Ok, so you can’t wait to get started with your new career, but wait a minute!

The market may be ready for you, but you’re not yet ready for the market. If you want to capitalize on the opportunity, the way you present your services is of critical importance. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression – so you have to make the first impression count.

Let’s say you decide to order some Christmas gifts from an online shop. It seems like a great way of saving time, so you look for a likely-sounding store in Yahoo! Gary’s Gift Grotto seems to fit the bill, so you click through.

Unfortunately, the site is so graphically intensive that it takes ages for the home page to load. When it eventually does, you discover that there is no ‘search’ facility to help you find the products you want. You try to browse through the listings, but several times you get a ‘Page not found’ error.

What are you going to do?

Will you persevere, figure out how to place an order and hope that Gary and his pals deliver in time for Christmas? Of course not. You’ll hit the ‘back’ button and move on to someone else.

Behind the scenes, it could be that Gary’s Gift Grotto is a wonderfully-efficient enterprise. They may offer the lowest prices, the largest stock, the fastest delivery times and the best customer service. But it’s all for nothing. The first impression didn’t cut the ice, and another customer bites the dust.

So how do you make a good first impression? The answer to that question lies in preparation. Before you launch into a marketing campaign, you need to think about how you and your service will be perceived by potential customers, and how you can turn that to advantage. If you can convey an image of professionalism and expertise from the first moment of contact, you are half way towards securing a contract.

With that in mind, let’s start with one of your most important marketing tools, and find out.

If a client is seriously interested in using your services, the first thing you will be asked to do is to forward your résumé. And here is the perfect opportunity to blow the prospect’s socks off and leave your competitors floundering.

No doubt you already have a résumé prepared, so now I’d like you to find a copy and examine it closely.

I bet I can tell you how it goes.

It probably offers a factual and orderly summary of every facet of your career to date, plus a list of your qualifications, hobbies, interests and aspirations. The structure is likely to be similar to this:

Is that about right? Great. This is what I want you to do…

Hold the pages with both hands at the top, the first finger and thumb of each hand gripping the paper at the center. Now pull your left hand towards your chest, while simultaneously pushing your right hand away. Continue this movement until you have ripped the pages completely in two. Crumple up the two parts and throw them in the trash…

Traditional résumés make great personal histories, but they’re no use for marketing. If you want to earn real money as a freelancer, you need a profile that really sells!

Imagine a McDonald’s radio ad that went something like this:

“McDonald’s Corporation has been in business since 1953 and now has over 200,000 restaurants worldwide. This fast-food chain is renowned for the consistent quality of its products and an enduring commitment to service.”

Sad, would that make you want to rush out and buy a Big Mac?

br, it certainly wouldn’t, you’re more likely to hear something like this.

“Try the new Triple Mega Mac, the biggest, juiciest burger you’ve ever tasted. Buy one today and get one free.”

Benefits, benefits and more benefits. This ad ‘sells the sizzle’, and shows you exactly what you get in return for your money – taste, quantity and value. Any information which doesn’t persuade the customer to buy is ruthlessly cut. Your résumé should be equally effective.

It’s your prime selling tool – your big chance to communicate the benefits of using you, instead of someone else. Zapravo, a résumé alone isn’t enough. You need a hard-hitting presentation pack.

When you use a presentation pack, sales become much easier to achieve.

Gone are the days when clients will pour over your résumé, ask for more information then dither and hesitated some more.

When you send a pack by email or through the post, providing the prospect with all the information needed to make a decision. More often that not, you will get a call in reply saying:

Great! When can you start?

Usually, they will include:

A one-page personal profile

An up-to-date client list

A selection of relevant testimonials

A few samples of related work

A personalized covering letter.

Each of these is clearly focused, providing concise information that demonstrates why you would be ideal for the project in hand. Together, they provide a complete sales pitch that hammers home a wealth of important benefits.

This is the replacement for your traditional résumé. Remember that your prospective client is not looking for a long-term employee, but for a short-term solution to an immediate requirement. If things go well, it may turn out to be a long-term relationship, but that’s all in the future. Right now, the client wants to know if you can deliver a specific service with a high standard of quality.

