*My Biggest Mistakes - Part Two - What Women Know and Men Don't* Last week we explored an approach for beating procrastination. This week, we're going to play with a "secret" I got let into a couple of years before I went into business. I decided to embrace this secret, & credit it with a lot of my business success. The strangest thing is, it's a secret which most women intuitively know, & most men don't. Many years ago, someone revealed to me some strange statistics about business. They said that 95% of new businesses fail within the first two years. Then they told me something that shocked me: they said that businesses started by women were far more likely to succeed than business started by men, for two reasons: Reason 1 Men are far more likely to put their money into "status builders", buying expensive stationery, office furniture or a snazzy website, while women tended to put their money into creating value for their employees & their clients. Reason 2 Women are far more willing than men to ask for help. When I started Salad in 2003, I decided to do my best to ensure I didn't fall into either of these man-traps. And I didn't. Except when I did. The funny thing is, I don't have any problem asking for help when I don't know what I'm doing. The time I don't ask for help is in areas where I know what I'm doing. For instance... I'm currently working on some new learning plans for our re-launch of myNLPresources.com. I know how to create learning plans, but can I get started? No way. I'd been not-getting-started on this for about two months before I realised that I've fallen into one of my mental blind-spots - I like to create this sort of thing with someone else. I'm at my best when I'm presenting or explaining things to people. I can come up with almost anything if I've got someone to work through it with. When I worked as a project manager, I could come up with complex project plans as long as there was someone else in the room with me to bounce it off. They didn't even need to know anything about the project. But sometimes I don't remember that! Anyway, I've booked some time with Nikki next week to help me evolve the learning plans. So... Identify something you've been wanting to do, create or accomplish, but have been putting off making a start (or have paused).
Ask yourself "Who are some of the people I know who might be able to help me with this in some way?" Write down your answers on a sheet of paper. "Help me" is a very broad category. It could be as non-specific as someone to bounce ideas off, or as specific as someone who can help you manage your time more effectively. Circle one of the names on the list, then get in touch with them & ask for help. The funny thing is, when you ask someone for help, it often makes them feel good. You may be surprised at the positive responses you get to this simple request. -- Salam Street Smart NLP! Teddi Prasetya Yuliawan Indonesia NLP Society <http://indonesianlpsociety.org>
