Dreams Don’t Always Make Great Goals

It is one thing to dream about walking on the moon; it is another to make that your goal. The aims of the perfectionist are so out-of-touch with reality that every aspect of their life suffers for it. Nothing can ever be good enough because that which will satisfy them is always out of reach. Even if they did manage to step foot on the moon, they would complain that it isn’t Mars.

Consequently, the work produced by a perfectionist rarely excels. Due to their constant desire to turn even the most trivial of tasks into something more significant, they often fall behind when compared to somebody with more reasonable goals. If you have two people working on the same project, the one with a good work ethic and analytical mind who can plot their way from A to B is far more likely to finish the project than the incorrigible perfectionist who has planned their way from A to Z.
 

Perfectionists Rarely Produce Perfect Work

Worse still, even given a deadline, the perfectionist will produce mediocre work when compared to the realist. Due to their overall unhappiness, perfectionists are likely to procrastinate. They spend so much time thinking about how to make a project meet their unrealistic expectations that they never commence work. When the deadline rolls around, they find themselves doing a rushed job. Inevitably, even if the rushed job meets the requirements of the Project Manager, it will not meet the standards of the perfectionist.

Another problem caused by procrastination followed by rushing is the perfectionist’s knack for turning things around on others. They will argue ‘If I just had more time!’ or ‘The Project Manager didn’t understand my vision’ rather than accept responsibility for procrastinating.
 

Procrastination Leads to Panic

We all procrastinate from time to time, but think about why we do it? Procrastination is usually the result of needing to complete a task that seems trivial or tedious. If something fails to excite us or interest us, then there are times when we will put it off until absolutely necessary. If you’re a perfectionist, projects cease to excite you because you know that your goals are unrealistic. When you cannot achieve what you wish, the easy solution is to ask ‘why bother?’

The mounting feelings of failure the perfectionist feels often leads to paralysis. Eventually, because of the continued procrastination, the perfectionist begins to feel like they are lazy, or they lack that certain something that more successful people have. Self-criticism is an important skill to help us learn and develop, but not when it is used to demean, belittle or humiliate ourselves. If you went into work every day only to be told you were a failure, you would rightly begin to feel bad, and your work would suffer. If you hear that from yourself, day after day, then you will stop doing anything. You will become, effectively, paralysed.
 

Overcome Paralysis

If any of this sounds like you, or somebody you know, then it is time to start learning or teaching that perfectionism is not a great attribute to have. The greatest motivator any of us can have is the genuine feeling of having done an excellent job. There is nothing wrong with aiming to make your mark on your next big project but there is something deathly wrong if you are not moving forward because of self-imposed insurmountable odds.

As I like to say, focus on being productive, not busy. Do not let yourself get stuck in the planning stages but move forward bit by bit, each day. You should soon realise that the very best projects are the ones that you actually start.

The post Perfectionism: The Enemy of Progress appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Whether working in an office or at home, the chances are that there are days when you do not feel productive. It is easy for our minds to wander, or for us to put off more difficult tasks in favour of simpler ones. However, in doing so, we often create even more work for ourselves. Streamlining your productivity is an important step to success. Today, we outline a simple system for improving your time management skills.

Start By Taking Notes

To improve our time management skills, we first need to identify how we are misusing time at present. Begin by taking notes of everything you do in a day over the course of a week or two, and this means everything. Jot down the time you spend on work, chat, getting a coffee, surfing the web and even staring blankly at your screen hoping that inspiration or motivation strikes.

The goal is to lay out how you are currently using your time. Once you see how much time you waste on unproductive things, you should be motivated to do something about it.

Focus on What’s Important

You need to begin assigning a priority and an urgency to your tasks. A simple way of doing this is the Time Management Matrix.

We want to start breaking unproductive habits, such as getting through easier but non-urgent tasks. The longer you leave an urgent task, particularly one that will require a significant time investment, the more overwhelming it seems. Although some people work more effectively to deadlines, many struggle to focus as pressure begins to afflict the mind and cloud judgement.

