8 HACKS TO BECOME A BETTER ENTREPRENEUR

Entrepreneurs have a lot of responsibility on their hands. While trying to launch a startup, they also must manage a team and maybe figure out how make the perfect pitch to investors. Unfortunately, there are only so many pots of coffee to consume before the eager new business owner hits a wall.

But what if there were ways to make a person a better entrepreneur? A small tip or a fresh approach might boost your creativity, enhance productivity and help make you the lean, mean entrepreneur that you've always wanted to be.

Read on to discover some awesome hacks from my personal and company life and learn how to become better entrepreneur: 

1. Eat some brain food.

You’ve probably heard that saying “you are what you eat” thousands of times. But there’s a lot of truth to it. According to research, proper nutrition can raise productivity.

What should a balanced diet consist of? Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles discovered that the brain fires on all cylinders with foods containing omega-3 fatty acids (in salmon, kiwi and walnuts ) and folic acid (in spinach and orange juice).

2. Work by a window.

Separate research from Northwestern University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have found the natural light enhances both creativity and energy. 

3. Shed distractions.

While a smartphone and computer are essential tools, they can also be major distractions. To avoid this, consider putting your iPhone or Android device on "do not disturb" or "airplane" mode while working. Use an app like SelfControl to block distracting websites.

If a smartphone is left on, let calls go to voicemail and return calls at the end of the day. This technique helps me save almost an hour a day in productivity.  

4. Know that silence isn’t golden.

While noise is most certainly a distraction, so may be complete silence. According to research conducted by Ravi Mehta, Rui Zhu and Amar Cheema, a moderate amount of ambient noise (about 70 decibels) can enhance productivity and performance. Besides the free Wi-Fi and endless supply of caffeinated beverages, working at a coffee shop provides this perk..

According to other research, classical music can actually increase speed, creativity, improve your mood and prevent mistakes. And, it doesn’t always have to be classical music. Rock works, too.   

5. Don’t multitask.

You may think that by multitasking you’re being more productive and getting more things accomplished. Here’s the thing: Your brain can’t handle it. The human mind is only capable of working on no more than two tasks. If you try to do more than two-tasks, you’re taking the chance of making more errors.  

6. Promote "no meetings Wednesdays."

Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder and CEO of Asana, got this idea from Facebook, according to replies to a Quora thread that were compiled by Business Insider. Clear everyone’s schedule one day a week.  “This is an invaluable tool for ensuring you have some contiguous space to do project work,” Moskovitz said.

I have implemented this with members of my team. This has caused us over the past month to set up and enforce the rule that all meetings have to be on Tuesday or Thursday and none on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. 

7. Gaze at adorable animals.

Based on 2012 research by Hiroshi Nittono, Michiko Fukushima, Akihiro Yano and Hiroki Moriya, looking at photos of puppies or kittens can improve your mood and increase  productivity in certain ways. "Participants performed tasks requiring focused attention more carefully after viewing cute images," their study found.

8. Accept that you're not perfect.

If you’re a perfectionist, I’m going to be brutally honest you. Get over it. You aren’t perfect. And neither is your startup. The sooner you realize that the sooner you can get your product or service out to market -- instead of wasting valuable timing tinkering with something that will never live up to your unrealistic standards.

Though that might sounds a bit harsh, some research backs it up. Studies have found that professors who are perfectionists actually get less work done and aren’t as likely to get published.     

Whatever you do, becoming a better entrepreneur should always be the goal. So go to it, but do get some sleep: Research has found that "sleep deprivation costs American companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity,” The New York Times reported. Furthermore, studies have found that missing out on a good night’s rest can impair innovative and flexible decision thinking. In other words: How productive can you be if you lack of sleep?  

But don't sleep too late: A study of 367 students discovered that early risers do achieve more. Remember if you wake up before everyone else, you can limit your distractions and can be more productive.  

What additional tips have worked for you to become a better entrepreneur? SHARE ….

