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Bring Matches

July 21, 2010 in Life, Success with 4 Comments

In my opinion , there are a couple of different ways to inspire people to take action.

First is the “go get-em” way. This is the Tony Robbins style of motivation. “Stand up and say I!” It’s the same ole think positive, set goals, and grow rich type of inspiration.

The problem with this type of inspiration is that it acts a lot like kindling. You never actually put a log on the fire. It looks like it’s going to burn, the fire almost starts, its smoking, and you quickly add more kindling; but before you can add the log, the flame goes out and then we start all over again.

The second type of inspiration comes in the form of real, concrete, “this is how I did it” type of information. This might be a book about the history of Starbucks, or Donald Trump, or Duncan Bannatyne.

The problem with this type of motivation is, while it’s packed with ideas, processes, and steps to follow, it never inspires you to take the leap (or start step one).

The third and final type of motivation has to come from one single source – you.

This is the hardest part of the inspiration puzzle because it’s the hardest piece to find.

In a way, you need a mix of all three to truly get inspired. Method one acts as the kindling. You build up a pretty solid base of confidence and personal development. Method two is equally important as you improve your perspective and gain an understanding from those who went before you. It’s the same as if you soak the kindling with a little bit of gasoline.

Method three is the match.

Without the match, method one and two will only get you so far.

Bring matches.

The Only Obstacle

July 20, 2010 in Life, Success with 0 Comments

The only true obstacle keeping you from achieving every single one of your wildest dreams?

You.

Survival

July 19, 2010 in Business, Success with 0 Comments

When we find ourselves in an emergency situation, the first instinct will almost always be self-preservation.

My wife likes to tell the story while we were walking on a trail in Newfoundland, and literally bumped into a massive moose, it was I who turned around and bolted in the opposite direction, leaving her to snap a few photos (including this one).

But when an emergency arises, a few things happen. First, the adrenalin goes up and the heart starts beating faster and faster until you can actually feel it pounding against your chest. Secondly, time seems to either stand still or fly by. And finally, fear kicks in and instincts, like self-preservation, will drive us to make fast, quick, reactive decisions.

Of course, fast, quick and reactive decisions usually aren’t the best decisions. Granted, in a bad enough situation (where time is of the essence) you’ll usually want to go with these decisions…Fast!

But let’s say for example that today, around 4:00 pm, you get called into your manager’s office. He lets you know that they’ve decided to let you go. You’re free to pack up your desk and not come back tomorrow.

I have no doubt that your heart will be beating and thumping against your chest as you drive home to tell your spouse the news.

But once you’re out of immediate danger, now’s not the time to make a bad situation worse. Now is the time to use your brain and assess the situation. This is where logic needs to kick in. This is the moment where you begin to carefully assess all options. This is true survivor mode. This is the moment you use the one tool you’ve had in your arsenal all along – your brain. Use it wisely.

Don’t jump at the first opportunity. Don’t start spamming your resume to hundreds of employers. Don’t panic and use up all your resources. Don’t eat anything you’re not sure about. Use this time to carefully analyze the situation and plan for your survival. You might be in it for the long haul. The good news is, this might be a blessing in disguise.

Oh, but if you see a bear, run like hell.

All I Need To Know

July 8, 2010 in Career & Work, Life, Misc, Success with 1 Comment

There seems to be a point when we believe our need for coaching, mentoring, and the acquisition of new knowledge are no longer needed in our lives.

We’re adults now. We know everything we need to know. Why would I need any help? I’ve put in my time.

Coaching? Why would I need a coach?

This of course, brings up the obvious question, why do sports teams need to be coached?

After all, these are guys and girls that have played the sport their entire lives, they’ve reached the pinnacle of success – the pro-leagues, - and yet they are still constantly under the wings of professional coaches and leadership.

Of course teams are different from individuals, right?

But…

Why would Lance Armstrong need a coach to improve his cycling?

Why would the manager need a coach to improve his management skills?

Why would the brain surgeon need coaching on learning new brain surgery techniques?

But us regular folk – we’re beyond that, right? We finished school. We got our degrees. We got drafted into the real world. We’re pros now.