Plan Your Day

Some prefer to do it first thing in the morning; others prefer to do it at night. Whichever you prefer, make sure you are heading into each new work day with a clear plan that puts urgent, high-priority tasks first. You might want to create a checklist to give yourself a visual cue that you are getting through your work or to simply feel a sense of accomplishment as you tick tasks off.

One method you might consider is to use your calendar and treat each task as an appointment. You should also allow time for interruptions while making a conscious decision to keep these to a minimum.

Plan to Think

A time plan should include time to think and reflect on the task before you. Studies have shown that 20% of our thoughts contribute to 80% of our productivity. Work that performed regularly might be second nature, but you need to allow some time to have conversations or plan tasks that are less familiar.

Consider the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a method of maintaining focus on tasks. It is based on evidence that the human brain is only capable of peak-focus for 25-30 minutes at a time. Therefore, you would work for twenty-five minutes, take a five-minute break, and then resume what you are doing. One major benefit of this method is learning how long tasks generally take and allowing for better time management. You can start to think of tasks in the number of sessions needed, as opposed to a number of hours.

Another advantage to adopting the Pomodoro Technique is realising how much you can do in twenty-five minutes. You might be surprised! With a timer ticking down, you might even be spurred on to finish part of the task before your next break.

Phone: Off or Priority Only

One of the most useful devices on your desk is also one of the biggest distractions. Little beeps and flashing lights; mobile phones demand attention. Most modern smartphones allow you to limit notifications to priority only. This means that your boss or an important client can get through, but sales calls or non-pressing messages get silenced. Treat is as a digital Do Not Disturb sign and stop allowing your phone to intrude on your workday.

Email: Ditto

How much time do you spend reading or replying to emails that can wait? In the same way that you prioritise your workload and your phone contacts, you should prioritise your emails. If a message flashes up that is not from an important client or colleague, do not feel drawn to reading it. This might take some training and self-control, but unimportant emails are a time-stealer.

Consider Using an App

There are a variety of applications out there that can help you manage your day and collate your thoughts. Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, SimpleNote, Jotterpad, etc.

These apps have varying features, so I cannot recommend the one that works for you, but many allow you to create notes, plan your day and move tasks about to keep on top of things. Ensuring that you remain organised is key to good time management, and these applications might help.

Always Plan for Me Time

A major point of streamlining your productivity is to give yourself more personal time. You do not want to be working all the time because you want to reap the benefits of your work. Once you get organised, you will soon see that saving ten minutes here and fifteen minutes there adds up to a lot more personal time for you to enjoy with friends, family or simply by yourself.

The post Simple Time Management Techniques to Supercharge Your Productivity appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Audience Targeting

Let us start with your target audience. One of the biggest mistakes that individuals and businesses make is trying to appeal to everybody. In the social media age, we come across examples of this on a regular basis. You have almost certainly encountered adverts on social media sites such as Facebook that have been completely irrelevant to you. Given that Facebook is well known for its ability to target, you might wonder why? Occasionally, it is Facebook’s fault, and the information they have about you is wrong. Often, however, it is the responsibility of the advertiser.

You might have a product that you believe will appeal to a particular demographic. Therefore, you would create your advertising campaign and target 18-35-year-olds. However, what if your product was more suited to women than men? Perhaps the product is a tech product, and now you are wasting advertising views on technophobes? If we do not put the thought into marketing, we do not target the right audience.
 

Focus on What You Want

Audience targeting begins at a young age. We learn which of our parents or relatives is most likely to give us the treat we want. At school, we learn which teachers are more tolerant of certain behaviours. We learn which of our friends will be more inclined to spend their Saturday with us playing video games, and which one would be more likely to go to the pool.

It always boils down to the same thing; we want something, and we want to focus our attentions on the ones who might give it to us. If a high salary is what we want, then we will consider our job applications in line with these aspirations. When job security is the key, we are more likely to apply for jobs with established companies over start-ups, even if the latter offers better pay.

