Get lucky

Luck is preparation meeting opportunity. So be prepared ... and recognise opportunities when they come along. When you see an opportunity, do your preparation.

As the great Gary Player said of his golfing triumphs ... "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

Handle it once

I was taught in my early life that if you pick up a piece of paper, you deal with it. What you must not do is to put it down for later or put in in a 'pending tray. That would mean you have to handle it - at least - twice. So make the call, write the response, think about the implications, or throw it away ... but do it now.

Not rocket science

I am in Trinidad at the moment and was talking today to a car dealer. I asked how the recession was biting and he said that business is about 50% of what it was at the same time last year. I asked how he was coping. He said "Cutting costs, turning stock over even if some cars sell for a loss, and holding my nerve ... so that when the recession ends I am still standing but some of my competitors will not be." I don't think I can offer better advice.