5 THINGS TO DO BEFORE BED THAT WILL JUMP START TOMORROW

Being effective as an entrepreneur is often about hard work, but even more importantly it’s about smart work. Great entrepreneurs know that time is limited and valuable, so they need to make the most of each waking hour.

There are many factors that contribute to working smart -- but planning and proper sleep are among the top performance increasers.

To maximize your time and efficiency, here are five essential and easy things you should do before bed that will make help transform your waking hours into super productivity.

1. Take a look at your calendar. As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. By reviewing your calendar the night before, you’ll know what’s ahead for the day so you can be prepared and plan for the best method to tackle your objectives. You’ll sleep better knowing that you’ve already planned for the day ahead and you’ll rise in the morning knowing that you’ve already taken care of the leg work to get a jump start on the day.

There’s another old saying, “If you don’t use your head, you’ll end up using your feet,” and that proverb goes a long way for productivity! Come up with a strategy the night before on how to tackle tomorrow.

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING: DESKTOPS WILL BE FOUND ONLY IN MUSEUMS

Reflect on the last 12 months of your life. Does it feel like time passed by much faster than in reality? And there is always more to do, right?

Information overload is driving many of us to seek new ways of distinguishing what matters from what doesn’t in an effort to create a truly personalized world. One innovation already addressing our overly taxed attention spans is what’s called discovery technology.

Platforms such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix, Yelp and Facebook use intelligent, predictive algorithms to match people with things they want, from articles, movies and products to food, services and even other human beings.

Think of discovery as the connective tissue of the future Web. It helps people navigate options by cutting through the clutter. This service is hugely important to humanity, because our biggest asset in life is time, and we will never have enough time to read all the books on our shelves or listen to all the music we want to listen to. So in what order should we engage with things we never knew existed?

6 ELEMENTS EVERY BUSINESS WEBSITE NEEDS

With today’s tech-savvy consumer, a website is a given for any successful business -- regardless of size or industry.

Without a website, businesses won’t be taken seriously and likely will decrease their chances of being found by new customers. A well-designed website can also allow a small-business owner to compete with the big boys, leveling the playing field in an increasingly competitive consumer market.

Here are the six essential elements business owners need to think about when building or revamping a website:

1. Let everyone know what people think about the business. According to a study by BrightLocal, 85 percent of consumers read online reviews for local businesses -- up from 76 percent in 2012. As consumers continue to get more comfortable and familiar with reviews, they will become one of the leading generators, or losses, of new business.

Reserve a space on the website for reviews that highlight positive things customers are saying. Adding a plugin that allows visitors to add reviews directly on the site is great, but it is also fine to add a plugin from a third-party review service such as Yelp or Facebook.

It’s also important to have new and updated reviews, so train employees who directly interact with customers on ways to approach customers for reviews without being too abrasive.

2. Get social and connect. Customers like to have options to connect with businesses. Social-media channels not only give them those options, but different social-media channels also enable businesses to connect with different consumer groups as well. Including all active social channels a business is on is critical for a website.

3 BENEFITS IN PERSONALIZING A WEBSITE FOR VISITORS

Start discussing new website design trends, and most small business owners break out into a cold sweat. Indeed many design innovations have done little to increase revenue, and business websites have traditionally been difficult to manage and maintain.

But small business owners should not ignore the new options for personalized web content.  Large enterprises have been doing this for quite some time: Offering a different promotion based on the number of times a user has visited the website, targeting deals to a customer’s physical location or changing content based on an ad campaign URL parameter.

Until recently these types of personalization strategies required large budgets and substantial development time and resources, making it largely out of reach for most small businesses. 

Should small business owners add dynamic web content to their websites? Or is this just another passing fad like turning the mouse cursor into a kitten, blink text or elaborate Flash intros? Here are three reasons why every small business owner should consider adding dynamic content:

1. Increase sales and conversions.   

Presenting a customer with the right content, in the right way at the right time is critical for increasing sales. You wouldn’t try to sell customers in Los Angeles a snow shovel or those in Minneapolis beach balls for Christmas and expect a high sales volume. The bulk of small business websites remain painfully static, putting the obligation to navigate to a relevant product or service on the customer.      