There is absolutely no point in developing our personal brand unless we are going to target the right people. How do we do this?
 

Empathy

We should start by building relationships. I have previously written about networking, and today we are going to expand on that.

If you are looking for a new job or opportunity, consider empathy. Whether you are applying for a job at a company, or you are looking for clients freelance, you must have empathy. A job opportunity becomes available when there is a problem that needs to be solved. Nobody takes somebody on just to fill a position; they want a solution.

When you apply for work, you must show an understanding of the problem. If it is a sales job, they want to increase sales. If it is a marketing position, they may want to create more brand awareness. Take time to research potential opportunities to understand where the employer is now and then consider what you can offer to solve their problem.
 

Do Your Research

If you are wondering how to do this, remember that we live in a connected age. Interactions on social media can quickly identify problems a business is facing. Similarly, comments sections on blog posts, or where applicable, newspaper articles. If possible, try and talk with people who have worked in the same field and get a sense of any industry-wide problems. Take a look at financial reports if available. Build up a profile of the opportunity, and then think about how you can add value.

Once you have this information, you can begin to prepare your case for why you can add value. Gather your testimonials/references and any relevant case studies. Highlight what skills you have that could solve their problem. As the Scouts might say, be prepared!
 

The More You Do, the More You Get

Just like you are looking for something from them, they want something from you. Empathy is crucial to building that relationship between you and others. It shows that you are aware of the problem and that you will help to solve it. In both our personal lives and our business lives, the more you are willing to do for someone else, the more they will be willing to do for you.

The post Your Personal Brand and Your Target Audience appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

As the adage goes, image is everything. In this case, however, we are not only talking about the photograph on your LinkedIn page but what you are communicating about yourself.
 

Consistency

Let us first look at consistency. Think about Apple as a brand. They are a manufacturer of premium tech products. Arguably, their products are overpriced when compared to competitors. Varying features aside, the iPhone is no better than a flagship smartphone from another company. The iMac range is considerably more expensive than even a mid-range laptop from competitors with similar specifications. This is true across the entire Apple product lineup.

However, people still buy Apple products. Queues form outside shops for the latest iPhones. Why is this? It is because Apple has cultivated a consistent, premium image. Additionally, Apple has mastered incremental upgrades over overhauls. People will pay the price because they believe they are getting that extra level of quality and service. Consumers love consistency, in both quality and design. When Microsoft introduced Windows 8, an objectively better operating system than any predecessor, they received a huge backlash due to overwhelming user interface changes.

Consumers are not the only ones who value consistency; future employers will too. Consistency is the first thing you should strive for when building your professional image. Your managers and your clients will value someone they feel they can trust to bring the same effort and commitment to every project. Learning time management strategies can be very helpful here. Similarly, setting aside specific periods of the day to check and respond to emails or return phone calls helps to start building a solid, consistent foundation.
 

What is Your USP?

Another thing that both potential employers and consumers look for is uniqueness. Everybody wants to feel that he or she has something that few others possess. Think back to Apple; for all the units they shift, comparatively few people own an iPhone compared to an Android phone. Even fewer own an iMac compared to a Windows-based system. Why did Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar command such huge transfer fees? These people have skills that few others do, and with that comes an enormous amount of merchandising potential.

What unique abilities do you offer that can become a marketable draw? What thing do you believe is something that you can do better than almost anybody else? We are not looking at arrogant delusion but self-awareness of what makes you unique. Are you an excellent reader of people, or blessed with quick reactions to rapidly changing circumstances? Whatever your critical ability is, you should find a way to make it part of your image.
 

Be Creative

Creativity can help sell your uniqueness. In today’s social media connected world, standing out from the crowd is critical to being noticed. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this. Putting some effort into your social media profiles can reap significant rewards, especially when you remember our previous posts on aiming for the jobs you want. Do not just upload a photo of you in a suit and reel off a few bits of your previous jobs; present yourself in a way that your competitors are not. You might want to refer to our post on Generating Leads on LinkedIn for some ideas.

