The cold of winter is upon us in the Northern hemisphere (brrrrr) but there’s another winter upon us too - an economic and social winter; some call it a ‘down turn’, others a ‘credit crunch’. In the midst of it all I think we just need something to smile about.

In my last newsletter I wrote about ‘hope’ and received more comments than any other subject I’d written about all year. This time it’s more than hope, it’s about how to deal with an emotional ‘winter’.

Jim Rohn is the ‘Granddaddy’ of the personal development movement. I once heard him speak about ‘winters in our lives’ and how during these times we tend to focus on the gloom. However, there’s a lot of hope available in winter and don’t forget that spring is just around the corner.  Spring will come – it’s a time to renew, plant and watch for the early stages of development …. and it will come sooner for those who are prepared for it.

Following spring, I can assure you there will be a summer (I know some readers from the UK may doubt that)! This is a time to protect and feed what you so carefully planted in the spring.  It’s tempting to reap the rewards all too quickly and harvest our crops in the summer.  Any farmer will tell you that if you do so, you’ll get a poor crop.

Your patience will be rewarded in time, for after all that hard work and nurturing through winter, spring and summer comes the harvest. 

Some will get from winter to spring sooner than others. Will that be you?

Here are five tips to help you get from winter to spring faster than the rest:

1)   Start planting seeds now.  It’s easy to look at a ‘down turn’ as a reason to slow down.  In fact it’s the time to speed up.  The more contacts, ideas and opportunities you plant now the more chance you have of bumper returns later.

2)   Invest in good fertiliser (knowledge).  By investing in yourself and your team at this point you will: give and get a purposeful sense of direction; feel invigorated; and edge past your competitors who may be succumbing to the ‘doom merchants’ and aren’t nurturing their crop.

3)   Cultivate relationships.  A friendly call, a spot of lunch or sending a card keeps you in the mind of your customers, key contacts and suppliers.

4)   Make ‘best value’ a value.  What more can you do to add worth to what you provide? This isn’t about being cheap; it’s about adding more and in doing so making large deposits in the emotional bank accounts of those who value you.

5)   Spend a little more time focusing on what’s right.  I’m not suggesting for a moment that you put your head in the sand and ignore what’s going on but there are lots of brilliant things in your life right now. Make a list, think about them and be grateful.

Be Brilliant,

Michael 

Our next How to be Brilliant and Brilliance in Business events will take place in London on 5th and 6th February 2009.

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