5 Lessons to Learn from General Julius Ceasar

5 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Needs to Learn From Julius Caesar To Dominate

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If you’re really pumped up on success, you probably call the company you’re building (or planning to build)“Your Empire.” But do you really know what it takes to build an empire? Do you know how to dominate your world and climb to the top rank of entrepreneurship?

If there ever was a man who knew, it was Julius Caesar. The Julius Caesar: the man who built ancient Rome into the seat of the great Roman Empire practically single-handedly. And although times have changed quite a bit since Julius Caesar was around, there are still five important lessons on building your brand to imperial status and achieving true success that every modern entrepreneur should learn from the man who built Rome.

1. Don’t simply claim your value. Prove it.

When Caesar was a young man (and still a nobody), he was captured by pirates. Twice. When his second captors said they would ask 25 talents as ransom, Caesar laughed in their face. That was the price his first captors had asked and it was time to up the ante. As crazy as it sounds, Caesar convinced the pirates to ask for 50 talents for his release! Which today would be equivalent to the price of 3,550 pounds of silver. Not a small sum by any means.

But Caesar proved he was worth his salt. After mobilizing all his connections to contribute money for his ransom, Caesar built a small fleet and attacked the pirates, taking back every single penny his friends had paid to the pirates. Not only that, he also killed the pirates, and did the whole of Rome a favor by eliminated a real danger from the seas. If you think about it, that’s a steal for just 50 (refunded) talents!

Hopefully, you won’t have to kill any pirates to prove your entrepreneurial worth. But the question of value comes up just as often today as it did in the ancient world. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that their value depends on how much clients are willing to pay them for their products or services.

But the truth is that you’re responsible for showing the world where your real value stands. And the trick to that? Is having the confidence to over-deliver on your promises. Don’t just claim you’re worth 50 talents (or 50 million dollars). And don’t just throw a price on your website hoping, praying, and wishing, people will take the bait and believe you. Go out there and kill it.

Show everybody that those 50 talents they’re paying for you? They’re really a steal for someone of your talent and skills.

2. Don’t wait for permission. Get it done.

When Caesar was still studying law—and keeping out of politics—Mithridates of Pontus attacked the Roman frontier in Asia Minor. This frontier was quite a way from Rome, but young Julius Caesar understood the impending threat.

Instead of turning a blind eye and pretending that it wasn’t his problem, he raised a private army and marched to the defense of the attacked towns. By the time the official Roman army got to the scene, the enemy had practically been defeated and Caesar was hailed as a war hero in Rome.

Now, you may not have to fight any real wars, but if you’re ambitious entrepreneur with a dream to conquer the world, you will inevitably come up against some tough situations. And the same two choices that faced Caesar still face you: You can either shrug it off and say it’s not your job, or you can stop waiting for permission and go do it now.

Success doesn’t come from permission. Success comes when you take action and show the world what you’re capable of.

 

3. Manage your time (and everybody else’s)

Back in Caesar’s time, the yearly calendar was all out of whack. With only 355 days in the year, the months kept falling out of pace with the seasons and no one knew what festival they were supposed to be celebrating. (Imagine having New Year’s fall on Halloween. Total chaos.)

Everybody in Rome complained about the calendar, but no one really did anything to fix it. No one but Caesar, that is. Seeing that the Egyptians had a solar calendar that worked much better than the Roman lunar calendar, Caesar changed the entire time system in Rome, creating the Julian calendar of 365 days (plus a leap day every fourth February) that we still use all over the world today. Radical, no?

Time is the most precious thing we have in life, and what we do with our time defines who we ultimately become in life. Don’t let time slip out of your hands without taking full advantage of it. You may not be able to manage everybody’s schedules (and you probably don’t want to, anyway), but you can manage your time for maximum efficiency. Instead of complaining about how busy you are, develop a time management system that works for you.

Chunk out your day, eliminate distractions, stay on track with your to-do list and you’re good to conquer the world.

4. No way across? Build a bridge. And make it sturdy.

While conquering Gaul (modern-day France), Caesar had to deal with some Germanic tribes across the river Rhine that were harassing his army. The problem? Caesar didn’t have boats to cross the river. The solution? Build a bridge. And not just any ol’, made-to-last-two-days bridge. Caesar built two bridges (in two different years of the war) that not only proved strategically successful, but that are still considered masterpieces of military engineering today.

You may not have to cross the Rhine any day soon, but if you’re doing innovative work, sooner or later you’ll have to push the envelope to places it has never been before. And in those moments you have to remember that exceptional success requires exceptional steps.

No solution in sight? Take it as your opportunity to shine and build something new. Existing solution doesn’t match up to your standards? Build something better. Forge a new path. And not just for yourself, but for everyone who’ll come after you, too.

