A simple way to make a difference

City Cooperstown famous because it is located in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Any child playing in a small league baseball, and even more so any major league player wants his portrait decorated the walls of this room. But of course, to achieve this extremely difficult.

The Baseball Hall of Fame hang photos 312 people. But I noticed that the difference between the best hitters and middle resulted in a season is 18 beats. Then, according to statistics, the average player to get into the Hall of Fame is necessary every 17 games to beat one goal more. Just one. And what was the result!

Only one conclusion: in order to achieve success, You need to find a simple but effective way to gradually and consistently improve their results.

I have found that small but incremental changes over time can radically change your life. You will become healthier, more successful and happier. Grain by grain, you will be able to improve the world!

Accumulate and receive interest

Let's start with a topic that is usually not accepted to discuss. This is money. Even during the interview it is difficult to speak honestly about money. Employers usually hire people who are interested in less mundane aspects of the work. And that's great. But let's face it. We all need money. If you need to repay the loan if you want to visit other countries, to live in a nice house in a decent area, the money issue is very important for you. It can not be denied.

On the example of money can have a good track effect of small incremental changes. The first small change - a change in outlook on the situation. The principle is very simple. If you want to earn a lot, go with something that usually brings a large income.

For many years, I have seen this pattern. Talented and savvy workers finance sector and corporate law always become rich or at least well-off people. However, the income of many writers, anthropologists, or actors with remarkable talents and intelligence often leave much to be desired.

This is very good advice, especially if you are interested in such areas as banking, engineering, business consulting or biotechnology. This is a very profitable industry, so the work they paid better.

But what if you are passionate about a more creative work and want to work on a calling, such as writing stories, engage in anthropology or play in the theater, not to mention the work of non-profit organizations or research area? In this case, you will also come to the aid of the great power of small changes.

The result consists of the gradual accumulation, deposits and received percent. Do not waste your time. postponing at least a small portion of their monthly earnings and by making contributions, you accumulate over time a considerable sum.

Bring yourself into shape

About 18 months ago I attended one event in Istanbul on business firm Spencer Stuart, where I work. We select employees for leadership positions for many leading companies in the world. It is thanks to my work I know so much about building a career and achieve success. Over the past 22 years, I have recruited more than 600 senior executives, including the CEO of companies such as Twitter, Intel, Yahoo, Hulu, New York Times Company and MetLife's, as well as many well-known directors of non-profit organizations, such as Sesame Workshop.

In Istanbul, I stopped at the nice guy Kaan Okurera (Kaan Okurer), head of the Turkish branch of our company. Kaan looked much better than our last meeting. His body has become a noticeable relief.

I asked Kaan as he was able to achieve such amazing results. "If I say you do not believe", - he said. I begged for a long time, and finally a colleague told me the secret of magnificent form:

I use every opportunity to walk. But most of all helps me one cool application, to which I was lucky enough to stumble. Now I use it constantly. It is called The 7 Minute Workout.

At first I reacted to what he heard rather skeptical. What can give seven-minute training session? Do not make me laugh! I grew up in a time when everyone believed in the principle of "no work and not catch fish from the pond." As just seven minutes a day, you can achieve any meaningful results? As it turned out, it is possible. The thing is the strength of small incremental changes.

In a short time, this exercise has become very popular. Perhaps many of you already know about it, or are already using this application. If not yet, believe me, you should start. The complex is really works and takes just seven minutes. Seven minutes - it is almost the same as five minutes. And five minutes - it is almost nothing.

You can not find an excuse to skip a workout. If you will an early flight, nothing prevents you to allocate seven minutes to work out in the morning. If deadlines are lit, you can use these seven minutes to take a break from work. If you're terribly tired and you have to go to sleep, you can still afford to go to seven minutes later.