Ensure that site visitors from Los Angeles see the webpages with beach balls and the buyers from Minneapolis see the sale on snow shovels and chances are you’re going to sell more of each. Research from My Buys and the e-tailing group has shown that 40 percent of consumers buy more from retailers who personalize their shopping experience across channels. People buy more from companies that tailor their messages and offerings to suit shoppers' specific needs.

POWERFUL WAYS TO OVERCOME CREATIVE BLOCK

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
- Maya Angelou

It’s 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night. You’ve been digging away for the past six hours and this might be your best work yet. You’re so close to breaking through -- then you hit a wall.

There’s not a single drop of creative juice left in your brain.

Does this sound like something you've experienced? If so, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

Whether we’re designing, writing or brainstorming the next big idea, we’ve all experienced creative block. The predicament of the creative process is something all of us face, yet few take the necessary actions to overcome it.

Keeping our creative juices flowing isn’t about picking the perfect color on Photoshop or writing the wittiest line for your article. It’s an essential component to innovation -- professionally and personally.

Throughout our lives, we have been told to “think outside of the box.” But thinking outside of the box implies that our inner creativity doesn’t exist within us already. Finding inspiration isn’t about stepping outside of our box, it’s about stretching our limits.

At Sketchfab, we’re always itching to find new and unique ways to stay ahead of the creative curve. We’ve dug deep on how the most creative minds around the world keep their creative juices flowing.

Here are powerful ways you can begin to keep your creative juices flowing:

Stop, Drop & Roll: No, there’s no fire. Except the one we’re burning inside our head. What we mean is: Stop what you’re doing, Drop your pen, and Roll out of the building.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE IN NIGERIA TO SOAR BY YEAR-END

Economist at Renaissance Capital, Yvonne Mhango, has predicted that for the first time since 1H11, Nigerian consumer sentiment will be turning positive in 4Q14.

In a report made available to THISDAY, Mhango noted that lower interest rates, stronger economic growth, moderately looser spending as the 2015 elections draw nearer, and moderately higher oil output are positive for consumer sentiment.

Expressing concerns about the lack of trickle-down effect, Renaissance Capital stated that the Nigerian consumer will not reach its full potential while strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth does not translate into increased wealth at the bottom of the pyramid.

“We believe this is due to slow progress on infrastructure development, particularly with regard to power, and alleged corruption at some levels of government. Nigerian consumer companies reported disappointing 1H14 results across the board in terms of revenue growth and profitability.”

Mhango added that consumer confidence was eroded by the start of the rate-hike cycle in mid-2011; a 50 per cent petrol price hike in 1Q12 combined with the imposition of an effective 110 per cent import duty on processed rice, and increased electricity and other grain tariffs later in the year.

LAFARGE SELLS 58.6% STAKE IN ASHAKACEM TO LAFARGE AFRICA

Following the merger with its sister company in South Africa, Lafarge Group yesterday traded its 58.61 per cent shareholding in Ashaka Cement Plc to Lafarge Africa Plc.

The transaction gives effect to part of the resolutions that were passed by the shareholders of Lafarge Africa Plc at the company’s annual general meeting held in Lagos recently.

The deal also marks another critical step in the Lafarge Africa consolidation transaction. Further announcements are expected to be made when milestones in respect of other key elements of the shareholder resolutions are reached.

The company had on July 9, 2014, received overwhelming shareholders’ approval to consolidate its cement businesses in Nigeria with Lafarge South African operations to create a leading sub-Saharan building materials giant to be known as Lafarge Africa Plc.