 

5. Blog about your experiences and what you’ve learned.

Would you believe me if I told you that Caesar used to blog? Not on the internet of course. But Caesar used to keep a traditional “log” of all his expeditions, written with a feather pen on papyrus. (Weren’t those the days!) While fighting the Gallic and the Civil Wars, Caesar wrote about his army, his strategy, his tactics, his decisions, his successes and setbacks, and generally everything he faced every day.

And he didn’t just write in a “dear diary” format. He wrote some of the best prose any Roman author ever did and published his work in Rome so people could follow his expeditions and stay informed on his progress.

And if Caesar could write while fighting wars on the frontiers, then you have no reason not to be blogging about your entrepreneurial trials and successes from the comfort of your couch. Regular contact and communication with a supportive audience is important for success, especially in today’s ultra-connected online world. You can’t just stay hidden from the world behind your screen until you find success. You’ll never find it.

You have to get out there and put your story out into the world now, as it happens. Because if you don’t share, no one will care. So don’t sit around debating whether a blog is a good idea, get out there and start writing about your adventures and see how true success will come find you along the way.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re fighting pirates or your inner demons, whether you’re managing the world’s calendar or managing your daily schedule, or whether you’re blogging from the campfire or from the coffee shop around the corner.

The essential steps for finding true success remain the same, even if their form has changed. So take a cue (or five) from Caesar’s playbook and go out there to conquer the world today!

http://addicted2success.com/motivation/5-lessons-every-entrepreneur-needs-to-learn-from-julius-caesar-to-dominate/

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10 Motivational Good Reads

We all could use a little “self-help.” And that is probably the reason that the “self-help” sections of book stores are so large – everyone has a program or plan to sell us – one that will change our lives forever! The problem with many of these books are that they are:

• Boring and long
• Impractical for a large segment of the population
• Focus on theory and principles rather than “nuts and bolts” suggestions

So, as I look at “motivational” literature, my picks are those books that have the following traits:

• They are short and, if not, they have enough anecdotes and examples to keep the reader interested
• They offer practical advice – methods by which the reader can change his/her attitudes, thinking or behaviors right now
• Suggestions for improvement are actually realistic – things that all of us can incorporate into our daily lives right away

The other issue with motivational books is that there are just so many of them “out there.” And often, people who want and need to makes changes in their have a tendency to buy one after another, thinking that each new find will have the “magic bullet” to change their lives. The reality is this: if you continue to buy motivational books, even if you actually read them all, you become completely scattered. The way to make changes is to find that one book that “speaks” to you best, forget about all of the others, and focus on the advice that it gives. Read it, read it, and keep reading it (or at least passages of it) on a daily basis. Nothing will “stick” unless you do this.

With all of this in mind, here are my picks for motivational books that have some diversity but that may spark something in you. If one of them does, settle into it exclusively.

You Can Win: by Shiv Khera (1998)

The most famous quote from this book is, “Winners don’t do different things; they do things differently.” While the theme is quite typical, success is built through personal growth, Khera is nonetheless pretty practical about it all. He outlines 7 steps to building self-confidence that are pretty practical; he provides exercises and tools for turning weaknesses into strengths, and emphasizes the concept of “doing the right things for the right reasons.” The book is filled wilI great stories that will hold the readers interest and that model the advice he gives.

The Power of Positive Thinking: by Norman Vincent Peale

This book is not for the faint of heart, because it is rather long and the style is of the 1950’s. It may also not be for those who have a purely secular approach to life. But if you can get over those possible drawbacks, there are principles and very practical suggestions for turning thought and attitude around. For example, if you are feeling depressed, like a failure, or that you have been a victim, make a list of all the blessings in your life. Compare those blessings to the starving child in Ethiopia or the homeless drug addict on the street. This one practical suggestion is the reason why I have a large sign on my refrigerator door still today with just one word – “Gratitude.” I see it several times a day, and it is a constant reminder to follow Peale’s advice.

Who Ate My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson

Change is inevitable, and I this century it is coming faster than we would ever have envisioned. Our inability to accept and adjust to change is what according to the author, creates unhappiness, stress, and lack of success. The principles of dealing with change, such as learning how to anticipate it and thus prepare for it, are taught through a parable of mice and little people, and the cheese (one’s environment, goals, relationships, etc.) continue to be “moved.” How we respond will determine our happiness and success. This is a short, snappy read, with some great lessons.

Fish: by Steven Lundin

What a great book! It is the fictional tale of a young woman who is suddenly widowed and is the manager of a department that has worst reputation of the entire company – it is unproductive, workers are unhappy, and no one is invested in their task responsibilities. The woman happens to visit Pike Place Fish Market, and things quickly change. If you are unfamiliar with this fish market, it is internationally famous for the fun and laughter (and throwing fish) in the workplace. The department manager ultimate learns the lessons that make the fish market so successful and implements them in her own department with amazing results. There are four basic principles at play here, and they have actually been adopted by well-known companies, such as Southwest Airlines. A great read!

