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The 50 Most Important Lessons I have Learned
- Why am I still making some or any of these mistakes? What am I going to do about it?
- What do I need to change to avoid making another dumb decision?
- What steps, systems, processes or procedures can I put into place to minimise repeating my mistakes?
AS I LOOK BACK AT MY MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSSES, STUPIDEST DECISIONS, AND BIGGEST MISTAKES, WHAT ARE THE 50 MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED?
The 50 most important lessons I have learned from my most significant losses, stupid decisions and biggest mistakes:
1. Put up prices sooner than later.
2. Do not give too much away.
3. Sack people quickly.
4. Tell staff what you do and do not want from them. They are not mind readers.
5. Do not believe that next year will be better (despite the evidence). Hope is not a method.
6. Relentless execution is everything.
7. If it matters, pick up the phone.
8. Do not try to triple guess what others are thinking.
9. Do not stay up all night worrying and losing sleep.
10. Business is only a game. Smile and laugh more. Enjoy the journey.
11. Put down the mobile.
12. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
13. Get a contract.
14. Sleep at home as often as possible.
15. Sort systems and processes.
16. Delegate and trust others.
17. Decide whether you are an artist, technician, owner, or investor.
18. Ignore the silver bullets.
19. Focus.
20. Keep it simple but not so simple to be simplistic (Einstein).
21. Clarify the difference between facts, opinion and guesswork.
22. Measure what matters; What gets measured gets done.
23. Just because it is difficult, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.
24. When you’ve asked enough implication questions, then ask some more.
25. Customer is king.
26. Exit may not be all it is cracked up to be.
27. You get what you tolerate.
28. Deep thinking is required, not shallow thinking. Join the dots.
29. Today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper.
30. You can bounce back from adversity.
31. It’s only money.
32. See everything from the customer’s point of view.
33. Clarify the overt business benefit.
34. Start with the end in mind.
35. What’s the one thing I can do today that makes everything else less necessary or unnecessary?
36. Talk to odd people.
37. Test the market.
38. Don’t leave money on the table.
39. Be nice to people on the way up.
40. Do not lie to yourself or to others.
41. They probably aren’t thinking about you as much you think they are. Do not believe your own hype; you are not that important.
42. Deliver day by day, week by week, quarter by quarter.
43. Flail around and then relentless execution.
44. Avoid death by a thousand cuts.
45. Your reputation is everything.
46. Eat and sleep well.
47. Always stay on top of the figures.
48. Most people are looking after #1: you’ll be surprised who will screw you over.
49. Shit happens – it is how you respond that matters.
50. Don’t get distracted by shiny objects.
Next, ask yourself:
A similar exercise appears in KJ Cunningham’s The Road Less Stupid.