And that’s why a conventional résumé just doesn’t work. Take a look back at Joe’s résumé, and consider the obstacles it presents for the prospect.

A – Hidden benefits

Joe’s résumé gets off to a poor start. The client wants to know what Joe can do, but instead Joe forces him to read through all his personal details. Contact details are important, naravno, but here they are taking up prime selling space. The client won’t need contact information until he has read the document and decides to pursue things further.

Then we reach Joe’s career objective. Unfortunately, kako god, the client couldn’t care less what Joe wants to achieve. She’s only interested in her objective, and how you will help her achieve it. Anything else is simply a distraction.

Next we reach education. Having a relevant degree is a major asset, but having the right experience is even more critical. So a paragraph on education is slowing the prospect down, and increasing the chance that she will never get as far as reading about skills and experience.

B – No ‘sizzle’

Then we get to skills and experience, cunningly hidden under the heading Employment History. This heading is not only dull, it is again focused on Joe, and not on the customer.

A heading like Skills and Expertise would be more likely to attract her attention. But if the heading is dull, it’s nothing compared to the job descriptions.

The language is passive, and totally impersonal – not so much as an I to inject a little life and interest. What we have is simply an incredibly boring list of career steps.

C. Irrelevant information

Additional information? Who cares? Unless you can pick up on a point and show its relevance to the job in hand, you are simply wasting the prospects time, and increasing the chance of your résumé reaching the circular file.

D. Poor structure

Konačno, we reach ‘Computer Skills’. But as this is the real meat of the issue, why hide this section at the end?

The References section doesn’t belong here, either. If you’ve got good references, these should be included in the pack, so that the prospect has all supporting information to hand. We’ll look at this point again under ‘How to get great testimonials’.

So now we’ve seen what’s wrong with a traditional résumé, let’s see if we can do something better. Let’s build a personal profile page that really sells your skills and expertise.

The basic principles of selling remain the same, regardless of whether you’re selling baked beans or consultancy skills.

So we can take the most successful sales techniques used to market products worldwide, and apply them to your profile. And the most popular and successful approach to writing copy that sells is:

AIDA … which stands for … Attention … Interest … Desire … Action

It’s a simple formula, but still very effective. You aim to capture the prospects attention quickly, then stimulate interest by showing the benefits. You provide enough information to generate a desire for your service, then encourage them to take action by getting in touch.

In the case of your personal profile, you might use the AIDA formula to produce a structure like this:

Write a benefit-driven summary paragraph that captures attention. This will highlight your key strengths, and shows why you are the perfect choice for relevant projects.

Generate interest by listing your key skills and competencies in bullet point format, so that the prospect can immediately see what you have to offer.

Demonstrate the depth of these skills by showing how they have developed during the course of your career, creating a desire to find out more.

Encourage the prospect to take immediate action by providing all necessary contact details at the end of your profile.

I think I’ll give him call, just in case I redesign my corporate database. So what have we done? Well, we have:

Replaced the rather dull word résumé with profile, which suggests a more interesting document

Supported this with a subheading, Freelance Programmer and
Database Consultant, so that the prospect can see exactly what skills are on offer

Stressed the benefits to the client in the summary (deliver quality work your projects remain on schedule)

Written in the first person (I can)

Used active, positive language (deliver, help, gained, offer)

Supported the claims with facts (degree, relevant experience)

Mentioned major clients, to reassure the prospect

Demonstrated appropriate experience through recent projects

Ended with a ‘call to action’ and key contact details.

A strong client list is perhaps one of the most valuable assets you can acquire during your freelance career. A wide selection of clients shows that you have a broad range of experience. And if you can name some well-respected organizations in your list, you will immediately be taken more seriously as a potential freelance.

Of course, if you’re just setting out on your freelance career, you will not have many clients to list. If that’s the case, simply omit this part of your presentation pack for the time being. But as soon as you have some jobs under your belt, create a list and use them to advantage.