But do not think that everything is so simple. Training, which gives the result may not be easy. Especially at first. The complex consists of 12 exercises (stand and jumping, ordinary squats and sit-ups against the wall, lunges, push-ups, curl and strip), which complement and reinforce each other's effect. Each exercise is done at full strength for 30 seconds, followed by a 10-second break.

You can do all this anywhere: in a small room in a hostel, hotel or even at the office. It does not require any additional devices. Seven-minute training session in this mode is equivalent to the usual hour. But the application itself is very convenient.

A pleasant male or female voice tells you how to do this or that exercise, and from time to time encourages you to approving phrases. The application also has a special alarm, countdown and activity calendar.

Learn from your mistakes

When I graduated from the business school, in front of me I had a lot of roads. Thanks to my wonderful teachers who set challenging targets and have helped me to reach their potential, I had all the chances to find a good job.

Even before graduation, I decided that I will choose the best place of all available to me. I analyzed what I want from future work, and focused on three criteria, which are considered the most important. At that time, it was the prestige, good wages and the ability to maintain the lifestyle that I liked.

I would be proud of the company and position. I was determined to make a lot of money. In addition, I am fond of sports and I need a lot of free time, so I did not plan to work 80 hours a week.

And I found a job that suited me perfectly. I got a job in investment bank Goldman Sachs. Well, I'm very well analyzed everything, but in the end it turned out that he had made a terrible mistake.

My three criteria are in fact not good anywhere. I figured it out pretty quickly. I'm sorry for his choosing within four months after the start of work. Research has shown that the only factor that has a decisive impact on the extent to which you are passionate about their work and satisfied with their work, related to the attitude towards colleagues. It is important that you like the people with whom you share a workplace, so they called you respect.

I discovered this on my experience. This does not mean that I could not make friends with their peers. They were good guys. I just do not share their values. I did not want to be like the majority of them. My colleagues were interested in the stock market, investment, capital association issues. They communicate with customers and each other only about money and markets.

But it is important not only to the people. Important goal. Working in of Goldman, I have little idea what I was doing there at all. As for the investment consultant I was very weak. I realized that I need to do what you really are interested in what you have the ability. Yes, it's all pretty obvious and without my words, but you'd be surprised how many people take the wrong decisions, forgetting the most important.

But if I had not made those mistakes, I could not arrive at these important conclusions and would not find the place where I work for 22 years. I got to Spencer Stuart at once, but do not forget that the really significant results can be achieved only with the help of small incremental changes.

Each week change something for the better

That's not all I learned while working at Goldman Sachs. Among the managers of the bank was Menshel Richard (Richard Menschel), a living legend on Wall Street. Once he shared with me, "the best advice he could give":

At the end of each week, Mark yourself a few minutes trying to assess what you could do in seven days, and that did not go as planned. Every week, take one concrete step to achieve what had not worked. Let it become your habit. You'll be amazed at the results.

In fact, he said that, gradually changing something for the better, you can achieve extraordinary productivity. Here it is, the power of small changes.

Put the right goals

As I was convinced for many years that each of us absorb the desire to be the best mother's milk. But a few years ago, I realized that excellence is not as important as I thought. Yet the desire to be the best you can use to their advantage. If you crave to achieve some important indicators for you, that's great. It is important to learn to choose the right goals.

In order not to stray from the path and see if you have made progress, put ourselves specific goals, write them down and keep track of your progress. When setting goals, some do not want to go into details. Abstract formulation reduces the risk of failure, but they are ineffective. It is important to set goals that are measurable with specific indicators. Just so you can see what you have achieved.

One day I was lucky enough to interview the three-time Olympic champion swimmer Grant Hackett. When Grant was a teenager, he hung on the wall of his room table with the achievements of athletes who have inspired him. It reflected the best results, which reached the swimmers when they were 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 years.

Focusing on this table, Grant tried to achieve the same performance as that of his idols in his age. He said it helped him focus on something specific and to increase the motivation for self-improvement.

It is very important to set intermediate goals: to acquire a specific skill to complete an important project to read any particular book.