Do not be afraid to address the difficulties you have had. Any leader worthy of the title knows that virtually all of us have suffered setbacks. However, setbacks do not define the person. How we respond does. You might want to consider turning some of these difficulties into case studies for a portfolio of your work, detailing the brief, the obstacles and how you confronted them. This comes back to consistency – quitters are not consistent.
 

Are You Memorable?

Finally, for today, consider how you can make yourself memorable. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggested there is a cognitive limit to the number of stable social relationships that we can maintain. Dunbar’s Number is often referred to as ‘the monkeysphere’. Once we reach the upper limit of approximately 150 people, it is theorised that we are unable to maintain further connections. Worse still, we are no longer able to conceptualise those people as people.

People remain in our monkeysphere depending on the importance that we place on them and how memorable they are to us. What this means for our professional image is that we must always strive to make ourselves memorable; to remain as one of the ‘people’ in our client’s minds. As I have often said, people buy from people. Making yourself memorable is one way of ensuring that they will buy from you.

You might want to read our brief guide to networking. Another way to become memorable is to aim to connect with people on more meaningful levels. Do not be afraid to discuss hobbies with people, or to talk about your family on your LinkedIn page. Even the smallest thing could help you be seen as an actual person and that is a big step to getting the future gigs you are after.

The post Your Personal Brand and Your Professional Image appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Start With an Ending

To do this, let us first think forward to where we feel we would like to end our career. Depending on your industry, this may seem an impossibility. If you work in technology, for example, the chances are that even the most cutting-edge minds cannot accurately predict every development over the coming decades.

However, what we can think about is at what point we could look back on our working life and be happy with the results. Do you want to be a CEO? A Lead Designer? A Head Partner? Maybe you want to build your own business from scratch, make it a success and then pass over the reins to your children?

Whatever you may want, having a destination for your journey helps you plan a route. Moreover, by taking into account what we learned about our values, passions and traits, we can better plan the trip by taking a more desirable path. There could be any number of ways to achieve our goals, but we want to do so in the way that makes us happiest.
 

Consider the Past and Present

Think about your past jobs and your current one and consider what you like about them and what you dislike. When you do so, reflect on the lists we asked you to make last week. Try and draw correlations between your values, passions and traits and what has made you happy or unhappy at work. If you are an introverted person but have landed a customer service role at some point, it is quite likely that dealing with angry customers made you unhappy. If you are a creative person but have worked in a rather monotonous role that probably did not leave you feeling joyful.

However negative your professional experience, there will most likely be things you found rewarding. What we find rewarding often links back to who we are. When we reflect on these aspects, we can then start to think about what type of professional (and personal) life we want in the future. If your goal is to be a Marketing Director, then it may seem prudent to take sales jobs. However, working in sales is not the only way to becoming a Marketing Director, particularly if previous sales jobs have left you unhappy.

Again, make your list. Assess your professional life to date and draw up the positives and negatives. Compare them to your values, passions, and traits, and you should be able to begin categorising your experiences. At this point, potential paths to both success and happiness should start to reveal themselves.
 

Plan Your Journey

By ensuring that we stick to our values, we can also consider whether our goal is realistic. Would your destination be too contradictory? For example, would you still want to a Sales Director if it meant prolonged periods away from your family? We should always remember, we can change our goals. Many people get to a point in life and decide to change things. What we are doing now is ensuring we can consider any future changes in an informed way.

At this point, we should have a better understanding of who we are and where we want to be. We should also be able to gauge whether the next stage of our journey is going to fulfil us in the way that we hope it will. Most importantly, we are starting to put our personal brand together in a way that can be beneficial in the long-term. With care and thought, we can be sure that any job application or career move we make is something that we know is the right move for us.

