16 Rules

Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com has made a list of the 16 rules he thinks people should follow in business and in life. Some are kind of cheesy, some others are oddly insightful. Take a look and see for yourself!

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
2. Never give up.
3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think.
4. Accept the worse thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what that worse thing could be.
5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
6. Take things one day at a time.



For the next ten pearls of wisdom, click here!

Frank Sent This...

Hilarious and amazing. TED. Enjoy!

Act Stupid, Win Smart

You only get one chance to make a first impression, which is why you need to read these tips on what to avoid doing. This article was originally written for entrepreneurs in mind, but I think it's applicable to anyone.

1. Be prepared. If you know someone is going to be at an event, learn as much as possible about them.
2. This includes finding a picture of them.
3. Learn about their company and how well it's doing.
4. Use your network to find a mutual contact.
5. Have objectives. Think about what you hope to gain from the conversation and questions you would like answered.
6. No one likes a show off, so don't go overboard.

Check out the full HBR article here.

Brand Thy Self

What do people say after you leave the room? Uh oh. Never thought about it? Well, now is the time to think about yourself and your brand. This Harvard Business Review article gives five steps that you can follow to build or reinvent your own brand:

1. Figure out where you want to go
2. Think about how you can differentiate yourself
3. Form your narrative. How does you past self lead you to your present brand?
4. Update people to let them know about this new branded you.
5. Put your money where your mouth is. Prove your skills.

Check out the full article here!

Sleep On It....No Really

You stress because you have to think of an amazing idea. No matter what you do, you're stuck. Drawing a blank. Zero. Nadda. Nothing. Then, magically, either just before you fall asleep or in the middle of the night, you wake up with a brilliant idea. Why does this happen? Joanne Cantor, who blogs for psychologytoday.com has done some research and has found that while you are sleeping, your brain is actually plugging away trying to make sense of it all. What does that mean, you ask? We spend our time concentrating on so many things during the day, our brains have to block things out or put some things on hold during that time. It's only when we're nodding off and sleeping soundly that your brain has a chance to catch up. The moral of this story....SLEEP! Oh....and keep a notebook by your bed.

For the full article, click here!

Gatekeeper

I'm sure everyone has been in this situation at one time or another. A friend asks you for an introduction to someone in your network (ie. you connection), but you're not entirely sure that's a good idea. So, what do you do? This HBR article, entitled, "How to Keep Out the Riff-Raff" gives a little insight on just how to handle such situations. 


Some questions to ask yourself:
Q1). Will both parties stand to benefit? - Then yes. Do it.
Q2). If only one party will benefit, is the request reasonable? - Tricky. See questions 3 and 4.
Q3). Will you be wasting your connections time? 
Q4). Is the request worth cashing in a favor with your connection? 


If your still not sure what you should do, Jodi Glickman offers some rules and guidelines on how to proceed so that you don't lose a friend or ruin the relationship with your connection.