Under the transaction, Lafarge Group will transfer its direct and indirect shareholdings in Lafarge South Africa Holding Limited of 72.4 per cent and its equity stakes in three other cement companies in Nigeria-United Cement Company of Nigeria Limited 35 per cent, Ashaka Cement Plc, 58.61 per cent and Atlas Cement Company Limited 100 per cent to Lafarge Wapco for a cash consideration of $200 million and the issuance of some 1.4 billion Lafarge Africa shares to the Lafarge Group.

DIAMOND BANK OPENS RETAIL BANKING BRANCH

Diamond Bank Plc has opened a flagship centre to cater for the needs of its retail customers.

The branch, which is located at Ajose Adeogun, Victoria Island, Lagos, was inaugurated by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Alex Otti yesterday

Otti while speaking at the event said: “This is a new generation Diamond Bank and this is what customers should expect in the future.

“This is a flagship branch and there a couple of branches we have opened and we decided to showcase this today.”
He explained that the branch has a well-equipped electronic branch, which comprises an ATM gallery, telephone banking as well as internet banking.

The Diamond Bank boss added: “This is banking of the future. This is a four floor building which has private banking, corporate banking and retail banking.
“We are leading in terms of digital banking but you cannot rule out brick and mortar.”

Otti said, presently, Diamond Bank is among the industry leaders in terms of electronic banking. He noted that the recently launched MTN Yellow Account by the bank, has received a lot of accolades from the market would provide banking services to both the banked and unbanked population in Nigeria, thereby supporting financial inclusion.

On his part, the Deputy Managing Director, (Retail Banking), Diamond Bank, Mr. Uzoma Dozie said: “This branch is not like the traditional bank, it is actually to make customers feel more comfortable and we are removing the theatrical branch layout and making it your home outside your home.”

He also disclosed that the bank is planning to roll out more branches, e-branches nationwide

Also commenting on the recent introduction on the MTN diamond yellow account, Dozie added: “We already have over 200,000 people who have subscribe in one week.”

THISDAY

NIGERIA: CBN MAY RAISE PRIVATE SECTOR CRR TO 18%

As inflation rate rose in the fifth consecutive month in July thereby posing a threat to price stability, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may increase the cash reserve requirement (CRR) from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane predicted this in his latest monthly economic news and views presented at the Lagos Business School’s executive breakfast meeting, a copy of which was obtained by THISDAY at the weekend.

Headline inflation increased marginally to 8.3 per cent in July. Inflation has been on an upward trend since March this year.

Data gathered from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which stood at 7.80 per cent in March 2014, climbed to 7.90 per cent in April, eight per cent in May, 8.20 per cent in June and 8.30 per cent in July.

Therefore, Rewane argued that following the trend, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) MPC which meets next week “could take another look at the CRR and increase private sector CRR from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.”

The CRR on private sector funds was increased to 15 per cent, from 12 per cent in the first quarter of the year. On the other hand, the CRR on public sector funds is presently at 75 per cent.

5 SUREFIRE WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR LIFE, STARTING THIS MORNING

Many of us have heard the adage, “How you spend your day, is how you spend your life.”  I believe it’s even more micro than that. How you spend the first two hours of your day will determine how you live your life and how productive that life will be.

Giving yourself time in the morning to put yourself in an optimal physical and mental state is equivalent to putting your oxygen mask on first. You can’t help others or thrive until your needs are met first. Here are five easy-but-can't-fail steps for the best start to the rest of your life, every day.

1. Choose not to “snooze.” Anytime you snooze, it’s a negative reaction. You’re losing out on your first commitment to yourself and that sets a bad tone for the rest of your day.

Place your alarm on the other side of the room and start your day off with a victory lap by waking-up when you promised yourself you would. While this may seem small, beginning your day with a victory rather than a loss will have a profound impact on the following 16 hours.

2. Read your affirmations. Affirmations are positive, powerful statements you make to put yourself in the right frame of mind. An example of an affirmation to you can use is: “I am reborn today – yesterday does not matter. I am as good as what I learn, what I create, who I influence and what I inspire today.”