Equally important is your ultimate goal. Speaking about it, I am reminded of an interesting job, I was given at the time of study in business school.

We had to write an essay about what we see his life 20 years later. Work on this essay was a lot of fun, and read it after many years more and informative. Therefore, I urge you to have a little fun and try to describe your possible future through a specific amount of time. I'm sure it will help you to set a correct goals and do not turn from the path to achieve them.

Develop the leadership skills

I was lucky to work with some of the most prominent leaders of the modern world: U2 vocalist Bono, a member of the board of directors of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starbucks Howard Schultz, the former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and former CEO of Cisco Systems John Chambers. I'm actually convinced that most leaders believe their success the success of their subordinates.

To succeed, you need to think less about themselves and their own advantage, especially in the short term. Instead, dedicate themselves to make successful people around you.

If you are focused on the success of the people around you, then your business will be interested the best workers. And they will contribute to your personal success. Orientation to common tasks help you to correctly formulate the order and recruit the best experts, and then - through cooperation and mutual support - to seek the best possible results.

All human interaction for the most part determined by one fundamental principle - the principle of reciprocity. All your energy and hard work for the benefit of other people come back to you in the form of augmentation, because these people will dedicate their work to your success.

In other words, these leaders do not go over the heads, to achieve the goal. Subordinate themselves carry them to success.

It's not the fastest, but the most reliable way to achieve the desired. And the results are multiplied exponentially. You form a good reputation, which ultimately increases the number of opportunities presented to you.

No one still knows whether innate leadership qualities, or it can develop. I believe that you can learn to be a leader. Of course, some people are by nature given charismaWhich draws others to them, even when they are still poking around in the sandbox. But sometimes people who generously gifted charismatic traits rolled astray on the path of self-destruction. At the same time, many less prominent personality become leaders, inspiring millions.

How many types of people, so many types of leadership. This whole thing. For example, Mark Zuckerberg - pure introvert, but his name is in the highest position in the lists of the most successful and popular people in the world. He has a great vision of what should be a social network. He assembled a remarkable team of experts and was able to inspire their lofty goals: to make people become easier from different countries find each other and communicate, and thus change the world.

Work Mark has had a huge impact on the world of information technology and consumer tastes. He created a successful business model based on transparency, dedication and continuous improvement. That's what real leadership.

Write letters to your children

In May 1990, the birth of my eldest son. I did not have time to blink as in 2012 he had already graduated from college. The same thing happened with my second son. Everyone around me said that children grow very quickly, but I did not know how.

I'm sure your parents have heard this phrase. But when they do not sleep at night, trying to put you in bed or waiting when you come back from a party, the whole transience of time it seemed far-fetched. And now, they certainly understand what their friends say. Time really flies very fast.

When my children were young, young parents, it was fashionable to shoot on film literally every step of the child. All birthday parties, soccer games and school plays mom and dad watched through the camera lens. Of course, from time to time they viewed the video, but gradually lost interest in them. Technology is changing, and the video ceased to represent for all of us so valuable.

I decided to go the other way. When I had children, I began to write them letters. I did it on a regular basis: every time we celebrated something, and from time to time throughout the year. I did not tell his sons about it.

Writing these letters was pretty simple. It was like keeping a diary. I wrote about what my sons are doing, make friends with anyone, what are the problems faced, what they have achieved. In these letters, I also talked about the important events taking place in the world, and shared advice that might be useful in the future for my children.

I decided that I will give letters to the children, when they are released from the college. Four years ago, I pointed to his eldest son, these records. He was shocked. These 330 pages of memories can not be compared with the videos, they are priceless.

If you have kids, start writing letters to them right now. You will not be able to postpone the matter for later. But if you take him, then the letter will be one of the most important small changes that eventually will give a surprising result.

That's all. Use these tips to make your regularly a life some positive changes, and soon you will see how little things help us to improve this world.