A couple of months ago I read The Way of the Shark by Greg Norman, the Australian pro golfer. It is an autobiography that talks about various aspects of his life, including golf and business. Overall I think it is a good book, and I enjoyed it during the three days it took me to read it cover to cover.

I admire Greg Norman because he is one of few famous sportsmen that have been able to transcend the world of sports and build a business empire around him. Greg Norman is involved in businesses from very different industries: golf course design, clothing, wines, real-estate development, and golf club retailing come to mind (see his web site).

One think I took from his book and that has helped me the last few days is DIN and DIP. It stands for Do It Now and Do It Proper. Sometimes, when I arrive to the office in the morning or when I finish a long task, I don’t feel like starting a new task. DIN basically reminds me that, either now or later during the day, I still have to do my tasks, so it’s better to get them done sooner. DIP means that once you decide to do something (right now, according to DIN), you have to do the best you can, so you don’t have to redo it later.

I have a little post-it note with this acronym on my monitor, to continuously remind me to just do things, now and right. And I think it has worked quite well!