You can watch it here, but I recommend Pierce’s site for anyone interested in improving his or her game. He has some very interesting takes on things, and I always learn something when I visit.

After you watch the video, come back here.

The video covers three basic areas of productivity:
- who are you and what do you want?
- what is the breakdown of what you want to accomplish?
- what practical method can you use to perform your tasks?

I find the creation of identity statements difficult. I can create them, but I really have to struggle to create and sustain them. I acknowledge this because I want you to understand that just because something is difficult, that doesn’t mean we get to let ourselves off the hook and do something easier.

To counter this difficulty, I created the following identity statement, and I recommend you use it or something similar if you have a similar problem.

I pursue my dreams, even when they are difficult to envision and/or achieve. I affirm my ability to achieve what I want, and have positive "mental leaf guards" that keep out the debris of negative influences.

These “leaf guards of the soul” can – and should – shield you from negative impacts of bad-news stories, from the ridicule (imagined or real) of others, and most of all, from your own self-doubts.

The rest of Pierce’s video comprises project and time management; worthwhile, yes, but the important thing is knowing who you are, standing for something highly positive, and  – and having an intentional say in what is true about you that, IMO, forms the heart of what PIerce communicates, and it is what motivated me to tell you about it.

Your comments are welcome.

Good evening. I hope tonight finds you intensely comfortable.

As the economy continues to sputter along, it is important to think about positioning your business. If you’ve never been in business during an economic downturn, let alone a recession, I want to give you something very important to think about.

If you were around when Al Gore was inventing the internet, then you remember when the internet really came into its own in the early to mid 1990s. It was the beginning of the dot.com era; where venture capital flowed like mother’s milk. It was a golden time. A time before sub-primes. A time before government scams. A time before everything in the government sucked.

During that time, people were in a mad dash to get their claims on virtual real estate as fast as they could.

Why? Because they knew that the people who established themselves first had a good chance of snagging the most business fastest. Those late to the party would have barriers the early adopters could avoid.

Then we went from dot.com to dot.bom. Profits mattered again. There was a big shake out as many of the dot.com companies fell like autumn leaves during a gale force wind.

But those that survived became the equivalent of the early adopters for the next economic rebound!

That’s where we are now. In the shake-out phase. If you can produce quality for your visitors and, of course, for your customers, you’ll be there when people start making their way back to the web to buy, buy, buy! You’ll be the one who has been “doing business since 2002!” instead of being a fly-by-night who opened shop just a month ago. Who do you think customers are going to trust?

So don’t lose heart. Stay strong. Be a champion to yourself and others.

Provide extra value now so that you build loyal followers. That’s how you rebound when the economy does.

- Bal