SMACHT: The Discipline of Success

Almost everyone agrees that discipline is key to success but the Irish say it best: Ní bhíonn an rath, ach mara mbíonn an smacht (There’s no success without discipline).”

Almost everyone also agrees that, while they love the concept, they hate the word ‘discipline’.

SMACHT (pronounced smocht) is the Irish word for discipline or control or mastery. It is also an acronym for six areas where improved discipline can lead to increased business and personal results. These are:

• Strategy: The discipline of conscious choice and focus.

• Marketing: The discipline of attracting and retaining customers.

• Attitude: The discipline of living the best version of yourself.

• Cash: The discipline of becoming financially free.

• Human Beings: The discipline of attracting and retaining great people.

• Time: The discipline of living life to the full.

This book illustrates the power of SMACHT, through a series of stories about a fictional character, Reilly – part business guru, part philosopher and part rogue. 

Whether you read about the ultimate formula for business success, paradigm shifts, living life like a buffalo, flying first class, or working on salary or commission or indeed any of the 52 stories, some will bring a smile to your face, others a tear to your eye – the important thing is that they make you act.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction: Hide the Pill in the Peanut Butter

STRATEGY

1      Take the Right Direction

2     Model Your Business Like an Airplane

3     “Oh, My Darling Nora”

4    There’s a Difference between Vision & Sight

5     The Power of Choice

6     The Cistercian Way

7     A Paradigm Shift

8    Find Your Lighthouse

9     The Ultimate Discipline of Execution

MARKETING

10   How the Japs Bombed Bell Harbour

11    Hot Leads

12   The Ultimate Sales Question

13   Your #1 Advantage in Business

14   The Importance of a Good Qualification

15   Just Checking

16   You Can’t Do Business Sitting on Your Armchair

17   The Anatomy of a Sale

18   The Ultimate Marketing Discipline

ATTITUDE

19   Who’s in Your House?

20  Why So Many Successful People are Unhappy

21   IQ is Greatly Over-rated

22  How Heavy Are Your Worries?

23  Live Life like a Buffalo

24  Irish Lobsters

25  Winning is not Everything

26  You Don’t Have to Do Anything

27  The Ultimate Worry Formula

CASH

28  Stop Thinking like an Accountant

29  Always Carry Cash

30  Skin in the Game

31   Are You on Salary or Commission?

32  You’ve been Mugged

33  Fly First Class

34  One of a Kind

35  The Ultimate Wealth Creation Discipline

HUMAN BEINGS

36  You Won’t Be with Us Long

37  The Power of Belief

38  Beware Surprises

39  Beware Assumptions

40  Who’s Marking You?

41   Gone to Congo

42  Why It’s Never Too Late to Win an All Ireland

43  What’s in a Name?

44  The Ultimate Commitment

TIME

45  Barber’s Block

46  How Thomas Edison Managed Time

47  Finish What You Start

48  Less is More

49  If You Snooze, You Lose

50  The Tape of Life

51   It’s a Small World

52  The Ultimate Time Management Tool

       SMACHT-Lore

       About the Author