Improvise Over the Beat of Life Self Help Articles | August 27 Wholesale MLB T-Shirts , 2008 A breathless conversation, ups and downs at work, the ebb and flow of the economy ? these are the rhythms of life. What if we could learn to improvise around them, instead of resisting or being dictated by them?
Lately, I?ve been thinking about rhythm. Brimming over with ideas for work projects and collaboration, I tend to get impatient with the relaxed pace of August in New York, when everyone?s on vacation and business slows down. At the same time, I?ve been learning about jazz improvisation from a flutist friend (daunting for a classical musician used to having every note and tempo marking spelled out by the composer). As a newcomer to jazz, I started off playing awkward and amateurish rhythmic patterns with the chords of the tune and yet Wholesale MLB Jerseys , whatever I played, my friend was able to freely improvise around it, alternating between long, sustained melodies and more elaborate, filigree passages. Which got me thinking: what if we had a similar approach to our daily routine, taking the different rhythms that occur -- in our conversations, our work flow, the economy, even ? and improvising around them rather than resisting or being dictated by them? Here are a few ways I do it: § Breathe deeper. Yeah Wholesale Hats , that ol? chestnut. But your breath is one of the few rhythms you can control ? and conscious attention to deeply inhaling and exhaling can provide powerful counterpoint to a day that feels rushed and frantic. § Pause more. Have you ever been in conversation with someone who speaks at an uncomfortably fast pace? If it?s causing you to feel breathless and frazzled, don?t feel obligated to keep up the same pace ? make a conscious effort to respond at a more comfortable speed and pause an extra beat or two before and after you make a point. As music-lovers know, a well-timed silence or syncopated rhythm can be just as tantalizing as a beautiful harmony. § Oscillate between stress and recovery. Too often we take a linear approach to work, thinking the more effort we expend, the better the result. In their Harvard Business Review article ?The Making of a Corporate Athlete,? authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwarz point out that, actually, we best maximize our energy levels when we allow rhythmic movement, or oscillation Wholesale Hoodie , between energy expenditure (stress) and energy renewal (recovery). ?The real enemy of high performance is not stress, which, paradoxical as it may seem, is the stimulus for growth. The problem is the absence of disciplined intermittent recovery.? Weight-training is a prime example of this: first, the muscle is stressed to the point where the fibers literally break down. With one or two days of recovery, the muscle not only heals but comes back stronger. Your energy ?muscle? works the same way. Breathing, pausing, oscillating -- whatever the underlying beat of a situation, there?s always a way to improvise your own groove.
Setting goals sometimes seems like a useless task. It would seem if you want to do something, you just get to it and finish. Though that sounds easy enough, I think there is more to it than that.
Having something to work towards is important. If everyone?s business plan, or goal, were simply, ?Make More Money? most businesses would not succeed. Though you can?t practically say, ?My eBay business is just like Microsoft?, I believe it is a mentality that gets us where we want to be.
Success is measured subjectively, relative to each person. For some Wholesale Jerseys China Free Shipping , hitting the million dollar mark is success, while for others it is the simple fact of being able to quit their job to stay at home and have that freedom. It?s important to establish what it means to be successful for you. Don?t just think about it, write it down. Know what you want, and don?t forget it. Ideas in our head almost always seem to drift away if we don?t manifest them somehow and sometimes immediate action isn?t possible? so simply write it down.
The practical thing to do, however, when it comes to eBay, is to measure your current business, or, if you?re just starting Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping , to know how to measure it. This means taking into account your total sales and everything that goes along with that, such as your eBay fees, Paypal fees, what percentage of auctions ended successful compared to how many items were listed and the average price each item sold for.
If this sounds overwhelming, take a step bank and look at the whole picture. If you?re an established business, it?s as simple as measuring each statistic above within any given time period. Take auctions listed each week, month, and depending on how old or young your business is, each year. If you?ve just started Wholesale Jerseys From China , each