We are the Constant

I am in the newspaper business. My career in this fantastic business started a long time ago, selling advertising for a daily newspaper with a circulation of 16,000. When I began, the only thing I knew about newspapers was that I read one every day. I still do.

The local newspaper in my hometown was, for want of a better word, local. The newspaper was much more than a newspaper, it was an institution and a part of our daily lives. There was community information in the newspaper that could be found no where else. Good information, the kind that provides people with what they need to make decisions. Those decisions were, and still are, centered in the desire to make a better life. The newspaper could be trusted to report the news that mattered.

Sports was and still is my favorite section. There was, over the course of time, a bit of news and information for almost every interest one may have. The newspaper appealed, in that sense, to everybody. Some loved it and some did not, but almost everyone read it and talked about what they read.

The newspaper provided local businesses a very effective end efficient method to deliver their marketing messages to their best potential customers. These advertisers could talk to their market using a vehicle that delivered, literally and figuratively.

These realities are indisputable.

What is also indisputable is that the newspaper held politicians and business people and citizens accountable. The news-hounds would aggressively go after anyone who was suspected or actually charged with wrong doing.

The questions we all need to answer is who, that can be trusted, is going to continue this vital service if newspapers do not. Make no mistake, if there is not a means, with a commitment, to hold people accountable and bring to the light the wrong doings, and also illuminate that the accused did nothing wrong, the places we now live will look a lot different, without newspapers, than they do today.

"We are the Constant" and, unless someone-else wants this responsibility, we need to trust and support the local newspaper.

Talent-Alone Will Not

Talent-alone will not work!

We all know talented people. Some of us know exceptionally talented people. We ourselves, may be exceptionally talented. Talent in and of itself is a gift and should be categorized as such. Talent-alone is not what your are going to need to get you where you want to go. We were all given a special set of talents from the beginning of our life. Some get bigger doses of talent than others. So what? Talent-alone is not sufficient to achieve lasting and meaningful success. Certainly not the kind of success that helps to build on other successes and establishes a winning pattern. They who rely on talent-alone will achieve the occasional victory, but they do not grow because talent-alone is not a willful act. You don't choose to get talent, you just get it.

Talent does not teach.

When you compliment your talent with your determination and meaningful action you will begin to see just how far you can go if you decide to do so. You will discover that the choices you made to add determination and willpower to your efforts are going to help you achieve much more than your talent-alone.

Look around. The world has a lot of very talented people that are not getting anywhere. Their considerable talent, instead of being a positive, has actually hurt their chances of continued success because they relied too heavily on talent-alone. Their talent "ran out" and they stopped progressing because they had not willingly added anything, such as determination and persistence, to the formula.

You can achieve high levels of success independent of your level of talent, if you do the things that need to be done, consistently.

Do not take talent for granted, it is a gift, and should be treasured. Identify your talents and make the most of what you have been given by getting better everyday. You may discover talents you did not know you had and may have never discovered, if you had not made a decision to do the things necessary to be successful. With or without exceptional levels of talent, you can and deserve to be successful.

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Do not reward bad behavior.

This applies to large companies all the way down to the one-man shop and everyone, in the end, is a one man shop regarding their professional path.

Knowing what to do, how much and when is required for you to achieve desired levels of success. It is always in the doing and learning that builds over time, the experience that will teach you what to do, how much needs doing and by when it needs to be done. Once you are empowered with this vital information, take action by doing what is necessary and do not reward bad behavior by allowing yourself to be distracted or convinced that there is an easier path. You know what needs doing and not making progress, when it is entirely within your control, is in fact, rewarding bad behavior by accepting less than you know you can accomplish. Losing focus or momentum are classic mistakes in business growth and if you allow that to happen, without losing sleep, you are in effect rewarding inappropriate or bad behavior. The reward is in your thinking and accepting that you are going to be okay with a level of achievement that is less than you are capable of. Think again. While the detrimental effect of your underachievement may not surface immediately, it will come back to haunt you and you will either get better or get out. So do not reward bad behavior by accepting less.