Not a big one for forlorn new years promises, but thought it would be a bit of fun (and a good checklist to look back on) to pen some fundraising resolutions for 2011.
Here goes. My plan to become a better fundraiser next year.
- Increase my thirst for knowledge. Read more (blogs, articles, papers), absorb as much as I can from the thought leaders in our sector, be a bigger sponge for learning.
- Stop putting things off. As a wise school teacher once told me, 'procrastination is the thief of time'. Smart man he was. I need to just get on with things.
- Listen more. To those who I agree with, to those who think differently. Pause more often and simply hear what others have to say.
- Be tenacious about testing. Challenge conventional thinking, test more than ever.
- Look outside. Not just outside the walls of the agency, but outside the sector. Most of the new stuff I learnt in 2010 was from the commercial sector. Not because they're smarter, but because I looked more than I normally would outside our own world.
- Empower others to do even better. My job is about changing the mindset and actions of others as well as my own. Spend more time on changing behavior than I did in 2010.
- Get the balance right between learning from what worked and learning from what didn't. Not too much back slapping (the road to failure is paved with success), not too much castigating your own work.
When I think I've done what I said I would do, read the list again from start to finish.
What are your 2011 fundraising resolutions?
Jonathon
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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query road to success. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query road to success. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Are you thirsty?
Someone asked me recently, 'Is there a common thread in really successful people'?
Good question.
Yes there is. And for me it's simple. It's an insatiable thirst for improving ones self and learning more. Every single day.
One of my favorite quotes is from Drayton Bird, who believes firmly that the road to failure is paved with success, something I talked about sometime back.
In other words, never feeling as if you're quite there. Always lifting yourself out of your comfort zone.
The common rebuttal when I talk to people about their own personal development is "I don't have time".
Garbage.
We all 'have time'. In fact we all have the same amount of time. We just choose to use it in different ways. And going back to the original question posed to me, successful, brilliant and inspiring people make the time to get more from themselves.
So enough ranting Jonathon, how do I learn more?
Two thing's I'd suggest:
1 Surround yourself with 'thirsty' people. Gets you out of the 'I don't have time' destructive mentality, and
2 Make the time. Find the time in your schedule to reach out to those who you can absorb from. To read, listen and soak stuff up.
In this day and age, it doesn't necessarily mean days and days away from home at professional development events/conferences. But it does mean spending 20-30 minutes every single day checking out blogs, reading articles, talking to those who teach and inspire you.
And best of all, most done from the comfort of your desk.
Jonathon
Good question.
Yes there is. And for me it's simple. It's an insatiable thirst for improving ones self and learning more. Every single day.
One of my favorite quotes is from Drayton Bird, who believes firmly that the road to failure is paved with success, something I talked about sometime back.
In other words, never feeling as if you're quite there. Always lifting yourself out of your comfort zone.
The common rebuttal when I talk to people about their own personal development is "I don't have time".
Garbage.
We all 'have time'. In fact we all have the same amount of time. We just choose to use it in different ways. And going back to the original question posed to me, successful, brilliant and inspiring people make the time to get more from themselves.
So enough ranting Jonathon, how do I learn more?
Two thing's I'd suggest:
1 Surround yourself with 'thirsty' people. Gets you out of the 'I don't have time' destructive mentality, and
2 Make the time. Find the time in your schedule to reach out to those who you can absorb from. To read, listen and soak stuff up.
In this day and age, it doesn't necessarily mean days and days away from home at professional development events/conferences. But it does mean spending 20-30 minutes every single day checking out blogs, reading articles, talking to those who teach and inspire you.
And best of all, most done from the comfort of your desk.
Jonathon
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
"The road to failure is paved with success.."
This heading sounds really profound, doesn’t it? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t..
I read this in one of Drayton Bird's regular emails. For those who don't know Drayton, I suggest you find out who he is and start subscribing to his emails series. Visit http://www.draytonbird.com/ to do so.
Sean Triner (my boss) and I had the good fortune of having dinner with Drayton a few weeks back in London. Although it almost didn’t happen. Who would have thought there were 2 restaurants with the same name in Marylebone Lane? Drayton sitting in one, Sean and I in the other..
Anyway I digress.
It was a fascinating couple of hours as we shared stories, successes, failures. Oh and a few glasses of red.
But the crux of what I have learnt from Drayton, not just over a couple of glasses of vino, but by reading his work for some time, is this..
Once you begin to think you can do no wrong, you will. Being cocky and careless leads to complacency. So even a 'guru' like Drayton spends his precious time, in between speaking, travelling the world and having dinners with strange Aussies doing one thing: studying.
To quote Drayton:
"Well, the difference between the winners and losers in marketing is mostly just that. Study. And the only reason I can give you these ideas is the same reason you're reading them. I study - I'm not that talented. I have a library of thousands of examples - good and bad - and I add to them constantly."
Simple but brilliant.
The minute we start believing we are great, we are destined for failure.
I can't stress enough how important this is and as I meet many talented and successful people during my travels, they all have one thing in common: an insatiable appetite to learn from others.
Jonathon
I read this in one of Drayton Bird's regular emails. For those who don't know Drayton, I suggest you find out who he is and start subscribing to his emails series. Visit http://www.draytonbird.com/ to do so.
Sean Triner (my boss) and I had the good fortune of having dinner with Drayton a few weeks back in London. Although it almost didn’t happen. Who would have thought there were 2 restaurants with the same name in Marylebone Lane? Drayton sitting in one, Sean and I in the other..
Anyway I digress.
It was a fascinating couple of hours as we shared stories, successes, failures. Oh and a few glasses of red.
But the crux of what I have learnt from Drayton, not just over a couple of glasses of vino, but by reading his work for some time, is this..
Once you begin to think you can do no wrong, you will. Being cocky and careless leads to complacency. So even a 'guru' like Drayton spends his precious time, in between speaking, travelling the world and having dinners with strange Aussies doing one thing: studying.
To quote Drayton:
"Well, the difference between the winners and losers in marketing is mostly just that. Study. And the only reason I can give you these ideas is the same reason you're reading them. I study - I'm not that talented. I have a library of thousands of examples - good and bad - and I add to them constantly."
Simple but brilliant.
The minute we start believing we are great, we are destined for failure.
I can't stress enough how important this is and as I meet many talented and successful people during my travels, they all have one thing in common: an insatiable appetite to learn from others.
Jonathon
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