6 SECRETS TO SURVIVING ON LITTLE OR NO SLEEP

HEY GUYS, SAW THIS EARLIER AND THOUGHT I SHOULD SHARE ... READ ON, YOU'LL FIND IT VERY HELPFUL. I DID!

Regardless of the industry or size of the company, every entrepreneur will face a fight against a tired mind and body.

Founders often justify burning the midnight oil, as this is their time to create something meaningful and sleep is something that can come later in life – after these valuable years of innovation are behind them. But this thought process isn't necessarily beneficial to the company, as lack of sleep can cause people not to think (or function) properly. I should know.

I started OrigAudio, a portable audio products company, with co-founder Mike Szymczak while working a 9-to-5 job as a marketing coordinator for JanSport. As soon as the "workday" was over, I began plugging away on OrigAudio until about 4 in the morning, only to wake up at 7 to get ready for work. I often caught myself emailing the wrong people, ordering too much inventory and passing out while working on the couch more frequently than sleeping in my bed. This continued for nearly a year before I was able to put the "safe job" behind me to focus on OrigAudio around the clock.    

During my journey, I’ve learned several lessons to help battle through the long hours and endless days that are part of the life of an entrepreneur.

1. Get your catnaps in. A catnap, or a quick 20 to 30 minute nap, can be an entrepreneur's best friend. I wouldn’t recommend revolving your sleep schedule around this sort of Polyphasic sleep pattern but occasional 15-minute power naps can give you a boost in energy and help you to power through another few hours.

5 WAYS TO HOST BETTER MEETINGS

Meetings come in all shapes and sizes. There are board meetings, stakeholder meetings, staff meetings, sales meetings — the list is endless. But no matter the purpose, every meeting has one thing in common: how clients, customers and stakeholders perceive you can directly determine the outcome.

Months of hard work and tireless effort could all go to waste if you aren’t able to pitch an audience your company’s latest idea, project or venture. Here are five ways to run a successful business meeting and ensure you always leave a positive impression.

1. Measure the mood. If you want your meeting attendees to leave impressed, make sure you exceed their expectations. One way of going above and beyond — without anyone even realizing it — is to take a mental note of the mood of each person as they arrive and sit down. Use a basic scale of 1–10; the lower the number, the more unhappy or irritated the person appears. Then use that information to tailor your actions throughout the meeting. If someone was caught in traffic on the way over or appears to be agitated, give them some space or treat them with extra compassion. Know your audience. When you go out of your way to lighten the mood and make everyone feel comfortable, attendees begin to relax and focus on the topic at hand.

2. Remove distractions. Try to limit or remove those items that can cause distraction. Whenever possible, ask your attendees to silence their cell phones, put them aside, or step outside to take a call. An agenda can also be a distraction. Why? It’s easy for someone to review the agenda and skip ahead in their mind. When a person anticipates a topic of discussion, he may be more focused on his response or input than what you have to say. If it’s important to deliver specific details or facts and figures to those who attend your meeting, hand out a report or packet when you get to that topic.

3. Build rapport. The first few minutes of a meeting usually involve some level of chitchat. As people arrive and sit down, it’s typical to talk about the weather, traffic or current events. If most of the people in the room know each other, personal questions about family, vacation and hobbies are also common. Small talk helps build camaraderie, however, not everyone enjoys idle chit-chat. If everyone agrees to start on a positive note, go around the room and ask if anyone has some good news to share or something they want to celebrate. Limit the social time and then focus on the business at hand. The last thing you want to do is waste everyone's time.

HISTORY'S INVENTIVE MINDS SAY YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE ORIGINAL TO BE CREATIVE

Entrepreneurs have a tough job.

They are responsible for leading and inspiring diverse teams of all sizes while carrying the pressures of the business on her or his shoulders. All the while, they are often looked upon to be the creative mind of the organization, spewing out remarkable and amazingly unique ideas like an open faucet.

