Understand who you are

Get up, look for a mirror and stare at it keenly. Make a note of at least 3 features you really like on your face that you have never noticed on that of your close friends and family. I asked you to do that because I want you to begin to celebrate your UNIQUENESS, by being conscious of the qualities that set you apart because this is the springboard to extraordinary success. Do you know that even though others can be better than you at lots of things, NO ONE CAN BE A BETTER YOU? There is a way you approach tasks in your life that comes naturally to you and produces FAST & EFFECTIVE solutions to your everyday tasks.

In the book ‘Good to great’, the author Jim Collins uses the metaphor of the hedgehog to illustrate the seemingly contradictory principle that simplicity can sometimes lead to greatness. When confronted by predators, the hedgehog’s simple, unique, but surprisingly effective response is to roll up into a ball. While other predators, such as the fox, may be impressively clever, few can devise a strategy that is effective enough to overcome the hedgehog’s simple, repetitive response.

Similarly, Jim Collins asserts, the way to make the transformation from Good to Great is often not doing many things well, but instead, doing one thing better than anyone else in the world. It may take time to identify this single function that will be your "hedgehog concept," but those who do successfully identify it are often rewarded with success.

In developing a structure that works, you have to understand who you are and what differentiates you from everyone else. Incorporate this into the system you develop as we discussed last week and you have a winning formula.