Effective Team Meetings

Ever sat through a boring team meeting?

Ever ran a boring team meeting?

The solution could be as simple as changing the topics you discuss.

Look at it this way: if you spend an hour in a team meeting discussing something that doesn’t improve your business you’ve wasted most of the hour.

On the other hand, if you have agenda items that stimulate useful thinking and action plans then that same hour can be hugely productive.

What’s the difference?

The topics on your agenda.

Same goes for your daily to-do list items. Better to-do list items equal better actions. Better actions equal better results.

Keep this in mind next time you write your to-do list or plan a meeting.

Message Carrier

There are opportunities all around you to communicate more with the people you care about.

A simple lunch box becomes the carrier of good tidings to your young son or daughter if you slip a note inside to be found in their school break.

What about a note in the fridge or a message on the milk carton?

The more you look for hidden opportunities to carry your message to the people you care about the more options you will find.

Everyday I look for hidden opportunities like these, and I record my insights on video and post them to this blog.

Learn by Observation

How many times have you observed another person’s talent and thought “Gee, I wish I could do that”?

What if there was an easy way to adopt those talents or traits with almost no effort at all?

Perhaps the very fact that you notice the talent in another suggests you can develop it yourself.

Today’s video explains that you have the opportunity to learn new skills by observation. In fact, today’s video suggests that you can learn new skills or talents while you are engaged in a conversation about something unrelated to the skill you want to develop.

Can this be real?

If you’ve ever started to take on certain character traits of others just by spending time with them then you already know this is possible.

The key here is to consciously control the process. You do this by selecting the character trait you want to develop.

Next, you spend time with people who have it.

Next, you become aware of the talent or trait to the point that your subconscious mind starts to adopt it.

Gradually you will take on the same character trait.

Good luck, and thanks for watching.

Hidden Communication Channels

Not getting your message across?

Try changing communication channels.

Do you communicate mostly via telephone? Try sending a post card instead.

Do you have something important to say but fear you won’t get your point across in person? Record your thoughts on video and send it on DVD.

Today’s hidden opportunity is to change the communication channel you consistently use and see how it effects the people you communicate with.

Have fun with it.

Cracks of Time

When you start looking for hidden opportunities your mind starts to expose them everywhere.

Today, for example, I was on a call to a team member when the idea struck me to do a few push-ups. So I did.

Next, I finished one meeting and was preparing for another when the idea for today’s “hidden opportunity video” hit me. So I pulled out the iPad and made this recording.

I call it “cracks of time” because just as a crack in the wall lets sunlight through, there are cracks of time in your day that you can use to get stuff done. Fun stuff. Stuff that makes you feel good or improves your life in some small or profound way.

Inventory Unrecognised Resources

You already have many of the resources you need to reach your goals.

But perhaps you don’t recognise the resources available to you.

By taking inventory you can uncover opportunities to accomplish much more with what you’ve already got.

The key is to write down your goal. Then look at the many possible ways of reaching that goal. Then inventory the resources already available to you (the resources could include people, places, money or things).

If you need help with this, you could ask someone else to offer suggestions. Maybe they will see options where you see limitations.

Good luck.

So that’s today’s hidden opportunity: Take inventory of the unrecognised or under-utilised resources you have available to you and use them to reach your goals.

OPE Other People’s Experience, Expertise or Effort

Today’s hidden opportunity describes a way to get a lot more done without doing any of the work yourself. It also describes a way to let people do things for you that will bring them satisfaction.

My contention is this: You have people around you right now that are probably willing and able to do a lot more for you than you let them.

Some would actually get a lot more joy out of life if you gave them more opportunities to serve or help you.

How can you use OPE today?

Hidden Musical Talent

After a business meeting with a client today we spent a few minutes discussing music.

My client brought to my attention the fact that the ability to really listen to music and appreciate it is as much a talent as the ability to play or create music.

I agreed.

And on the way home I thought more about his comment. I realised the ability to listen to and appreciate music is a hidden opportunity in my life.

Yes, I occasionally listen to music. But I could listen to more music. Or different types of music outside my usual selection. Not only that, but isn’t it true that I can focus on specific instruments or tonal qualities of the singers voice? And what about listening with my heart?

How different can my experience be by focusing my attention on a specific instrument and becoming aware of the effect that instrument has on my feelings?

Perhaps by developing the talent of listening to music my life can be filled with greater levels of enrichment, all from an opportunity that is readily available, but perhaps not appreciated by me at the level I could.

365 Missed (Overlooked) Opportunities

How many opportunities do you miss simply because you are unaware of the options available to you?

That’s the question that prompted this video project.

So everyday for the next 365 days I will identify one hidden opportunity I see and make a short video and blog post about it.

In fact, this project is an example of a hidden opportunity. How? I have a video camera and access to YouTube but I never use them. So doing this exercise is an example of me taking advantage of an option long available but not used until now.

Shocking stats about online search and what it means to small and medium business

Did you know that 80% of people now search for products or services using online search engines instead of yellow pages or other printed directories?

They do!

Not only that: A MASSIVE 98% of search engine users never go beyond the first page of search results. If they don’t at first find what they are looking for they search a new word or phrase.

So what does this mean to you if you are in business?

It should be obvious. If you want to use the internet as a lead generation source for your offline business (or online business) you need to be on the first page of search results.

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