Being creative, however, gets more difficult if you allow yourself to fall into the paradigm that creativity is linked to originality, especially since originality is completely subjective and will always be relative to the experiences of others.

Creative minds throughout history have long embraced the idea that to be creative, you need not necessarily be original, nor should you concern yourself with the opinions of others. Consider these insights of some of the greatest creative minds throughout history.

“Originality is nothing but judicious imitation”. -- Voltaire

The common misconception is that to be creative, you need to be churning out one-of-a-kind ideas. Often, the best new ideas are just better iterations on older ones.

“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way”. -- Edward de Bono

Creativity also comes from looking at existing challenges from alternative angles.

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected”. -- William Plomer

Other times, an idea blossoms from tapping into and pulling together many different and relatively unrelated ideas.

“Making the simple complicated is easy. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity”. -- Charles Mingus

Sometimes, simply improving on an existing idea, making it easier to use or understand, will result in an amazing new innovation in and of itself.

“Creativity comes from the conflict of ideas”. -- Donatella Versace

Getting out of your comfort zone, where most individuals like to operate, will provide you with a completely different perspective and will most likely spark creativity.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while”. -- Steve Jobs

The simple truth is that creativity is like a muscle: the more you work it, the stronger it becomes. Regardless of how original or creative your ideas are, you should be engaging in the act of creating, over and over again.

“Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recordings of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience”. -- Henry David Thoreau

Remember that you can and should find inspiration even when you are not operating in your creative routine, as long as you are willing and ready to allow yourself to react to it.

“My work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of deep significance.” -- Calvin ofCalvin and Hobbes

It is just fact that great creativity, regardless of how original it might be, will often be misunderstood at first. The level of misunderstanding is often directly proportional to the uniqueness of an idea.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” -- Henry Ford

If your creativity routine leads you to ideas that may be perceived as unoriginal or outlandish, do not give up on them quickly. You may be on to something that is just too complex for others to comprehend. Learn how to communicate your idea effectively so others will understand and rally behind it. 

Creative originality is also highly subjective to the people you are sharing it with. You cannot allow yourself to get distracted with the opinions of others, as great creativity is rarely inspired by the masses. 

Before you get down on yourself for failing to come up with the next remarkable idea, just remember that the simple act of creating is remarkable.

So what are you waiting for?

What are some of your favorite quotes about originality? Please share with others below.

AIRTEL TO SELL AFRICA TOWERS TO EATON

Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s largest mobile-phone carrier has agreed to sell more than 3,500 telecommunications towers in Africa to Eaton Towers Limited.

Bharti Airtel will lease back the towers for 10 years, Bloomberg quoted the companies to have said in a statement yesterday.

London-based Eaton bought the assets, located in six African countries, for almost $1 billion, according to a source.

The deal may help Bharti Airtel reduce debt, which stood at 712.5 billion rupees (about $11.8 billion) at the end of June, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The company agreed in July to sell more than 3,000 towers in four African countries to Helios Towers Africa, offloading infrastructure that can be more expensive to maintain compared with other parts of the world.
After the purchase, Eaton Towers would own 5,000 towers in seven African countries, according to the statement.

The deal does not include Bharti Airtel’s infrastructure in Nigeria, Bloomberg quoted the unnamed source to have said.

Spokesman for Bharti Airtel, Prem Subedi and Eaton Towers’ Chief Executive Officer, Alan Harper declined to comment on the exact purchase price.
Eaton Towers was advised by Moelis & Co. (MC) on the transaction.

THISDAY

HOW CREATIVE GENIUSES COME UP WITH GREAT IDEAS

In 2002, Markus Zusak sat down to write a book.

He began by mapping out the beginning and the end of the story. Then, he started listing out chapter headings, pages of them. Some made it into the final story, many were cut.

When Zusak began to write out the story itself, he tried narrating it from the perspective of Death. It didn’t come out the way he wanted.

