First Step Marketing

Space, somebody once said, is the final frontier. But, as far as your negotiation is concerned, it’s the first frontier. The ways that you use the space around you when you negotiate are as individual, distinctive and particular as you are. We all, for example, have what is known as a ‘personal space‘. This space is roughly circular in shape with us occupying an off-centre position - with more personal space to our front than to our rear. The size of this circle depends upon our personality, age, gender and status. Read the rest of this entry »

An Eastern allegory compares Man to a house full of servants whose master and head steward are absent. As the servants forget their roles and do what they like, with no co-ordination, the house ends up in complete chaos. The only possibility for things to improve is for a number of servants to agree to appoint a deputy steward. The elected steward can then command the other servants to do the right work in the right place. There is then every possibility of the head steward returning to replace the deputy and to prepare the house for the master’s return. The master can be likened to your true self, which can only appear when the level of consciousness of knowing who you are has been attained. As the unified true self once more takes command from your disunited conditioned self, you no longer feel the need to compartmentalise everything to fit previous preconceptions. Read the rest of this entry »

The moral and ethical situations that we encounter in both our personal and professional lives are important opportunities for us to choose between fear and its opposite, love. Having the courage of your convictions stems from how much you like _yourself. Before continuing, reflect on the following. On a percentage scale of one to one hundred, how much do you like yourself>

Identifying our fears is usually the easiest part; it is confronting them that is difficult. If we peel back the layers of our fears far enough, we will often discover that their main source lies in our belief that we feel we are not worthy or lovable. A form of ‘honour amongst thieves’ leads us to misguidedly believe that ‘ratting’ on the wrong actions of another is a crime. Speaking up for yourself is not about collaboration with the enemy. Tribal associations of ‘not telling tales’ follow us from school through to social and work dilemmas. In allowing the creation of such fears we directly affect our own self-worth. Indeed, the majority of abuses, physical, emotional or mental, remain unknown, or continue, because of prior conditioning to keep quiet about them. Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever you are about to say something and a distraction in the conversation causes you to forget whatever it was, experience tells you that the act of forgetting it brings it back. What you want to impart to another may be on the tip of your tongue, but the more you refuse to let it go, the more elusive it becomes. It is the act of letting go that allows you to recall it. If it comes to you much later, rather than earlier, it is because it took you longer to relinquish it.

It comes to you because your attention is occupied with something that is relevant to the present moment, such as driving. As long as your attention is in the present, then your intent for the future will manifest itself. The real power behind fulfilling a desire is your intention, because intent is desire without attachment to the outcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine a modern Rip Van Winkle waking up from a twenty-year sleep, He would surely be amazed at how the world has changed: He would be bewildered by new technology, bowled over at the speed and clutter of life in 2001, dazzled by the sheer abundance being thrust at him. The torrent of new products, goods, services, ideas, and innovations vying for his attention would be shocking.

How would he react? I suspect, like people through the ages in suddenly changed circumstances, Rip would reset his bearings from his old perspective before cautiously testing the new water. Like a child who clings to a teddy bear well into adolescence, or a lottery winner who repaints the old house, he would cling to the familiar and be slow to embrace what is new. Read the rest of this entry »