Think like a dog trainer.

Was doing some random article browsing while checking up on some episodic columns I keep up with. Found this article in the proccess. It's supposed to be relationship advice but I thought it made dandy life advice. Thought i'd share.

Think like a stockbroker: Don’t wait for things to totally plummet to get out of something that you know in your heart is not working. Trust your instincts: When you sense things rapidly losing their value, the sooner you get out, the less the damage will be. And the sooner you’ll have the chance (and the wherewithal) to re-invest in something that offers more gain.

Think like a baseball player: You have to be willing to hit a lot of strikes if you want to hit home runs.

Think like an architect: You have to make sure you first focus on building a sturdy foundation, one that will last, even through earthquakes and other unexpected acts of God, as they say in the business. Always make sure your foundation is a much more important priority than the exterior.

Think like a marketer: Don’t try to sell kiwis to a shoe store. Don’t try to buy kiwis in a shoe store. Some people don’t want what you have to offer. Some people don’t have what you need.

Think like a gardener: You must accept that some plants are only meant to live a certain time, a certain season. If you try to make them live longer, you will be a bad gardener.

Think like a lawyer: Lawyers know that the one who wants the negotiation to succeed the most has the least amount of power in the negotiations.

Think like an entrepreneur: In a competitive market, you must always be different in some way. And if you cannot be different, you need to be the same but better. The good news: The general rule is that your product or service only needs to be 20 percent better in order to beat the competition. The even better news: Sometimes great packaging can compensate—and you can indeed get away with not being different or better at all!

Think like a race-car driver: Race-car drivers know that you never look at the thing you don’t want to squoosh your race car into—because wherever you’re looking is exactly where your race car aims itself. So if all you’re looking at are all the dangers and bad things that you could smack into, then those dangers and bad things will be exactly what you smack into.

Think like a dog trainer: Dog-trainers warn about a little something called flight-and-chase behavior. If your dog runs away from you, the worst thing in the world is to run after it. The dog will only run away faster. Instead you must remain calm. The animal can sense the fear and anxiety in you. Act like you’re having lots of fun. The animal just wants be where the fun is.

Courtesy of happenmag.com