How to Stop Being a Victim
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

There is a silent killer you don’t even know may be affecting you. It robs of you of your power and without you even knowing that it is happening.

It’s called Victimitis, and if you don’t train your mind to notice it, it can take over your life and relationships. Having a victim mentality will hold you back from achieving your true potential, success, and happiness unless you take control of your life right now!

Symptoms of Victim Mentality

Do you know someone who does one or more of the following?

  • Gets angry easily and is almost always offended.
  • Never takes responsibility for their actions.
  • Is quick to judge and criticize others.
  • Always justifies their actions as being triggered by external events.
  • Makes excuses for being unable to hit their goals.
  • Blames others liberally and complains about the world at large.
  • Expects a standard of others that they don’t hold themselves to.

We make a choice to become a victim when we don’t take responsibility for the way we act,

Read more »

A Timeless New Year’s Resolution
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

You and I have something in common. We will both have 24 hours to live every day, and another 12 months till we’re here again, on New Year’s Eve.

We’re both going to make a choice on how we live these days. We can either choose to let our days control us, or we can choose to control our days. Somedays, it will be Murphy’s law.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. On other’s, we’ll feel like we’re on top of the world. No matter what happens, your choices will create the state of mind and being that you experience in the present, prepare for the future, and whether you hold on to the past.

I hope you’ll join me in starting your year with the following resolutions:

  • I vow to stay positive in the face of negativity;
  • When I am surrounded by pessimism, I will choose optimism;
  • When I feel fear, I will choose faith;
  • When I want to hate, I will choose love;
  • When I want to be bitter, I will choose to get better;
  • When I experience a challenge,

Read more »

Slack Protocols to Maximize Productivity and Effectiveness at Work
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

Email overload is a very real problem at an organization-wide level. Slack folds together all the functionality of email, instant messaging, file sharing, and more into one system that’s actually fun to use. We use Slack for all internal and cross-team communication at PBS. We do not communicate with clients or 3rd parties on Slack.

Getting Started

Using Slack quickly improve team communication and workflow. Whether you and your team is already working in the office, or remotely, here are five directives to get you started fast and effectively.

  1. Adopt it today. Say “no” to all internal email that you are expected to read and respond to. Use this template: “I got your email. I won’t be responding to any internal-only email or texts but I am available on Slack. Let’s pick up the conversation there! Thanks!”
  2. Keep it direct. Use your first name as your username, unless there are multiple folks with the same first name. The idea is to have a one-name identifier. You can add your full name to your profile, along with your photo.

Read more »

The Happiness Formula
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

A pseudo-mathematical approach to being happier life, in almost every way possible.

Whether you’re a naturally happy person, or often find yourself unhappy despite having “success” in the form of having love, family, money, power, or fame, I will show you how you be happier than you are right now.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to earn more than $75,000 to be any happier, and the Harvard Grant Study found that the “warmth of relationships throughout life has the greatest positive impact on life satisfaction”.

So the question is, how can you create a life that moves towards joy, contentment, and happiness, and away from being unhappy, depressed, or purposeless?

The Happiness Formula

happiness_formula_final

Maximizing your Freedom

Freedom is what you get when you have the unfettered ability to do what you want, when you want, and whom you want, without having to give up your passions, dreams, or interests for that of other’s.

It’s not about being selfish; it’s about being able to pursue your life’s purpose without worrying about everything else that’s keeping you from doing so.

Read more »

What Your Boss Really Cares About
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

This is a post for every employee who is still trying to figure out their boss. I’m speaking from my experiences having been an employee at over 5 organizations before becoming a full-time entrepreneur.

Here’s what your boss really cares about:

1. Raise the alarm bell before there’s a fire

Your boss wants you to notify them when you or your team aren’t able to complete your tasks and meet your responsibilities on time and with a high degree of quality. Knowing that things are going sideways or falling behind earlier is almost always knowing about it after the fact when little can be changed. A good boss never blames the messenger.

2. Bring solutions instead of problems to the table

Great businesses don’t bury their problems. They encourage their employees to bring them forward. When you do, come with a couple of solutions as well to make it easier for your boss to choose, prioritize, and modify the desired solution if necessary. Contrary to popular belief, good bosses have a ton of work on their plate, and they’ll appreciate you immensely for bringing a couple of solutions to choose from rather than dumping problems on them.