The Butterfly Effect: by Andy Andrews

In the 1960’s, a meteorologist proposed the “butterfly effect” to a room of his colleagues, and was laughed off of the stage. His idea was this: in flapping its wings, a butterfly moves molecules of air which in turn move more molecules of air, and so on until weather patterns are created. Andrews has taken this principle and translated to our lives, to show us that our lives do matter. If you ask yourself the question, “What if I had never been born?” how many other lives would be different today? The major point is that everything you do matters to someone and you may never know how much. This is a short, compelling read. (By the way, contemporary physicists now accept the “butterfly effect”).

Happiness of Pursuit: by Chris Gillebean

This is a book about “questing.” While most of us will never pursue the quests of this author, there are great truths to be learned and very practical steps to be taken to become a “quester” in one’s own environment or to develop the courage to launch a new quest in our lives. The book features short narratives of “questers” from all societal sectors, as it speaks to the basic definition of a “quest” and how we can all find ours.

7 Habits of Highly Successful People: by Steven Covey

We all fall into one of three categories – dependent, independent and interdependent. According to Covey, success comes from interdependence – the ability to collaborate with others to achieve something that we would not be able to achieve alone. From here, he defines and explains the 7 habits that are formed when we are interdependent – habits that make us highly successful in both our work and personal lives. This may not be as fun a read as some other books on this list, but there are practical, realistic methods by which we can change ourselves from within and develop those 7 habits.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: by Dr. Richard Carlson

Carlson addresses the overwhelming tendency we have to let the small things consume our lives, so that we neglect the big, important stuff. This is a very thoughtful piece with realistic tools to calm down when life is harried and stressful. A lot of the suggestions focus on small changes that we can make in our daily routines and in our responses to others, not the least of which is to get outside our egocentric existence and see the larger picture.

The Greatest Salesman in the World: by Og Mandino

Another parable. Hafid, a young man in ancient Jerusalem is facing the death of his mentor, a successful businessman. ON his deathbed, the mentor gives Hafid a set of scrolls, to be opened one a month. In these scrolls are the secrets to success. Hafid is to focus on only one scroll each month, and this is how the habits of personal empowerment are achieved. The firsts scroll begins with, “Today I begin a new life,” and provides practical advice on the giving up of old negative thoughts and habits. This is a short, quick read, and you will not be bored!

The Richest Man in Babylon: by George S. Clason

Though this book was published in 1926, the financial principles are universal and timeless. For anyone looking to make some important and basic changes in their personal finances, this parable about money management is a must read. Simple, to the point, practical, and short – better advice than even a financial advisor could give.

John Unger is a professional blogger, who likes literature, traveling and meeting new people!

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/10-motivational-good-reads/

DAILY HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE: IT’S ALL ABOUT ROUTINE

The most successful people all have certain habits in their daily routines.

They help contribute to their success and can be considered good habits to form. It could be something simple like, setting a goal to, “Do good each day,” like Benjamin Franklin did.

It could also be something more elaborate such as spending most of your morning in bed like Winston Churchill. Churchill would wake up at 7:30am daily, eat breakfast, read his mail and newspaper until 11am.

MY FAVORITE HABITS OF MILLIONAIRES

Habits of Millionaires vary, but I am going to share one of my favorite daily habits of successful people with you. It is something that I use every day and has contributed greatly to my success.

It is the habit of making a list before the day begins.

Let me tell you below why it is so important…

Here are the 3 steps to planning and making your daily list.

1. PLAN YOUR DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE

Every minute spent in planning saves 10 minutes in execution. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down everything that you need to do the coming day. If for any reason you don’t do this, it should be the first thing you do every morning. When you write a list you have a track to run on.

Writing a list clarifies your thinking and goals…

Writing down a list forces you to think at a higher level…

If you start working from a list you increase you output 25% each day.

One of the habits of millionaires is that they start their day working from a list.

2. SET PRIORITIES ON YOUR LIST BEFORE YOU START THE DAY

Work from the 80/20 rule. If you have 10 items on your list of things to do, two will be the more important than all of the other items put together.

Go down your list and answer the question, “If I were to be called out of town for a month, what are the most important tasks that I must accomplish?”

Last fall I was out of the country traveling across 15 countries in 36 days. When I looked at my list of things to do before I left, I had to get my most important tasks done.

Once you identify these most important tasks, it brings us to the final step in starting your day.

3. COMPLETE THE MOST IMPORTANT TASK FIRST

Begin immediately on your most important task and focus on it and only it until completion.

All success in life comes from project completion and living a life of good habits will help you complete more projects.

A project with multiple tasks is called a “multi-task job”. This means that there are several smaller jobs to complete the larger job. Organize your jobs by sequence in a checklist and start on you most important project.

