Three Keys To Business Success from an Overcomer

Filed in archive Entrepreneurship on November 7, 2006

The former editor and publisher of PROFIT, The Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs has a blog and he has some pretty unique content. For example, he wrote about David Chalk's talk at the Toronto SOHO SME conference.

Attitude: "Every day when you get up, look at the possibilities of the day." One of his key themes is that "We are brought up to believe that the world is scarce, everything you want you have to work hard for...We don't realize we have the power to create the environment we want."

Listening: "The one thing you have to change if you really want to be successful is how you listen," says Chalk. Listen to understand, not just for a chance to interrupt. Listen with empathy. "Empathy is the magic that we never think about. And it comes from listening."

Integrity: "Do what you said you would do. Do what you know you should do. Do what other people expect you to do." Quoting a statistic that the average person lies 17 times a day, he encouraged the audience to "get their integrity back: stop the lying and live a life of integrity." Honour your word and keep your word."

The key, says Chalk, is to open yourself up to others by not worrying about your ego. "If you let the ego go, you have absolute power to do anything." Via Three Keys to Business Success

What is not well known about Chalk is that he has a severe form of dyslexia, which resulted in him being labeled as "retarded" in primary school and still leaves him with poor hearing, reading, analytical skills and memory.

Chalks story is a reminder that success is a matter of mind over matter. To learn more about Chalks story check out he says, "Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% what we do about it"