategy for enhancing leadership effectiveness.

It is not just about doing more but thinking more strategically and intentionally. The examples illustrate that thoughtful reflection has tangible benefits for leaders and their organizations.

Source: Inc.Africa

While some people may be resolving to start a new fitness routine or give up a bad habit in the new year, others may be hoping to start a business. The feeling of a fresh start and the boost of motivation the new year brings can be the catalyst necessary to finally leap into entrepreneurship.

But business ownership isn’t for everyone, and some aspiring entrepreneurs may be more excited about the idea of owning a business than they are about the sometimes tough realities that come along with it. To ensure you’re ready to take up the challenge, consider the following 12 questions as outlined by the members of the Young Entrepreneur Council to determine if starting a business in 2024 is right for you.

1. How will my business provide value?

Providing value comes in two forms: solving a problem or satisfying a need. To define the answer, it is critical to look into four key factors: target audience, market validation, competitive landscape and profitability. Start by defining your target audience and how they will benefit from the service offered. Then assess the market for the service and the competition by researching businesses related to the service to establish how your solution will differ. Also, look into profitability by calculating potential costs, pricing strategies and revenue projections to determine if your business idea can generate a sustainable income. – David Henzel, Love not Fear

2. How sustainable is this business for the long term?

An important question to ask yourself is how sustainable your potential business is—financially, personally and with regard to the ever-evolving market and technology landscape. So, do you have the means or funding required to launch, maintain and grow this business? Are you prepared to make the personal sacrifices it takes to run your own business? And how relevant do you expect this product or service to be in five or 10 years? These questions are all important to address prior to launching a business because if you don’t have the finances or level of commitment required, or you’re behind the curve, it’s probably not worth the investment. – Samuel Saxton, ConsumerRating.org

3. What unique problem does my business solve?

Before starting a business, one critical question to ask is, “What unique problem or need does my business solve?” Understanding the market demand and identifying the value proposition ensures a viable business concept. This question drives clarity, guiding the development of products or services tailored to meet specific customer needs. It lays the foundation for a purpose-driven venture, enhancing market relevance and increasing the likelihood of sustainable success. – Alfredo Atanacio, Uassist.ME

4. What is my go-to-market strategy?

What is your go-to-market strategy? How would you promote your business, and what would you do to reach your target audience? Many great business ideas never work out because people believe their product or service is so good that it will simply sell itself. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that anymore. Even the biggest product-driven brands end up having sales and marketing departments because the competition is extremely fierce. Most markets are already saturated with offers. I’m sure you’ve seen amazing products fail and mediocre ones thrive. This is not an accident. If you want to succeed, prepare to invest in marketing and sales. – Samuel Thimothy, OneIMS

5. Is there a real need for my product or service?

Understanding market demand is crucial, because no matter how innovative or excellent your idea is, if there’s no demand, the business won’t be sustainable. This question helps validate the business concept and can guide the development of a value proposition that resonates with potential customers. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC

6. Do I feel passionate enough about this business?

The most important question someone starting a business should ask themselves is if they are so passionate about it that they would be willing to work on it for the next decade. That’s because it often takes a long time for a business to gain traction, and if motivation lags or interest in the topic area is a more recent thing, the business might not be around by the next new year. Thinking about the new business as a practical and long-term investment of time and “sweat equity” means it’s more likely to succeed. If the business idea is more of a side hustle or to explore hobbies, then having the expectation that it’s for fun and not profit may be a better way to approach starting a business. These types of “training businesses” are useful too! – Nathalie Lussier, AccessAlly

7. How much funding will I need, and where will I find it?

Depending on the kind of business you are opting to start, funds will be needed to cover the basic costs (such as office space and equipment), operating expenses (such as salary and rent), ongoing marketing costs, and growth until the business makes a profit. Do a brief analysis to arrive at an estimate that can help you determine how to fund your business. Also, consider taxes and other financial responsibilities that come with running a business, and make sure to include those in your funding estimate. You can self-fund or explore alternatives like investor funding, business loans, credit cards or grants. Being realistic about your funding needs and planning for them helps you avoid financial problems in the future. – Brian David Crane, Spread Great Ideas

8. Am I in a position to be successful?

It’s important to ask if you’re in a position that sets you up for success. No, you will never have all your ducks in a row, but it’s critical to recognize that success takes time. Are you able to wait a year or more before you start seeing a return on your efforts? Business does not come without risk. Are you in a position to weather the storms, pivot when necessary, lean on the reason you started in the first place—your “why”—and see it through? Do you have the necessary grit? Is your business idea aligned with what you feel your true purpose is? If your answers to these questions are strong, then yes! Start the business. Use that first year or so especially to ask questions, embrace personal growth, lean on a mentor and collect experiences. – Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

9. Do I have a clear path to profitability?

Ask, “What is my path to profitability, and how long can I sustain the business before reaching it?” A clear path to profitability is crucial. This includes calculating the cost of operations and setting realistic sales targets and pricing strategies. It’s essential to understand the business’ “burn rate” and to have a financial buffer to support operations until the company can generate sustainable profit, as this directly informs the financial strategy and funding requirements. – Joey Burzynski, MarketKarma

10. What is the right pace for my business?

You can take small steps toward building a business, or you can dive straight in. When deciding the pace that is right for you and your business, consider your current time constraints in a very practical way. It takes a huge amount of time to start a business if you are diving straight in. If you are breaking up tasks weekly, this can be much more manageable, and you can handle any speed bumps that come along—and there are going to be many—with a more measured approach. Some might even consider monthly goals, such as completing a business plan by February with a launch by November. The pace is really important because it speaks to how you will delegate time and meet goals. – Matthew Capala, Alphametic

11. Am I willing to sacrifice parts of my personal life?

The biggest question someone should be willing to ask themselves is if they are willing to sacrifice on the personal side to give attention to the new business venture. Starting a business is tough! It is hard work and requires you to wear many hats. You are going to have to do things you do not like in pursuit of the things you love. To get there, you are going to have to give up on something to put in the time required. It will be tough, but it will be worth it. – Zane Stevens, Protea Financial

12. Am I willing to seek and invest in help?

Are you willing to hire a business coach to invest in yourself and help you with strategy, cash flow and execution? If you were serious about getting in better health, you would likely consider hiring a nutritionist and personal trainer, along with purchasing any material things you need to help your health journey. The same approach applies to business. A business coach can help you get to where you want to be in revenue by telling you what tools to purchase to build the foundation of your business. – Givelle Lamano, Oakland DUI Attorneys

Source: Forbes