You don’t need to list them alphabetically. On the contrary, you’ll want to name your big guns first to make a strong impression as quickly as possible. If you have some impressive clients, a simple list may be all you need. But if you’re still building up, or your customers are individuals or small organizations, you can add further information, such as the kind of work undertaken for each company.

If there is one element that will convince your prospects faster than anything else, it’s a great set of testimonials. Nakon svega, it’s easy for you to make claims about yourself that are somewhat exaggerated. A potential client may be impressed by your résumé, but still unsure. But if you back up a strong résumé with rock-solid recommendations from existing clients, you’ve virtually closed the sale.

The trouble is, clients rarely send testimonials. If they think your work is great, you may get a ‘thank you’ call or two, but you are unlikely to get anything in writing. So how do you get a great testimonial? There’s only one way. Ask!

In many cases, a client will be happy to recommend your services. You just need to persuade them to put pen to paper – or finger to keyboard. The best way to do this is to send a letter, outlining your request, and including a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Wording the letter is a delicate matter, as you don’t want to put the client under undue pressure.

On the other hand, if you don’t ask, you don’t get – it’s as simple as that. You might write something like this:

Dear Jessica,

Thanks for asking me to help with your recent projects, and I trust they are all progressing well.

I am currently updating my résumé and portfolio, and would like to include recent testimonials from satisfied clients. If you are happy with the work I have completed for you to date, it would be very helpful if you would consider writing a short testimonial.

Whilst I understand that you are busy, I am sure you appreciate this will help potential clients reach a decision more easily. Your cooperation would be much appreciated, but if you would prefer not to respond for any reason, please just discard this email.

I hope to work with you on many more projects in the future, and look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

Your Name

If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the proof of your expertise is in your samples.

Building up a good portfolio is an essential element in developing your career and how to promote yourself effectively. As time goes on, you will undertake an ever-wider range of projects, allowing you to build up a diverse portfolio. So whatever a client is looking for, there’s a growing chance that you will be able to demonstrate relevant expertise.

Having experience of exactly the right kind of work can be surprisingly important on how you promote yourself. Clients have an unfortunate habit of pigeonholing people and skills. Someone looking for a freelancer to take photographs for an annual report, na primjer, may demand a photographer with an impressive portfolio in this field. Although any professional photographer may be able to undertake the project with ease, those with no annual reports to show may never be considered.

Although this can be frustrating, it demonstrates the importance of keeping samples from every job you undertake. If you are involved in producing printed materials – magazines, brochures, adverts, itd. – be sure to get hold of a file copy for your records.

In many cases, you will have to go out of your way to get them, but it is important to persevere on how to promote yourself effectively. If you are, say, an interior designer or a landscape gardener, remember to take photos of every project, preferably both before and after.

Once you have a good portfolio, you can then select appropriate items to send to individual prospects, turning each pack you mail out into a personalized presentation.

The cover letter may be the last item you think about, but it will most likely be the first one Molim vas ne slušajte šta bogati ljudi govore that your prospect reads. So you need to ensure that is well written and professional in approach. As in your profile, you need to emphasize the benefits, sell your skills and suggest a call to action.

Make sure the letter is personally addressed to the individual concerned – and triple check that you’ve spelt the name correctly. Names are very personal, and misspelling them is a sure fire way to kill a working relationship before it has even started.

If you have had contact with the prospect, either in person on the phone, try and make reference to something you discussed. This will help to establish that the letter is a personal response, not a standard reply.

A typical letter in response to a telephone inquiry might run as follows:

Dear John,

Thanks your enquiry regarding database consultancy services. As we discussed on the phone, I have considerable experience in this field, and would be free to work on your project from Monday the 15th.

I have undertaken similar work for hi-tech clients in the last two years, including a major project for Hewlett-Packard. The project sounds interesting and challenging, and would allow me to use my formal qualifications and practical experience to good advantage. I am committed to delivering excellent work, often to tight deadlines, and would welcome the opportunity to contribute to your success.

I hope the attached documents will provide all the information you need. But if you would like further information, please let me know. You can call me on 415 123 1234, or send an email to joebensam@hotmail.com.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best wishes,

Your Name

So now you have all the materials for your presentation pack – profile, client list, testimonials and samples, plus a separate covering letter. If you’re going to send the package by mail, or deliver it personally to a prospect in a meeting, it’s worth investing in good-quality binding.