He re-wrote the book, this time through the main character’s eyes. Again, something was off.

He tried writing it from an outsider’s perspective. Still no good.

He tried present tense. He tried past tense. Nothing. The text didn’t flow.

He revised. He changed. He edited. By his own estimation, Zusak rewrote the first part of the book 150 to 200 times. In the end, he went back to his original choice and wrote it from the perspective of Death. This time—the 200th time—it felt right. When all was said and done it had taken Zusak three years to write his novel. He called it The Book Thief.

In an interview after his book was finally released, Zusak said, “In three years, I must have failed over a thousand times, but each failure brought me closer to what I needed to write, and for that, I’m grateful.” 

The book exploded in popularity. It stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for over 230 weeks. It sold 8 million copies. It was translated into 40 languages. A few years later, Hollywood came calling and turned The Book Thief into a major motion picture.

THE SIMPLE SECRET TO HAVING GOOD LUCK

We often think that blockbuster successes are luck. Maybe it’s easier to explain success that way—as a chance happening, a fortunate outlier. No doubt, there is always some element of luck involved in every success story.

But Markus Zusak is proof that if you revise your work 200 times—if you find 200 ways to reinvent yourself, to get better at your craft—then luck seems to have a way of finding you.

How do creative geniuses come ups with great ideas? They work and edit and rewrite and retry and pull out their genius through sheer force of will and perseverance. They earn the chance to be lucky because they keep showing up.

In her Dartmouth Commencement Address, Shonda Rimes shares a strategy that echoes Zusak’s approach…

Dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change…

Ditch the dream and be a doer, not a dreamer. Maybe you know exactly what it is you dream of being, or maybe you’re paralyzed because you have no idea what your passion is. The truth is, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to know. You just have to keep moving forward. You just have to keep doing something, seizing the next opportunity, staying open to trying something new. It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring and dreams are not real. Just … do.

So you think, “I wish I could travel.” Great. Sell your crappy car, buy a ticket to Bangkok, and go. Right now. I’m serious. You want to be a writer? A writer is someone who writes every day, so start writing.

HOW CREATIVITY WORKS

We all have some type of creative genius inside of us. The only way to release it is to work on it.

No single act will uncover more creative powers than forcing yourself to create consistently. For Markus Zusak that meant writing and re-writing 200 times. For you, it might mean singing a song over and over until it sounds right. Or programming a piece of software until all the bugs are out, taking portraits of your friends until the lighting is perfect, or caring for the customers you serve until you know them better than they know themselves. You can make any job a work of art if you put the right energy into it.

How do creative geniuses come up with great ideas? They work hard at it.

NISSAN MAKES FIRST MADE-IN-NIGERIA CAR

Nissan is the first vehicle manufacturer to build a car in Nigeria since the country introduced its new automotive policy.

Vehicle manufacturing companies have started building plants to make cars in Nigeria with Nissan being the first of its kind to achieve this.

“Nigeria has always been a very key market for us and I think it was a logical step to move towards. We are also building the Almera and the volumes are increasing on a daily basis. We are very pleased with the result we are getting out of the plants in Nigeria,” Mike Whitfield, managing director of Nissan South Africa told CNBC Africa.

“Obviously, as one increases production levels it does produce the economics of sales and I think the process is a journey. Our objective as we continue to go forward is to improve the cost effectiveness of the vehicles manufactured in Nigeria.”

For this project to grow and improve and for the cost of these vehicles in Nigeria to be more affordable for the people, there is a need for more vehicles manufacturing companies. This will help the local industries to grow and provide better opportunity for the people by also creating job opportunities.

“First and foremost it is very important that we see as many manufacturers as possible moving and supporting the automobile policy because with that approach we will end up being able to grow the local component industry. There is an effect of that in not only job creation but also skill creation. From a Nissan objective, yes, it is our objective to move forward to ensure that we can produce a car in the Nigerian market that meets the need of the population and addresses the issue of affordability.”