The New iPad Teaches 5 Lessons

Big events are always great times to remind ourselves of the realities of success and life.

It’s easy to forget some of even the biggest and most important laws that govern success. Here are a few of the principles on display now as Apple releases the new iPad.

1. It’s a race to stay on top.
Apple has exploded to a net worth of $500 billion. Their products dominate their categories. Why should they worry? Because the competition is coming fast. If Apple slows down they’ll be caught. They competition has studied Apple with a microscope and are learning how they are getting beat. They are making adjustments, copying Apple's successful strategies and products. Plus they have their own ideas on how to “do it better.” If Apple wants to stay on top they have to stay on the attack with newer and better products to hold the public’s interest or they will be come old news fast.

2. In the free enterprise system you have to prove yourself every day.
The critics won’t give you a break because you’ve been great in the past. Everyone is looking for signs of weakness. Every new statement, decision and product is going to be analyzed by every industry-insider, guru, and product reviewer. Each feature will be held up to the light and examined for any flaw. If you don’t deliver they will catch it and trumpet their discovery to the world. Your reputation rises and falls on how well your new product performs.

3. There’s no sympathy for Goliath.
No one is shedding tears for former dominator Microsoft. It wasn’t long ago that Steve Jobs was going hat in hand to competitor Bill Gates asking for a $150 million loan to keep Apple solvent. Microsoft was under government pressure for being a monopoly so Gates thought why not? At least it would keep Apple in the game and keep up the pretense that Microsoft had a competitor, which Gates clearly not consider Apple to be.

But now, the tables have turned. Apple is the dominator. Apple is the hot, hot, hot company and where is Microsoft...lagging behind. And who cares? Microsoft's stockholders. But competition is good...watch Microsoft..don’t count them out.

4. The importance of the Leader.
Apple is a global, monstrous, huge company! It’s full of dynamic, creative powerful people, each pushing their own ideas, products and innovations. Who is the one who pulls them together and sets priorities? Who is it who has to make the final call on which new product? Who makes the ultimate decision on what features, what design and when will it be released? It comes down to a person. Someone makes the call.

It’s a huge gamble every time. With the right leader making the right calls...incredible success! The wrong leader....disaster. It’s interesting to notice what’s happened to Microsoft over the years that Gates became less involved and finally left to work at his foundation full time. Put your own analysis on it, but it’s not impressive. Now compare that to how Apple has turned around from near bankruptcy to world dominator once Steve Jobs returned as CEO. It makes a huge difference who is in charge...don’t you think?

5. The consumer gets the final say.
Everything hinges on the public. Will they buy it? What do they think? How much do they like it? Do they spread the word to their friends? Do they come up with new and innovative uses for it? The critics may love it or hate it. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is what do you think? What do your friends think?

When the original iPad came out, many of the critics were lukewarm. They didn’t get it. They didn’t think it was necessary, not that unique, thought the name was odd, etc. Steve Jobs was initially depressed and confused by their response. It didn’t matter. The public LOVED it! They sold, and still sell like hotcakes. The public found all kinds of new ways to use it. The App store exploded with apps. It all proves the point...the public gets the final say.

These 5 Lessons never change and if you want to win, don't let yourself forget them!

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Related Post: Do Simpletons Run Apple and Google?

7 Keys to Avoiding the Winner’s Trap

Mediocrity sneaks up on the unsuspecting winner by flooding them with new opportunities. 

The unaware winners get distracted just enough, just slightly, from doing the things that got them to the top. They lose what would seem to others an imperceptible amount of their intensity and focus. But the line between winning and losing is very fine. Before they realize it, they have lost their winning edge and they slump.

Here are 7 tips that can help you avoid the deadly trap:

1. Realize that your life has changed now. It will be more complicated from a time standpoint. Before you focused primarily on budgeting your MONEY. Now you will need to focus on budgeting your TIME. So limit distractions. Of course you want to enjoy your success but you can’t do it all. 

2. Make a definite choice to put a priority on preparation. Keep your work time a top priority so you have a chance to stay on top. That’s the goose that lays the golden egg! That’s what will keep you in a position to continuing enjoying things. Make sure NOTHING interferes with your ability to continue to WORK HARD.

3. Ramp up your planning. Eliminate the time wasters so you can absorb many of the new opportunities without disrupting your schedule. Everyone has fat in their schedule. Take charge of it like never before. Not every activity is critical. Work to find ways to get the most out of your schedule. Things that take an hour can probably get done in 30 or 45 minutes. Many of the things that you always did in the past can probably delegated to others. 

4. Get better at saying NO. Realize you can’t do it all. Life is all about choices. Think about what is really important and weed out the unimportant. Don’t just keep doing the same things because you have always done them. Move on so you can move up.

5. Be disciplined like never before. Realize the penalty for getting off track is losing your focus is that you will get beat and your victory will be short lived. Don’t allow yourself to get sloppy with your time. Your success has given you the chance to add a bunch of things you want to do to your already large number of things you HAVE to do to keep winning. Don’t apologize for being disciplined and organized and don’t let others tempt you into relaxing your commitment. They are not your friends. 

6. Work SMARTER. Use the lessons you learned on the way up to fine tune your training. By winning you learned for yourself what things worked best for you and what things were not as profitable. This way you can get even more results from the time you put in. You may have even moved up to be able to get access to other people—coaches who can give you inside information on life at the top. How to prepare, how to keep your edge, how to continue to improve and how to get things done in less time. 

7. Most Important - Raise your sights and get BIGGER GOALS. Don’t take a chance on losing your hunger. Give yourself a real solid reason to continue driving yourself hard. It’s great to win once but when you continue to win you put yourself much higher category. Realize that its as hard to KEEP winning as it is to win the first time. Accept the challenge to stay on top.

Choose to go after making winning an ALL the time thing and not just a ONE time thing. 

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Related: The Secret of the "Winner's Trap"—How Winners Lose Their Edge