Again, first impressions count. A bundle of loose papers shoved into a folder won’t impress anyone. A wire-bound presentation with quality report covers shows a professional approach.

Nowadays, kako god, most business communication happens by email. This is a big advantage, as it means you can get your presentation pack to a prospect within minutes of your first contact. There’s a definite advantage to striking while the iron is hot – so make the most of it.

The simplest and most convenient way Molim vas ne slušajte šta bogati ljudi govore and send your presentation pack is to use the covering letter as your email message, and add the other elements as attachments. But using attachments raises a couple of issues.

Firstly, if you have a number of samples to send, you could end up sending a long list of attachments which could be rather daunting for the prospect. You can resolve this by combining your profile, client list and testimonials into a single file, and keeping your samples to a sensible number. Three samples should be enough for most circumstances.

Secondly, there is the issue of file size. If you’re sending graphics files, presentations or Acrobat documents, downloading them could be a problem for your prospective client. Try to select smaller documents, or warn the prospect in advance. Alternatively, you could post them on the web, so that he can view them online without downloading.

Thirdly, and most significantly, there is the virus issue. Sending attachments is an easy way to accidentally forward a virus, and many people are rightly wary of opening attachments.

Of course, you should install the latest virus detection software on your computer, to minimize the risk of picking up an infection and passing it on. Trashing a prospects hard disk is not a great way to generate business.

Marketing your skills over the web is something we will address in more detail a little later. But as we are talking about presentation, we need to cover the subject briefly here.

Nakon svega, creating your own website is the most effective way to showcase your skills. All the elements of your presentation pack can be included on your website, with as many samples as you feel are required. Photos, graphics, presentations and even programs can be uploaded for prospects to browse at their leisure.

Here again, you need to be sure of making a good impression. If customers find your site through a search engine or directory, na primjer, it will be their first point of contact. If you don’t achieve the right impact, they will hit the back button and try elsewhere.

OK. So you’ve created your presentation pack, you’ve launched your website, and now you’re ready to do business. Now let’s go out and make money.

Koncept produktivnosti može zvučati prilično dosadno – dosadan dio upravljanja- govori ako je ikada postojao. Ipak, koliko ste produktivni u smislu obavljanja stvari je ključno za vašu profitabilnost kao osobe.

U formuli profita vidjeli smo da je broj sati koje naplaćujete kao faktor 'množenja':

Prihod = (satnica x naplativi sati) – troškovi
To je, malo poboljšanje naplativih sati može imati veliki uticaj, jer se njegov učinak množi sa vašom satnicom. Ipak, postoji samo toliko sati u sedmici, i ne želite da provodite večeri i vikende u robovanju da biste povećali prihod...

Dakle, kako povećati broj sati za naplatu? Morate povećati svoju produktivnost.

Sada to ne znači da se morate pretvoriti u radnu mašinu, pokušavaju raditi nekoliko stvari odjednom, i ne pridaje ni jednom zadatku pažnju koju zaslužuje.

Ono što to znači je da treba da naučite kako da izvučete maksimum iz svog vremena, koristeći sate koje imate u većoj prednosti.

A da bi to uradili, morate naučiti cijeniti svoje vrijeme.

Volio bih da znam ko je ovo napisao – to zaista stavlja vrijednost vremena u perspektivu:

Zamislite da postoji banka koja svako jutro kreditira vaš račun $86,400.

Ne prenosi ravnotežu iz dana u dan. Svako veče briše deo salda koji niste uspeli da iskoristite tokom dana.

Šta bi ti uradio? Nacrtajte SVE, naravno! Svako od nas ima takvu banku. Njegovo ime je VRIJEME.

Svako jutro, to vam pripisuje 86,400 sekundi. Svake noći se otpisuje, kao izgubljeno, šta god od ovoga niste uspjeli uložiti u dobru svrhu. Ne prenosi ravnotežu. Ne dozvoljava prekoračenje.