Read more »

5 Reasons “Why” is such a Powerful Question
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

Toddlers often have more clarity and curiosity in life than most adults. Categorically, they aren’t afraid of asking “why?” to seemingly every question that has an obvious answer.

It’s no wonder that asking higher quality questions leads to better outcomes in your personal and professional life. So the real question is why do we not ask “why” more? Why do we assume we already know the answer, and become more preoccupied with asking what, how, when, and who?

If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” —Albert Einstein

So why is it important to stop asking the wrong questions? Why should you start with why? Here are 5 reasons to Start with Why:

1. What and How are Functional, Why is Inspirational

People, organizations, and teams who start with what they need to do, how they need to do it, and who needs to do it are short-sighted.

Read more »

Persistence vs Perseverence
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

What 5 years of looking in the rear-view mirror of a rapidly growing digital marketing agency taught me.

“It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself for difficult times; while fortune is bestowing favors on it is then is the time for it to be strengthened against her rebuffs.” — Seneca.

I dreaded going into work. The environment was so toxic that you could feel the tension in the air. Business was great but the powers that be decided to turn the tables on me by re-writing my role. Work just wasn’t fun anymore. The last straw came when my boss told me to “never start a business” because I’d be a “terrible manager” and because “fax machines were expensive”.

“You’ve got to be shitting me”, I thought. So I quit. The decision wasn’t hard.

I felt relieved. Then I felt sick. What should I do next? Was I going to fall on my face and become a victim of my own self-fulfilling prophecy?

Screw that.

I decided to give it a go.

Read more »

Deconstructing Motivation: 7 Things I’ve Learned in the Last 7 Years
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing; that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

The struggle is real. It’s just so much easier to “do nothing” even when there is so much that need’s to get done. To combat overwhelm, a to-do list is simply not enough. Prioritization and the 80/20 rule aren’t either. What you really need is that inner fuel that keeps pushing you harder, like a motivational high that gets you in the zone.

What separates highly motivated people from those who struggle to find their own personal motivation? Over the past 7 years of my professional career in marketing here’s what I’ve found works:

1. Set the Right Rewards

Big goals need big pay-offs. By setting the right rewards or incentives before you begin your work you’ll know exactly what you’re working towards when you finish. I like to set bigger goals for myself because I typically get bored doing mundane things. It is important to map mundane tactical activities to a larger goal that has a prize worthy of striving for. Whether it’s that great steak-dinner at the end of a long work-week,

Read more »

How to Deliver the Perfect Client Pitch
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

If you work as a consultant or for an agency, you probably spend a fair amount of time being remarkable, convincing, and irresistible. Of course, not all days turn out that way, and I have had a number of client pitches that could have gone better. What matters most is being able to learn from mistakes, and perfecting pitch techniques as you go along. In my opinion, it’s not enough to just deliver a seemingly good pitch on the surface, but rather to read between the lines and peer into your audience’s thoughts.

Key Pitch Indicators

1. Overtones

We recall only about 50% of information that is delivered to us, 24 hours after processing and segmenting that information. Coupled with a lack of motivation, this is a key reason most people never create actionable plans – they simply can’t remember every relevant piece of information that they need to succeed. Similarly, in a client meeting, one can expect that the client won’t recall everything you talk to them about.
SEO, by its very nature involves a fair number of technical points in any discussion, and this is most likely what the client will not remember.

Read more »

How to Bring a Little Joy in Everything You Build.
by Dev Basu — Get free updates to new posts here

You could have the slickest new toy, with the biggest screen, the fastest software, and beautiful user experience…and it wouldn’t matter unless you make your product memorable. 

Memorable. Not just because it is the greatest thing since sliced bread or because it saves you hours every day or because it just freakin’ works, but memorable because it brings you joy every time you experience it.This is not about user experience in it’s traditional sense. This is about maximizing user happiness.

The smallest things can make the difference. The Kindle had me at hello.Not because it has that beautiful paper-white display or that it is light as a feather; but because it greeted me within the first few seconds of my experience with a simple: “Hello Dev. Welcome to your Kindle”. Falling in love after was easy.

Too many companies build for the masses. Instead, build to optimize happiness for “one”. Just one user at a time.

Read more »

50% Complete

Subscribe to the Blog and dont miss any update

You will get no Spam and no BS. Just my very best material.

Receive weekly strategies. Unsubscribe anytime.