When we are asked “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or “Why did you take your last position?” we can have an answer. We can answer all those interview-style questions with confidence and authority because we know who we are and we know what we want. Moreover, we can communicate this to others.

However, we still have more to learn. Now that we know more about our brand we need to ensure others see it too. In our next post, we will look at how to ensure your professional image and your personal brand complement one another well.

The post Moving Forward With Your Personal Brand appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Who Are You?

The first thing you should ask yourself is who you are? It seems a simple question, but the answer is often more complicated. You are probably many things, but you need to decide what you want others to see you as; what you want your brand to say.

If you work in sales, you want others to take notice of your skills as a salesperson. Moreso you will want people to see you as trustworthy, understanding and personable. These human qualities are often more important than a skillset. Skills can be grown and developed over time, but in the first instance, you want people to want to work with you.
 

Consider Your Values

Values are crucial in building your personal brand. It is likely no secret to most that those we consider friends are those who align with our values to some extent. The same logic applies in business. A company is significantly more likely to hire someone who shares similar values to those which the company wishes to present. Such people are often quicker to adapt to new roles and more likely to meet the business’s needs.

When you ask yourself who you are, you should draw up a list of the things that mean the most to you and attempt to order them. Perhaps it is family, possibly your sense of adventure, pride in your knowledge and intellect or even your sense of humour? By building a list, you are taking time out to think about how you want to be perceived. Above all, consider what makes you happy because your happiness can have a startling effect on your personal brand. Someone who is enthusiastic about their work is infinitely more desirable than someone who is not.
 

What Are You Passionate About?

The next thing you want to do is to identify your passions. What goals do you pursue, or is there any hobby or interest you have? Effectively, why do you work? What we are looking at is what triggers your reward centre. Is it taking your kids to the football? Perhaps it is buying the latest tech or gadgets? Maybe it is sightseeing abroad, or perhaps it is something as simple as having the luxury to read a good book in front of the fire?

It may seem odd to be looking so deeply into your private life, but again, it comes back to happiness. If your passion is spending time with your family, how would you feel about a job that limited how much time you could spend with them? Many people feel as though they have to behave in a certain way. They might take a job with a higher salary only to find themselves unhappy because it limits how much time they can invest in their passions. As I mentioned in my article about coping with stress, it is vital that you make time for yourself.
 

Your Passions Shape You

Furthermore, while our passions do not define who we are, they certainly help to shape us. Often our pursuit of passions may inform our actions. Whenever you write a CV, you are always encouraged to provide some information about your interests outside of work. In part, this is because your activities outside of your job can predict how you will perform in the job. For example, if you work in a creative field, having interests in arts can be representative of that. If you work in a customer-facing role, then enjoying highly sociable pursuits may be beneficial.

Passions may even provide a connection with others. Getting along with people always involves a common ground. Our passion for something can become the basis for a future relationship.
 

Examine Your Traits

Next, you will want to consider your traits. These are the aspects of your personality that define you. Often, these can be the hardest to pin down as what we think we are may not always align with how others perceive us. One way of finding out can be to ask others what they think our personality traits are. Do people see us as compassionate? Perhaps they think we’re agreeable? Maybe they even think we’re neurotic?

Even personality traits that we might consider negative are important because it gives us something to focus on improving, or in some circumstances using to our advantage. For instance, if we discover that others perceive us as unadventurous or wary of new experiences, we might want to consider trying to overcome this if we feel it will benefit our brand. Conversely, if we wish to work in ‘traditional’ sectors, such traits could be a boon. However our traits fall, it should give us something to consider.

Even personality traits that we might consider negative are important because it gives us something to focus on improving, or in some circumstances using to our advantage. For instance, if we discover that others perceive us as unadventurous or wary of new experiences, we might want to consider trying to overcome this if we feel it will benefit our brand. Conversely, if we wish to work in ‘traditional’ sectors, such traits could be a boon. However our traits fall, it should give us something to consider.
 