Svaki dan otvara novi račun za vas. Svake noći spaljuje ostatke dana. Ako ne iskoristite dnevne depozite, gubitak je tvoj. Nema povratka. Nema izvlačenja protiv „sutra“. Morate živjeti u sadašnjosti na današnjim depozitima.

Uložite ga kako biste iz njega izvukli maksimum zdravlja, sreća, i uspjeh! Sat radi. Iskoristite današnji dan. Cenite svaki trenutak koji imate! I zapamtite da vrijeme ne čeka nikoga.

Jučer je istorija. Sutra je misterija. Danas je poklon. Zato se i zove sadašnjost!

(Autor nepoznat)

Često smo skloni da o njima razmišljamo kao o robi za jednokratnu upotrebu. Ako te potpuni stranac zamoli da staviš ruku u džep i daš mu deset dolara, umjesto toga biste mu vrlo vjerovatno dali nekoliko biranih riječi. Ali ako se zadržite u saobraćajnoj gužvi deset minuta, vjerovatno ćete to odbaciti kao manju neugodnost.

Nakon svega, nije vas koštalo ništa osim malo vremena.

Ipak, vrijeme je daleko najvrednija roba koju imamo. Imamo samo ograničenu količinu, i ako ga potrošimo, nestalo je zauvek. Zapamtite to kada prodajete svoje vrijeme na sat, prodajete svoj život na aukciji u komadima veličine zalogaja.

Nemojte se kratko prodavati. Česta greška je izračunavanje koliko biste mogli zaraditi po satu na poslu s punim radnim vremenom, preko a 9-5 radna sedmica. Ali freelancing se veoma razlikuje od redovnog zaposlenja. Kao zaposlenik, bivate plaćeni samo za pojavljivanje. Plaćeni ste kada ćaskate u hladnjaku za vodu, posjećivanje toaleta – pa čak i kada ste bolesni ili na odmoru.

Kao slobodnjak, plaćate samo za sate koje uložite za određenog klijenta. Svo vrijeme provedeno na prekidima, administraciju i lične stvari morate polagati iz svog džepa.

Recimo da ste odlučili naplatiti $50 jedan sat, i očekuju da će raditi 40 sati sedmično. Na prvu ovo izgleda prilično dobro – hej, preći ćeš preko $100,000 godišnje. Ali kada počnete da oduzimate vrijeme provedeno na odmorima i bolesti, primijetite da vam prihod naglo pada. Zatim je svo vrijeme posvećeno traženju posla, upravljanje vašim finansijama, i sve ostalo.

Dok završite sa odbijanjem svih ovih trošnih troškova, možda ćete to pronaći, u prosjeku, zarađuješ bliže $15 jedan sat. To nije mnogo više nego što biste mogli zaraditi na pola radnog vremena u McDonaldsu.

Dakle, poboljšanje vaše produktivnosti može imati pravi utjecaj na vašu zaradu. Zapravo, ako možete povratiti dodatni sat dnevno u naplativom vremenu, svoju zaradu (at $50 jedan sat) bi se povećao za $13,000 tokom godine.

I da vratim taj dodatni sat, morate naučiti tajne efikasnog upravljanja vremenom.

Tajne efikasnog upravljanja vremenom Dobro upravljanje vremenom nije urođena vještina.

Svi radimo sa različitim stepenom neefikasnosti, bori se da stvari završe, ali stalno ometani svakodnevnim životom. Koliko često ste započeli dan sa jednim ciljem na umu, ipak nekako stigao do kraja dana sa tim ciljem još uvijek nedostižnim?

To je poznat problem, ali dobra vijest je da se to može riješiti. Učinkovito upravljanje vremenom je nešto što se može naučiti i razviti.

Ako ste kreativna osoba, kao što je pisac ili dizajner, vjerovatnije je da ćete imati problema sa upravljanjem vremenom od većine. Kreativni ljudi obično imaju manje vještina lijevog mozga, tako da su logički zadaci kao što je upravljanje vremenom teži.

To ne znači da imate izgovor za izbjegavanje upravljanja vremenom – to samo znači da morate više raditi na tome.

