Management

Growth Strategies
The Business of Life
Introduction

“I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation;

every possession, a duty.” (John D. Rockefeller)

Y ou are in business for yourself – the President of your own personal services
corporation – from the time you take your first job until the day you retire.

A business is merely an organization that is assembled to get a certain quality and quantity
of results by using the talents, abilities and resources of various people. There are many
parallels between the operation of a business and the operation of your personal life. The
most effective people are those who apply proven business principles to their activities so
they get more of what they want, faster than the average person.

In this lesson, you learn how to approach your life like a business and how to use the
practical principles that have been demonstrated to get better results in almost every
business situation.

In this lesson you will learn:

■ How to run your life like a company

■ The parallels between businesses and individuals in the marketplace

■ The problems of competitive markets

■ The seven “Rs” of personal and managerial effectiveness

■ The GOSPA Model applied to your work and your career

■ How to position yourself in the marketplace

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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What Do You Already Know?

Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below.

1. What are the similarities between a business and your personal career?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

2. What are the common principles for both personal and business success?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

3. What must you do to be successful in your current marketplace?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

4. What are the major problems of achieving and maintaining dominance in

your field today?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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5. What are the keys to personal and managerial effectiveness in your work life and
personal life today?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

6. What changes could you make immediately to begin operating more effectively in
achieving your career goals?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

7. What are the five steps to planning and organizing your business life
more effectively?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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The Business of Life

1. Your life is like a business in many respects.

a) You are the President and CEO of “You, Inc;”

b) You are the head of an entrepreneurial company with one

employee – yourself!

c) You sell your services in the marketplace in the work you do;

d) You are responsible for all aspects of your performance and the quality of
your work;

e) As a business, you must make a profit to continue growing;

f) The market for your services is changing continually and you must change
as well;

g) Competition for your services is fierce and intensifying every day.

21 Successful businesses operate on the same principles that successful

people operate on.

a) You need clear values, vision, a mission and purpose for yourself;

b) You need clear goals and objectives for the next one, two, three, four and
five years;

c) You need clear strategies and plans of action;

d) You need clear measurements of performance and results;

e) You need written schedules and deadlines for achieving your goals.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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3. Both businesses and individuals have similarities in the way they function
in the marketplace.

a) You need core competencies and skills, the things you do that make
you different;

b) You need an area of excellence, a unique selling proposition for yourself and
your services;

c) You must clearly differentiate yourself from other people seeking the same
job and the same income.

4. Businesses and individuals also face similar problems in succeeding in

today’s competitive marketplace.

a) You are experiencing rapid change in all areas of your life – work, family and
personal activities;

b) You are also witnessing the rapid obsolescence of the services you offer to
your employer;

c) Your knowledge and skills are becoming outdated as the needs of

business change;

d) The requirements of your job and even your career are changing daily;

e) You need to engage in a plan of continuous innovation and improvement to

survive and thrive;

f) Time is the currency of the ‘90s – you need to move rapidly to keep pace
with the rate of change.

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5. There are seven “Rs” of personal and managerial effectiveness in
business and personal life today.

a) Reorganization – continually look for ways to increase the quality and

quantity of outputs relative to inputs;

b) Restructuring – move resources, especially time and money, from ar-

eas of lower value to areas of higher value;

c) Reengineering – analyze every part of the way you work to find

greater efficiencies;

1. You can achieve time compression by job expansion;

2. Look for ways to consolidate, eliminate and downsize;

3. Look for ways to delegate, outsource and simplify the work;

d) Reinventing – look at starting your work life over again every year;

1. Zero-based thinking – knowing what you now know,

is there anything that you wouldn’t get into today?

2. Imagine starting over again tomorrow;

3. Think of starting a new job, a new career in a new city;

e) Rethinking – take time to stand back and look at every aspect

of your life;

1. What do you really want from your life and career?

2. What are your major fears and frustrations, and how could
you resolve them?

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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 f) Reevaluating – determine to live your life consistent with what is really
important to you;

1. What do you really care about?

2. What are your most important values?

g) Refocusing – refocus your life and time on your highest

payoff activities;

1. Apply the 80/20 Rule regularly to all of your activities;

2. Your return on energy must be your major aim in the

organization of your life.

6. The GOSPA model is a powerful strategic planning technique that you can
apply to your life and your work.

a) Goals – what you want to accomplish in the long term, two, three, four and
five years down the line;

b) Objectives – the short-term steps you must take to accomplish

your goals;

c) Strategies – your master plans for accomplishing your objectives and

achieving your goals;

d) Plans – the specific, concrete ways that you will implement

your strategies;

e) Activities – the specific, day-by-day tasks that you will complete to fulfill
your plans.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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7. Positioning yourself in the marketplace is one of the most important
things you do to achieve maximum performance.

a) Describe yourself now in terms of the way others perceive you;

b) Describe yourself as you would like to be perceived sometime in the future.

When you think of your life as a business, you will notice a variety of ideas, methods and
techniques that you can apply to be more effective and efficient in everything you do.

By viewing yourself as a successful business in a competitive marketplace, you will

achieve greater results and earn greater rewards. By taking responsibility and seeing
yourself as the President of your own life and career, you will move into the top three
percent of adults living today.

You will accomplish far more, far faster than you ever could otherwise.

Action Exercises

1. What is your main responsibility as the President of your own

one-person company?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

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2. What must you do every day to maintain a competitive edge in your
current marketplace?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

3. What are your goals for your work and career for the next one,
two and three years?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

4. What are your core competencies and skills that enable you to compete effectively
in your current marketplace?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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5. What is your “area of excellence” as an individual?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

6. What major changes do you have to make to continue to survive and thrive in your
work and career in the years ahead?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

7. How can you increase the speed at which you deliver your services to your company
and your customers?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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8. If you were reorganizing your work and your career today, what changes would you
make to operate more effectively?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

9. What are your goals and strategies for your career over the next three to five years?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

What one change are you going to make immediately as the result of what you have
learned in this lesson?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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