The Power Of A Person’s Name

Do you want friends? Do you want people to like you? Do you want success in both business and personal relationships? I believe everyone should read Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” because, not only does he give invaluable advice for dealing with others in both positive situations and strife, but the implementation of these tips yields far better rewards than many many self-help books can, because it gives you control over your dealings with people, teaching you how to handle yourself.

It is my opinion that the most powerful tool in a first impression is a smile, because it comes first. Not only does receiving a smile make you feel important and liked, it endears you to the other person because they seem friendly, down-to-earth, and approachable. The second-most powerful (and possibly almost as effective) is learning the other person’s name, remembering it, and using it often.

People love to hear their own name. I know I do! It communicates to them that you care enough about them to remember a key part of who they are. Especially for people who like the meaning of their name, it is a very personal part of them, and using it immediately elevates you to friend status.

It is, though, hard to remember other’s names, but it is possible. Jim Farley, an American politician in the mid-1900s, remembered the name of thousands of people he met. This surely greatly contributed to his popularity. Many of us meet less than 50 people in a day, and every one of those people would love to hear you say, “Katie? Nice to meet you!” or “Xavier? That’s an awesome name!”

Repeat it. Use it often. “So, Anna, how is school coming?” “What time did you wake up, Anna?” “Anna, I want to introduce you to my friend.” Instead of saying “she” when you’re both in a group of people, say their actual name. It feels cheap to be referred to as ‘her’ or ‘she’.

Never forget a name. Write it down, say it over again to yourself, ask for the spelling – anything you have to do to remember it. If you can develop the skills to remember a person’s given name, you will present a better first impression, which will lead to more friendships, deeper friendships, and even make the other people at the bus stop happy that you remember who they are.

I am going to implement both the “Smile!” and “Remember and use the other person’s name.” techniques. If you ask any of the people who know me personally, they will tell you I always have a smile on my face. It’s true! So I am going to focus more so on remembering and using other’s names, because that’s the one I need to work on.

Thanks so much for reading!

Makayla

How do you feel when others use your name? Let me know in the comments!

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My Ideal Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship is a contract between an employer and a (potentially) untrained individual. The common situation is one where the employer trains the apprentice to do the work required of workers in that field. The employee gets paid minimum wage.

I love the idea of apprenticeship because it enables you to learn elements of any business, at no cost to yourself, even getting paid! This is an equivalent (in my opinion) to getting paid to go to college! Some of the best benefits of an apprenticeship are …

• Hands on training. You aren’t just another kid in a classroom. Your boss gives you real attention in order to train and instruct you.
• You get paid to learn a trade. You could apprentice part-time in high school to earn money and learn.
• Real-world experience. As you interact with customers and employees, you will learn more about the market and what people are interested in, as well as learning to deal with different groups of people.
• Business training. As well as learning the hand-work, you learn about various aspects of managing a business, like doing taxes, hiring, paying, and firing employees, etc.

As you can see, I’m totally in love with the idea of an apprenticeship, and my ideal choice would be to apprentice in electrics or mechanics, for various reasons.

Benefits of apprenticing in Electrics:

• You could wire your own home.
• In my area, it’s a high-paying job.
• Everyone needs electric work done.
• You visit other people’s homes and learn to work on all kinds of systems and buildings.
• It requires physical labor, unlike a desk job.

Benefits of apprenticing in Mechanics:

• Depending on the area of mechanics you decide to study (airplane, auto, or farm machinery) you could use your skills on your own, your family’s, or your friends’ vehicles.
• Again, almost everyone has a vehicle. Auto mechanics are in high demand.
• Again, in my area, it’s a high-paying job.
• It often requires physical labor. No getting soft on this job either!

Additionally, in both of these apprenticeships lie the opportunity to become a fully-fledged electrician or mechanic.  As an electrician, I could start my own business, literally from scratch, since it only requires smaller sized tools. I would need a dependable vehicle to get me where I needed to go, since an electrician does quite a bit of traveling to other people’s homes.

Setting up shop as a mechanic would be a bit trickier and more expensive, since I would need a shop and heavier equipment. However, the majority of people would bring their cars to me, so that would cut down on my gas usage, saving a lot of money in the long run.

Notwithstanding the previous point, one way I could fill a hole in this market would be to travel TO a person’s house to fix their car. Not only would I be providing service, but I would be saving their time while showing them I cared enough to show up. This adds quality to service, and might get me more referrals.

Thank you all for reading!

~ Makayla

Business – the Spreeder app

I have great respect for Mr. North’s advice. He has made many suggestions for a more productive life that I have been only too happy to take advantage of, since I can see that they actually work in real life. But sometimes, even when I know the advice is sound, I just don’t take action, perhaps for a variety of reasons. This assignment has got me thinking about the root reason I have repeatedly brushed aside his admonishments to use Spreeder, an app designed to increase your reading speed for maximum efficiency and knowledge.

I have always been a fast reader, faster than anyone I know. The other day I took a test and was ranked between 440 and 560 wpm. I originally supposed that I don’t need any improvement in this area, since I already read faster than the majority.

But what if I could double my CURRENT reading speed?

AWESOME, right?

Mr. North doesn’t need to do any more convincing. The Spreeder app costs $67, and in my opinion, this will be a decision that will save me time and money in the long run, as well as increase my knowledge.

Is it worth it to me to trade $67 and 10 minutes a day to use Spreeder to increase my reading speed? Absolutely. I am planning on getting Spreeder in the near future. The cool thing about Spreeder is that it is possible to set up five different accounts! I like that because I have younger brothers who might also want to use the app and increase their reading speed!

Thanks for listening to the musings of a school girl!!

When should you sell your business?

“I will sell my business when it makes a profit of [$??] a year, so that I can [??].”

If you are aspiring to become a successful entrepreneur, your tactic will lie in variety. Staying in one field too long means the market could stagnate and you’ll be left high and dry. Spreading it out, trying new things, and starting new businesses will ensure that you gain the most experience (and business!) possible.

Those are a few reasons why it is useful to sell your business. However, if you really love your business, the work you do has become the path to your calling, and you are happy with the amount of money you’re getting, then you might want to think carefully about selling off to start over. What if you end up hating your new job, or what if it doesn’t pan out?

In every case, what’s important to the decision is what matters most to you, and how much risk you’re willing to take.

If you had a business you wanted to sell, it is important to keep in mind that there is no set sale price for businesses in general. A profitable business will sell for more than one which is merely doing moderately well. But even more important than not being cheated on the price, is not cheating others on the price. Be fair in your dealings, and you just may gain a friend. In the business world, good relations are everything.

Once the contract is wrapped up and the business is sold, the former business owner is faced with a dilemma. What to do now? In this case, it will be important to think about your goals for your life, and your calling. Would your calling best be fulfilled by your starting another business? Or by traveling? Or by volunteering? Or even by getting a paid job? The list of possibilities is endless, and you’ll want to make sure you think very hard before deciding on something too drastic or life-changing.

In my case, the most attractive thing to do once I’ve sold my business would be to acquire appreciable assets, learn new skills, and possibly start a new business.

Makayla