When I clicked on to LinkedIn today, the first thing that popped up was a post by Richard Branson. The article was about taking notes. He says if it were not for the notes that he took throughout the course of his career he would have lost the ability to take advantage of numerous opportunities.
Ideas are fleeting. They can slip through the cracks so quickly. Yesterday I heard that the human brain can only capture the equivalent of about a Post-It note’s worth of information at any given time. In a typical meeting or conversation with a person or a group of people the topics and ideas can bounce around by the dozens. Good ideas can just evaporate so quickly.
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Branson’s article validated me in a certain sense because I’ve been carrying around an old fashioned marble composition book everywhere I go for about the last 15 years. I have hundreds of these books filled with notes and ideas and daily journals and customer orders and email addresses and all kinds of other information. I’m kind of proud of this and today a multi-billionaire validated my habit and routine.
The reason I’m sharing this with you today is to sort of enforce my new goal which is to review my notebooks habitually. Jim Rohn used to say, “Run the tapes again. Take 10 minutes to go over the day. Take an hour to go over the week. Take a day to go over the month, and take a week to go over the year.”
I’ve been hearing a lot about the word habit lately. Habit being more important than motivation or discipline. Discipline creates habits and habits are what creates consistency in behavior and, therefore, success. Habit, NOT discipline, is the key to the biggest successes. I believe my habit of rising early has made a massive difference in my success. I DO have the habit of taking notes. My weakness is in reviewing them. I’m determined to make a habit of reviewing my days.
To come public with my thoughts and feelings and notes on this subject, it’s my intention to make it a public announcement so that it will help me with the discipline I need to continue the good habit of taking notes but also forming the habit of reviewing them and acting upon the good ones.
These are not only the stepping-stones to building my business but they are also the Mosaic of much of my life. Who knows, maybe they will come in handy for my children and even my grandchildren. I believe that would be my greatest gift and legacy. Not a bad aspiration, if I do say so myself.
I’m Andrew Mazer and I’ve been serving business owners my entire adult life. I started my own wholesale company, Mazer Wholesale, Inc. in 1986 when I was just 21 years old. This business still exists today. I learned how to successfully market my business and products online and eventually began helping other business owners in various fields do the same. I’ve help restaurants, hotels/motels, service companies like massage therapists, electricians, garage door repair companies, venture capital money lenders, law firms and more leverage the power of the web to get more customers and make more money.
I would like to share my wisdom and experience with you if you will SUBSCRIBE to my One Good Idea Newsletter.
Andrew Mazer, Founder of Mazer Wholesale, Inc. established since 1986. In 1996, I began marketing my wholesale business online. In 2009, I began helping other business owners market THEIR business online. I am the author of The Business Owner's Guide to Marketing Online, The Groupon Solution, and The One Good Idea Newsletter. Contact me at Andrew@smallbusinessu.org