7 Pillars of Wisdom

Blueprint 2 BIGNESS shared "The 7 Pillars of Wisdom for Business" which I find helpful, and always strive to apply and live out in my own business. Here they are:

1. Ethics: business ethics and values
2. Humility: service centric; focus on internal and external clients; giving credit and not taking it
3. Instruction: training, mentoring, coaching, education
4. Discipline: alignment to vision values and purpose; implementing strategy; organisational and cultural transformation
5. Knowledge: knowledge repository, mentoring, intranet, training, information sharing, peer facilitated mentoring
6. Integrity: keeping promises, “walking the talk”, modelling values
7. Honesty: truth, transparency, authenticity, sincerity

All 7 Pillars are important, and I particularly resonate with Pillar #4. Discipline is doing the things we need to do, when we need to do it, whether we feel like it or not. Unless we change how we are, we will always have what we've got. Nothing of importance is ever achieved without discipline. Our goals, dreams and purpose can't be achieved without discipline, vision can't be realised without it. It takes huge discipline to make a difference.

How do you feel about these 7 pillars? Which one do you resonate with the most?

Give Up Your Excuses

Do you have a habit of making excuses? Well if we are honest we all have them. We all have the 'justified reasons' why we are not getting the results we want in life. But you know what? Behind these reasons are the unwillingness to take full responsibility for your life.

To be happy, successful and reach our goals and dreams in life, we need to pack all our excuses away and eliminate them. We limit ourselves because of the excuses we make. According to George Carver, "ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses." Hence, if we don't want to fail we'd better give up our excuses!

Have you heard of the "PLOM" symptom? It stands for "Poor Little Old Me", which really is a victim mentality - a mindset that allows people to think that making excuses is valid. A good friend of mine always encourage people with "PLOM" symptom to ask themselves if they have seen anyone being successful in spite of their excuses. If not then it's time to get rid of their excuses. I absolutely agree with her. Therefore, if excuses are stopping you from reaching your full potential, I encourage you to stop your excuses so they don't have the power to control you as you commit to stop making excuses and taking responsibility!