But we’re driven by our egos. We believe it’s easier to look strong, stand up tall, and put on a smiley face, than it is to resort to asking for help.

Seeking help has been typecast in our society as a sign of weakness. We’ve gone and made it almost embarrassing. We’d rather just muster on and try to do it ourselves.

Before Tiger’s “issues,” he was often used as an example by coaches about the importance of continued coaching and training. Tiger is adamant about constantly improving his skills. He was never beyond learning from his coach. He could always learn from his coach, or even other golfers. Tiger was known to practice for hours and literally BEG for his coach to point out an issue with his swing, or his stance, or his grip.

He obviously could have used coaching beyond his sport, but that’s beyond this post :-)

Here’s my take on it.

When you’re willing to accept that there IS a lot more to learn, you can drastically improve your skills. A coach can actually teach you something, or point out your flaws or help you with where to focus your  practice time. That’s when you’ve entered the professional league.

Seeking help, guidance, and new knowledge to become bigger, stronger, faster, is the ultimate sign of strength. The real pros always know there is someone better out there who can teach them a thing or two.

So ask yourself, what league are you in? Pick one.

The Pros or  the Amateurs?

Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo

July 6, 2010 in Career & Work, Success with 1 Comment

Stay up tonight, flick on the TV, and check out all the amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities on the infomercials.

I’m being sarcastic.

Infomercials about money-making opportunities, to me, represent a speeding one-way bullet train.

  • The train has limited seating.
  • It’s only staying at the station for a short time.
  • The price keeps going up the longer you wait.
  • There are lots of other great people are already on the train, even celebrities like Chuck Norris!!!
  • This train can change your life.
  • You’ll reach the final destination earlier, we guarantee it or your money back.

My advice is to skip the train. Let it go on by. Don’t get on.

When an opportunity presents itself that looks like the over-capacity speeding bullet train, and these trains don’t just show up on TV; they show up in the stock market, real estate, and business opportunities, to mention a few. I suggest you save yourself some grief and let it go on by. These trains almost always get derailed just out of the station.

There’s a far more reliable train coming along shortly. It’s just a slower ride.

Snakes and Ladders

June 24, 2010 in Creativity, Life, Success with 0 Comments

Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation) (wikipedia)

snakes.gif

You’re right at the top.

You’re almost there.

Only a few steps to go.

And then you hit that damn snake, and you’re knocked all the way down to the bottom.

As a kid, it was just a fun game. But when I think about it now, I realize just how close it resembles real life.

Occasionally we hit a ladder, of good luck or fortune, and up we go.

Occasionally, we hit a snake of bad luck or misfortune, and we experience a setback.

The problem now is that each and every day, we hear about more and more people near the finish line and then suddenly, out-of-nowhere, they hit that big mother of a snake. You know the one I’m talking about, the one that knocks you right back almost to the beginning.

You might as well start over, or give up entirely. You can’t catchup.

It seems to me, though, the actual game board has changed. There are more snakes than ever before, especially in that last row. There might be the odd spot here and there with an opening, and if you make the perfect roll of the dice, you might just make it. If you roll anything but a 4, you’re screwed.

It’s pretty risky to place everything on the roll of the dice, don’t ya think?

The new option is to just not play the game anymore. I’m not.

The Success Measuring Tape

June 23, 2010 in Life, Linchpin, Success with 3 Comments

Last night I was driving down the road and passed a lawn sign advertising a local business. The sign read, “come watch the World Cup on our 50″ Plasma screen!!!”

I guess they missed the memo. Is the “50 inch television” really a draw, considering most people have similar sized TV’s, if not bigger, in their own homes? My friend Gavin said it best, “maybe the sign was left over from the last world cup.”

There was a time, when a big TV was a material possession that showed your friends you were actually making some money.

Today, anyone with a credit card can whip over to Best Buy and pick up a 60″ 3D-Ready TV, and pay the $27 bucks a month until that sucker is paid for. The instant facade of success. Instant gratification.

There was a time when the car you drove was seen as a symbol of your success.

There was a time when the size of your house was seen as a symbol of your success.

There was a time when the type of clothes you wore were seen as a symbol of your success.

Success was once largely measured by the total value and number of material possessions you could acquire and stuff into your home or garage. Many people still view success this way.

My view of success has changed. Here’s how I view success now. I use a combination of four simple questions.

1) How happy are you?

I don’t mean dance around like a fool happy. I mean the type of happy where you wake up each morning energized and ready for the day. The type of happy where you don’t dread Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, for that matter.

You love what you do, and you do what you love.

The type of happy where you can look one or three, or five years down the road and picture yourself doing the exact same thing you’re doing now.

If you can’t, you need to quit.

2) How much debt do you have?

There’s nothing worse, in my opinion, than debt. Good debt and bad debt aside, I’m referring to debt incurred to buy things you can’t afford.

Debt is so tempting. I remember a recent trip to Bass Pro Sporting Goods Store. I could have walked away with a gorgeous fishing boat for only $175 bucks a month. Nobody needs to know how I’m paying for it, right?

3) How healthy are you?

I’m talking about physical health here. I’m talking about the successful person who has the personal drive and motivation to take care of his/her most valuable possession – oneself.

And I don’t mean freakish, or obsessive physical health. That can actually be unhealthy.

Oh, but he drives an 2010 Escalade and owns the giant house on the lake…His job is stressful… He’ll start exercising someday……

Sigh.

Finally…

4) What are you doing to make the world a better place?

My wife and I were driving in our car last week, and the guy in front of us tossed his McDonald’s garbage out the window. No shame. Fries and Big Mac containers spread across the road as he sped off. He gets a failing grade in this regard, even if he does tend to sick puppies at night.

It doesn’t mean you have to be dressed as Santa collecting donations at Christmas,  or wiping oil off pelicans, but how are you personally contributing to making the world a better place?

Something tells me it’s not just me who’s trading in my old measuring tape for a new one. Everyone’s measuring tape is different.

What’s yours look like?

Take The Afternoon Off

June 11, 2010 in Career & Work, Life, Misc, Success with 2 Comments

I’m giving you permission to take the afternoon off.

If your boss is upset, tell him I gave you permission. Go ahead. You can leave now.

I punched out ten minutes ago.

And if you absolutely can’t physically leave your place of employment, I’m giving you permission to mentally check out of your daily job early today.

Go ahead. Close your email. Log off of Twitter. Shut off your computer. Turn out the lights. We don’t want any more interruptions.

Excited?

Bummer, because I’m going to need you to come back to work. I’m going to need you to come back to your real job.

Your real job is the rest of your life. Your real job is the next five, ten, twenty years of your actual life. Your real job is not the place where you go between the hours of 9 a.m and 5 p.m.

Here’s your duties for the rest afternoon:

Dream about the next five years of your real job.
Fantasize about the next five years of your real job.
Plan the next five years of your real job.
Set goals for the next five years of your real job.
Figure out how to achieve these goals, dreams, and desires over the next five years of your real job.

I need all of this done before 5 p.m. Oh, and I’m going to need you to work on the weekend too, because we need you to start implementing this immediately.

It’s already late. We need you to make this your top priority.

I know – I’m terribly sorry. I know you wanted to watch Dateline tonight, but I really need you to get started on this immediately.

Should I say something anyway? Decisions…Decisions…

June 9, 2010 in Business, Success with 5 Comments

There are times when I really have nothing to say. Today is one of those days. Sure, there are lots of thoughts running through my head, but I’m not sure I feel like writing about any of them.

For example, I thought about blogging about Damion’s spot-on comment yesterday, that an important part of Monty and Tammy’s success was their ability to stick to their decision after making it. Damion brought up Napolean Hill, and he was right on the mark. When Hill studied millionaires and financially successful people, one of the recurring traits he found, over and over again, was that these people constantly make decisions and rarely change their minds after making them.

Think about that for a moment.

Hill said that EVERY, not just a few, but every financially successful person he studied had the ability and skill to make decisions quickly, and frequently acted upon on those decisions.

They don’t waiver on right or wrong.

They don’t second guess themselves.

They have learned to trust gut instinct.

When the decision is made, they stick with it. And if they need to make a new choice or change their decision, they do it slowly and carefully. Changing a decision is never a rushed move.

It’s similar to Monty and Tammy’s situation. When Tammy envisioned the ice cream shop, that was that. The decision was made. They stuck to their decision.

Surprisingly, on the flip side, Hill found that the people who never seem to reach a level of financial success very rarely make decisions. And when they do finally make a decision, they frequently change their minds and change the decisions they’ve already made.

But I don’t really feel like blogging about that today…

P.S….

What’s for dinner tonight?

What movie should we see on Friday?

Where should we go for our next vacation?

Which way should I turn?

Should we really say that in our advertising?

Passing the Gringo

June 2, 2010 in Fun Stuff, Misc, Success with 4 Comments

My friend Shawn passed this link on to me, and I think it makes for a great rainy day post. It’s pouring outside today.

Here’s the story:

After reading the passage, please take a moment to read my questions below.

Throughout the Tour de France, a Colombian rider on the Kelme – Costa Blanca Team, Santiago Botero, has been keeping a diary in a newspaper. Each day the newspaper published his diary from the previous day. Unfortunately, the only diary entry I have seen appeared in this past Sunday’s edition, however, it was worth the read.

“There I am all alone with my bike. I know of only two riders ahead of me as I near the end of the second climb on, what most riders consider, the third worst mountain stage on the tour. I say ‘most riders’ because I do not fear mountains.

After all, our country has nothing but mountains. I train year-round in the mountains. I am the national champion from a country that has nothing but mountains. I trail only my teammate, Fernando Escartin, and a Swiss rider. Pantani, one of my rival climbers, and the Gringo Armstrong are in the Peleton about five minutes behind me. I am climbing on such a steep portion of the mountain that if I were to stop pedaling, I would fall backward. Even for a world-class climber, this is a painful and slow process. I am in my upright position pedaling at a steady pace. I’m willing myself to finish this climb so I can conserve my energy for the final climb of the day. The Kelme team leader radios to me that the Gringo has left the Peleton by himself and that they can no longer see him.

I recall thinking ‘the Gringo cannot catch me by himself‘. A short time later, I hear the gears on another bicycle. Within seconds, the Gringo is next to me – riding in the seated position, smiling at me. He was only next to me for a few seconds and he said nothing – he only smiled and then proceeded up the mountain as if he were pedaling downhill. For the next several minutes, I could only think of one thing – his smile. His smile told me everything. I kept thinking that surely he is in as much agony as I am. Hopefully he is struggling up the mountain as much as I am, and he only sat down to pass me to discourage me. He can’t be playing games with me. Not possible. The truth is that his smile said everything that his lips did not. His smile said to me, “I was training while you were sleeping, Santiago”. It also said, “I won this tour four months ago, while you were deciding what bike frame to use in the tour. I trained harder than you did, Santiago. I don’t know if I am better than you, but I have outworked you and right now, you cannot do anything about it. Enjoy your ride, Santiago. See you in Paris.”

Obviously, the Gringo did not state any of this, but his smile did dispel a bad rumor among the riders on the tour. The rumor that surfaced as we began the Prologue several days ago told us that the Gringo had gotten soft. His wife had given birth to his first child, and he had won the most difficult race in the world.  He had no desire to race or to win. I imagine that his smile turned to laughter once he was far enough away not to embarrass me. The Gringo has class, but if he heard the rumors, he probably laughed all the way to Paris. He is a great champion. I must train harder. I am not content to be just a great climber. I want to be the best.

I learned much from the Gringo while climbing the mountains. I will never forget the helpless feeling I had yesterday. If I ever become an international champion, I will always remember the lesson the Gringo taught me.

The original post and story can be found here.

Here are some questions for you to think about:

How are you training in your life?

Are you training hard enough?

Are you focusing on the right areas of self-improvement? Is it sufficient to be really good at one skill, but lacking in others?

As a business owner, do you believe you’re unbeatable in certain areas of your business? Are you working to improve the weaker areas?

And if you’re not, are you prepared to let the Gringo pass you?

Of course, there’s always a flip-side to these posts….

Instead of training to avoid being passed, you could train to be the smiling Gringo.

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