Complete the smaller jobs in you project, until the entire project is complete. This process is called “single handling” and it’s one of the most powerful things that you can use in managing your time. You can increase your productivity by 50% by planning, starting and completing your most important tasks every single day.

CONCLUSION

If you can develop these habits of successful people and do those three things, plan your day the night before, organize your tasks in order of importance, and complete your most important task first thing during your day. You will increase your productivity overnight
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/daily-habits-of-successful-people-its-all-about-routine/

Does Working From Home Really Work?

by Veronika Shoebridge on March 4, 2015 in Development, Productivity, Success

Every side has its own arguments when it comes to working or not working from home. But if the boss and the employee alike take a look at this issue from the eyes of the other person, they can sooner find a suitable and pleasing outcome for both sides.

More and more people demand flexibility in their lives or look for a work-life balance. Companies started to listen, allowing staff to work from home either permanently or a few days per week.

But there is still some tension between employees and their bosses, when speaking about home office.

Employees: The bright side to “home office”

I feel comfortable and relaxed: You generally feel best while at home so doing work from home can make you feel at ease and less stressed.
I save time on the everyday commute: Wake up and start working. Its easy to put in extra 2 hours of work if you don’t have to spend them on a public transport or stuck in a traffic during peak hours.
I can organize my time and workload my way: This can be true to a certain extent. If you work as a freelancer and are the sole employee then it is possible, but if you are a regular employee only having a day of working from home then the schedule that would normally apply to you in the office still applies.

The ugly on “home office”

I cannot concentrate on work: This is a strong point when deciding whether to or not to work from home. Many people argument that they like to have a clear line drawn between their home and work lives and working from home would break this rule. Homely atmosphere can make it hard to bring on the working mode as the TV, bed or a coffee machine are within reach.
I have noone to chat to or ask for help: People can feel alone if they work from home and have noone to chat with or ask for help if a problem arises.
I have way too many distractions: The dog/ cat needs feeding, clients keep coming and going, the telephone would not stop ringing. Sounds familiar? These are the downsides of working from home. And especially if there are other family members who also work or run their business from the same home.

Is there ever the “right” time to ask for the benefit of home office and if, when is it?
Yes the right time is whenever you prove you need it. As with everything have some reasons and arguments up your sleeve. Possibility to work from home should be beneficial not just for you personally, but for your employer too.

You can argument that working from your home office will make you more productive by being able to take on more workload, easier to reach or that you will be available for longer time due to not having to commute.

Best thing both sides can do is trying “test period” of working away from the office for Your boss and you would see if this arrangement is working out in favour of both sides. This could just be your way into persuading your boss to let you work at home.

Employers and their yes to “home office”

Now lets turn the cards around. Its important to get the views of both sides. So lets see how the bosses see it.

I save money on buying / renting an office space & equipment: Not having to pay rent for an office or furnish & equip it with the necessary supplies obviously saves a huge amount of money that the employer can rather invest in a further development of his business or pay his staff higher wages.
I feel good that I give my employees freedom: Many employers want to have a friendly and open relationship with their staff and one of the ways how to get there is to allow them to work from places of their choosing. Why? It can be a form of reward for their hard work and visible positive results.
Since I am freelance I can visit my clients personally: Because the boss isn’t tied to one central office space and moves around the city throughout the day it makes it easy for him to visit his clients in their offices. This can in turn have a very positive effect on his business relationships by showing the client the motivation to achieve the best possible outcomes while working on his project by for example visiting him directly in his office, rather than making the client meet with you elsewhere.
Some say no

I wanna keep track of my staff: Many employers view home office as their staff’s excuse to work less or not to work at all and still get paid and are therefore afraid of it. If everyone’s under one roof the boss knows what is happening and when is it happening.
I need everyone to attend meetings in person: Some employers like to have all staff attend meetings in person. Simply because they want to make sure everyone understands and knows what they are supposed to be doing.
I am old school and don’t like to use modern technology: They want to be sure that whenever they need to speak with an employee they can meet in person right away rather than sending emails or talking via skype or a videoconference call.

How will an employer benefit if he lets his staff work from a place of their choosing, e.g home office? Will he benefit at all?

Yes he can benefit but he has to have some control mechanisms in place to make sure the work is getting done even from home offices of his staff.

You can make sure your staff is doing what they should by having all of your tasks in a project management system like AllThings, where each day the boss can check how far each project has progressed, if at all.

Another barrier you need to overcome is communication. You can hardly replace a good water cooler talk with a colleague with a software, but Slack does the job pretty well. Great for having an instant access to your colleagues without having to call or send an email to them.

Last but not least issue is time tracking. You can’t manage what you can`t measure. Clevork can show you, if the time spent on a particular project is corresponding with the desired output. Visual timesheets will provide a referral point for an employer to determine, whether home office works for the company or not.

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2015/03/working-home-really-work.html