Za početak, morate razumjeti šta je upravljanje vremenom, i – što je još važnije – šta nije…

Upravljanje vremenom ne čini pogrešne stvari brže. To nas jednostavno ne vodi nikuda brže. Upravljanje vremenom čini prave stvari.

Dakle, hajde da pogledamo prave stvari koje treba da uradite da biste stvari obavili.

Jeste li ranoranilac ili noćna sova?

Otkrivanje koje vam doba dana najviše odgovara može imati veliki utjecaj na vašu produktivnost.

Jedna od velikih prednosti biti freelancer je to što imate veću slobodu u izboru radnog vremena. Niste vezani za a 9-5 raspored od ponedjeljka do petka.

Zato odvojite malo vremena da analizirate kada su vaša najproduktivnija vremena. Ako ujutro radite efikasnije, na primjer, pobrinite se da ti jutarnji sati budu bez prekida, tako da u najkraćem mogućem roku uradite najviše.

Jedan sat planiranja može vam uštedjeti deset sati rada.

To je izjava na koju vrijedi obratiti pažnju. Zato radije nego da žurite u svoj dan samo sa nejasnim planom akcije, odvojite dovoljno vremena da isplanirate svoj raspored za dan.

Dajte prioritet svojim zadacima, tako da osigurate da se zaista važne stvari urade. Budite realni, kako god. There are only so many hours in a day, and you won’t get more done just because you’ve drawn up a long ‘To Do’ list.

Decide what really needs to be done that day, what realistically can be done in the day, and create a schedule that takes both into account.

When you’re under pressure to get things done, it can be tempting to allow documents to pile up on your desk. The few minutes taken to put things away tidily seems like an unnecessary interruption.

But when your workspace becomes disorganized, your work can become muddled, too. A few minutes hunting for a file here, a few minutes looking for a phone number there – before you know it, a big chunk of your day has been frittered away.

Kada naiđete na nešto sa čim ne znate kako se odmah nositi, lako ga je vratiti na svoju 'gomilu na čekanju'. Ali što više puta rukujete svakim komadom papira, više se vašeg vremena gubi.

Pokušajte da steknete naviku da se bavite dokumentima kako stignu. Kada otvorite svoju poštu, zapamti tri D:

Suoči se s tim

Baci ga

Delegirajte to.

Obavezno primijenite nešto od gore navedenog na svaki komad papira koji prelazi vaš stol, svaki email koji stigne u vaše poštansko sanduče, i svaku stavku na vašoj listi akcija.

Odgađanje stvari za sutra ne pomaže - samo vam daje još veću listu zadataka kojima ćete se baviti ujutro. Što više stvari odlažeš, što zadatak postaje nemogućiji.

Ako ne odredite određeno vrijeme za zadatak, lako je ustanoviti da posao oduzima više vremena nego što bi razumno trebalo.

Umjesto da se koncentrišete na traženi projekat, možda ćete otkriti da vam misli lutaju.

Uzvratiti taj telefonski poziv ili naoštriti svoje olovke odjednom se može činiti mnogo važnijim od nastavljanja sa poslom.

Kako biste izbjegli gubljenje dragocjenog vremena na ovaj način, naučite da efikasno planirate svoje vrijeme. Dozvolite sebi razumno vrijeme da završite određeni zadatak, a zatim se pobrinite da se toga držite.

Nemojte se previše gubiti u detaljima. Bolje je nastaviti s poslom i dovršiti ga nego se zaglaviti u manjim problemima i problemima.

Jedan od najvećih problema upravljanja vremenom je suočavanje sa smetnjama i prekidima.

Dan možete započeti s naizgled jednostavnim nizom ciljeva, uvjereni da ih sve možete dovršiti sa slobodnim vremenom.

A onda zazvoni telefon. Klijentu je potrebna hitna izmjena nedavnog projekta. Provjeravate svoju e-poštu i otkrivate problem koji zahtijeva hitnu pažnju, tada stiže isporuka i morate se pobrinuti da je ispravno riješeno.

Prije nego što shvatiš, sati naplativog vremena izmiču.

