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In the mail today, I received the author’s complimentary copy of my new book, Leadership by Invitation. I was being interviewed earlier in the week about the book and was asked the question; “What is the one thing you would tell someone who is writing a book to help them reach their goal of actually getting it published?” