Take Your Worst Problem – And Skip It

By Barbara Bartlein

John, a small business owner, has many requests for additional products, but is unable to borrow the capital necessary for expansion.
SOLUTION: He skips the problem by pre-selling the products. With advanced orders in hand, he is able to secure bank financing.

Acme Services has difficulty recruiting quality staff even though they pay above minimum wage.
SOLUTION: They increase pay above budgeted levels and obtain top-notch customer service personnel. Profits increase as customers form a relationship with consistent staff and Acme no longer pays the high cost of turnover.

Sandy, CEO of a large retail company, finds it impossible to devote time to key strategic planning due to the barrage of daily paperwork and responsibilities.
SOLUTION: She has staff handle the paperwork for two weeks. She is surprised when she returns from planning that much of the work has “taken care of itself” without her attention. She re-evaluates what items have to cross her desk.

Nicole wants to start an exercise program but is embarrassed to go a class at the health club until she gets thinner.
SOLUTION: She buys a “forgiving” workout suit and begins the program anyway. Within three months she is proud to be going to the class and pleased with her progress.

“Take your worst problem…and skip it,” is a phrase coined by Daniel Burrus, author of TechnoTrends. It refers to confronting your personal and professional roadblocks and leaping over them rather than having them stop you from reaching your goals. Different from procrastination or avoidance, “skipping it” is based on recognition of the problem and a conscious decision to move forward anyways.

A difficult problem can lead to procrastination, for it becomes an excuse not to do anything. It presents itself as a roadblock so large that it is impossible to conquer. The longer it is in place, the more you become convinced that there are no solutions – no way to change it. Your energy erodes and your momentum stops. You can’t find your way through the problem. Consider skipping it instead by evaluating the following:

• What is the most difficult problem in your life? How is it affecting your business, relationships, or enjoyment in everyday living? How much time do you spend thinking about it? How does this problem stand in the way of you reaching your goals?
  
  
• If the problem was removed, what would you be doing different? Identify specific behaviors and results that could occur if the problem was not there. Think short term and long term. Be careful not to get stuck in thinking that there are no alternatives or solutions. You always have choices, but they may not be apparent.
  
  
• What is the worst thing that can happen if you skip it? Evaluate the risks and downside of moving forward. Compare the risks to the possible advantages of skipping the problem. Also, evaluate the outcome if you continue to do nothing. Remember, not making a decision is a decision. You have decided to keep things exactly as they are.
  
  
• Take your worst problem…and skip it. Unless there is a tremendous downside, it is advantageous to do so. Even if you do not get exactly the outcome you desire, it will get you out of the “do nothing” framework and move you toward your goals.
  
  
• Move forward and revisit the problem at a later date. The action will give you energy and your momentum will accelerate. You may be surprised how often the problem eliminates itself when you move forward.
  

Consider skipping your worst problem. Remember, “if you do what you always do, you get what you always got.” The best way to make something new happen is to do something different.

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Barbara Bartlein is the PeoplePro™. She helps businesses sell more goods and services by developing people. She can be reached at 888-747-9953, by email at: barb@barbbartlein.com or visit her Web site at www.ThePeoplePro.com.

Published in Networking Today, February 2002.

Software Tips & Tricks Internet Search Tips

By Laura Noble

When searching the Internet, be patient! Remember, you are looking for a single topic among millions of possibilities.

Search Engines

Search engines are the main method of finding what you need on the Internet. Though several engines may appear to be similar, the search results may differ from one engine to the next. It is often necessary to use more than one engine during a search.

Because each search engine works slightly different, read the About page on the site and review such pages as Search Tips, Advanced Search, and Help.

Defining the Search

Be Specific: If you're looking for Used Cars, do not define search simply as cars. If you know the brand of car you want then define your search as Used Volkswagen Cars.

Check Spelling: If you misspell a word in your criteria, the search will be inaccurate. Example: Used Volkswagen Cas.

Boolean Operators can be used to define a search in most search engines. These operators help in defining the search criteria further.

The criteria are not case-sensitive though it is convenient to capitalize operators to separate them from the keywords, etc.

Helpful Operators

• AND: Inserting the operator AND between two keywords or phrases will result in Web sites that include both keywords. Example: Used AND Cars tell the engine to search for pages with BOTH used and cars.
  
  
• A plus sign (+) works similar to AND. Example: Used + Cars with no space after the + sign.
  
  
• OR: Inserting the operator OR between two keywords or phrases will result in Web sites with either or both of the keywords. Example: Volkswagen OR Toyota will look for sites with either or both Volkswagen or Toyota.
  
  
• AND NOT: Inserting the operator AND NOT will exclude a word from the results. Example: Volkswagen AND NOT Beetle will search for sites that include Volkswagen but not Beetle.
  
  
• A minus sign (-) works similar to AND NOT. Example: Volkswagen – Beetle
  
  
• NEAR: This operator allows you to specify how many words separate terms specified. The default is 10. Example: Volkswagen NEAR Jetta or Volkswagen N4 Jetta would search for pages containing the words Volkswagen and Jetta within 4 words of each other.
  
  
• Quotation Marks (" "): Surrounding a phrase with quotation marks will result in a search for the exact phrase. Example: "Used Volkswagens"
  
  
• * - use to search for various forms of a word. Example: run* would result in pages containing running, runs, runners, etc.
  
  
• Combination of operators will also work. Example: “Used Cars” + Ontario will result in pages containing the phrase Used Cars plus Ontario. This narrows the search to include only Ontario versus worldwide.
  
  
• To use operators such as AND, OR in a keyword phrase and not be treated as an operator enclose in single quotes. Example: Lennon ‘and’ McCartney.
  

Stay tuned to Networking Today in the coming months for more Software Tips & Tricks from Noble Software Solutions.

Laura Noble is the owner of Noble Software Solutions. Laura can be contacted at 519-680-2689 or by e-mail at lnoble@noblesoftwaresolutions.com. www.NobleSoftwareSolutions.com

Published in Networking Today, February 2002.