Iako je gotovo nemoguće u potpunosti isključiti takve prekide, možete minimizirati štetu. Objasnite to kada radite, ne treba da vas ometaju obični domaći problemi. Izbjegavajte provjeravanje e-pošte sve dok vaši prioritetni projekti ne budu s puta. I nabavite telefonsku sekretaricu ili uslugu govorne pošte za proveru vaših poziva dok ste zauzeti.

Najvažnije od svega, naučite reći 'ne'. Ljudi će to jednostavno morati naučiti tokom vašeg radnog vremena, jednostavno niste dostupni da pomognete u stvarima koje mogu sačekati kasnije.

Koliko ste puta postavili novogodišnju odluku, samo da sam sve zaboravio do sredine januara? Postavljanje ciljeva u karijeri je jedna stvar. Njihovo postizanje je nešto sasvim drugo. Ipak, ako primijenite sljedeća tri jednostavna savjeta, otkrit ćete da je mnogo lakše postići svoje ciljeve.

Reći da želite da zaradite više novca, ili imati bolji način života je sve u redu, ali kako mjerite svoj uspjeh? Umjesto da budete nejasno ambiciozni, stavite određene brojke na svoje ciljeve. Ako izjavite da želite da zaradite $100,000 godišnje, then you have a specific target to aim for – and you will know exactly when you get there.

The simple act of committing your goals to paper is a major step towards achieving them. Once you have written them down, there is no doubt about what you are committing yourself to – it’s hard to argue with evidence in print.

A goal without a deadline is pretty meaningless. It’s easy to keep postponing a target that has a never-ending shelf life. Give yourself a deadline, and you will find that you work harder to hit it.

Research shows that 75% of American workers regularly complain that they are tired. This isn’t too surprising, as the average worker apparently gets less than seven hours sleep a night. Dakle, ogromna većina ljudi dan započinje paljenjem na samo tri cilindra. Nije ni čudo što je loša produktivnost tako stalni problem.

Ali postaje gore. Neki 40% radnih ljudi preskače doručak, i 39% propustiti ručak. I od onih koji uspeju da pauzu za ručak, pola sebi dozvoljavaju 15 minuta ili manje. To su veliki problemi, posebno kada je u pitanju upravljanje vremenom. Ako mislite da radite do kasno navečer, paljenje svijeće na oba kraja i izostanak obroka čini vas vrednim radnikom, stvarno promašuješ poentu.

Produktivnost ne zavisi samo od sati koje ste uložili, ali i na kvalitetu rada koji proizvodite. Ako ste umorni i ne hranite se pravilno, vaša produktivnost će pasti. Kako vam nivo šećera u krvi pada, vaše tijelo vas automatski usporava kako bi sačuvalo energiju. Dodajte umor povrh ovoga, and you might as well give up all pretense at working. The lights may be on, but there’s probably no-one at home.

That’s the negative side. Now let’s turn things around and look at the positive. Increasing your fitness can have a really dramatic effect on your productivity. You don’t need me to tell you what that entails – regular exercise, getting enough sleep, eating nutritious food and establishing a routine that your body can become familiar with.

Don’t forget to take regular breaks. Your body and mind needs to relax from time to time – you can’t operate for hours continuously like a machine.

We all know that getting in shape is easier said than done. But if you can improve your level of fitness, bićete zapanjeni uticajem koji ovo može imati na vaš radni vek. Svakom danu pristupit ćete svježe i s većim entuzijazmom. Lakše ćete rješavati probleme, i uradićete više nego što ste ikada zamišljali. Ako je ikada postojao način da se dobije 25 sati svakog dana, fitnes je to. Vodite računa o svom zdravlju, i vaše bogatstvo će se pobrinuti samo za sebe.

Najviše od svega, pokušajte osigurati da se bavite poslom u kojem uživate. Tim putem, možete uživati ​​u putovanju kao iu odredištu. Thomas Edison je rekao da nikada u životu nije radio ni jedan dan – sve je bilo zabavno!

To je sigurno najbolji način da izvučete maksimum iz svake sedmice vašeg radnog vijeka.