Your Happiness is Paramount

Our traits also inform our happiness. An extrovert is not likely to be happy in a role that favours an introvert and vice versa. Someone who is not fond of new experiences is unlikely to be content in a role that requires high levels of innovation and creativity. If you are a naturally disorganised person, you might not be happy in rigid, structured roles yet may thrive in fluid positions that require you to think on your feet more often than not. However, always remember that we can work on these things if we feel they are holding us back. Self-improvement is never an unobtainable goal when we have the will to change.

Your own happiness is crucial. How content you are in a role shines through in the quality of your work. Building a personal brand is as much about selling to yourself as it is to others. Throughout all of this, we’re asking you to define you and consider things that perhaps you normally ignore. Learning about ourselves helps us plot our future life journey.

At this point, you may be wondering why you’ve been drawing up these lists. How will they help you? For now, we want you to take some time to think about everything you’ve discovered about yourself. In our next post, we’ll be looking at how this newfound self-awareness can be utilised to push us forward to where we want to be.

The post Developing Your Personal Brand appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Branding is a cornerstone of marketing. Companies invest huge amounts of resources into cultivating their brand; creating a recognisable symbol that immediately evokes a response in the consumer. Developing a brand that elicits a positive reaction, especially an emotional one, is a proven strategy for generating sales and maintaining awareness.

We can do a very similar thing at the personal level. Ask yourself, what do you expect people think about when they hear your name or see your picture? The responses are likely very different depending on whom we ask. You would hope that those who know you professionally speak well of you, however. Perhaps they consider you a good salesperson, a great motivator, a natural leader, etc.

However, branding is most successful when the company or individual is the answer to a question. When we think about photo editing software, for many the first application to come to mind will be Adobe Photoshop. When we think about business productivity software, Microsoft Office may well be the first thing that pops into our head. And of course, “I’ll just Google that” has become common parlance.
 

The Power of a Brand

The power of a brand comes not just from being recognisable, but from its associations. What we would like, therefore, is when someone is looking for a good salesperson, a great motivator, a natural leader, or whatever it is that we specialise in to think about us. We want to come galloping to the forefront of other people’s minds when they are looking for particular solutions. We want to have a personal brand that people recognise and trust. More than that, we want people to associate the qualities and traits that they are looking for with us.

We cannot underestimate the importance of personal branding. I’ve often said that people buy from people, but that also extends to people work with people. Even the clichéd reclusive author living in a remote hillside cabin has to work with people. With the rise of social media as a means of presenting and selling oneself to others, our personal brands are under constant scrutiny. One retweet or share to the right person can unlock opportunities; it could also cost us dearly if it sends the wrong message. Consequently, we should endeavour to shape our brand the way we want it to be shaped. We need to move beyond defining ourselves by our job but by who we are.

Personal branding helps us to stand out from the crowd. When an employer is looking to hire, how do they choose from multiple candidates with similar levels of experience and qualifications? Put simply; they will opt for the candidate they believe best aligns with their company. They will consider a person’s traits, personality, strengths and values.
 

Personal Branding

Our personal brand transcends our experience and our qualifications. It is the reason why some YouTubers become millionaires, and some do not. Personal branding is why some blogs receive millions of hits a day, and others struggle for a few hundred in a year. It may very well be the reason one person got the job, and the other candidate did not. Skills matter, but only insofar as they permit us to do the job. A YouTuber with an exciting, innovative and personable delivery is more likely to attract an audience than someone who is monotonous and gruff; even if the latter is more knowledgeable in a field.

Your personal brand is how every facet of yourself coalesces into the whole. It is crafting your sense of self around your abilities, values, passions, strengths, weaknesses and ambitions and making this the foundation for how you present yourself to the world. By building your personal brand, you can unlock opportunities, work with people who you want to work with and who want to work with you, think strategically, deliver more value and most importantly be happier in your job.

Over the next few weeks, I will be publishing a series of articles on how to develop your personal brand, how to make it strong and how to benefit from doing so.

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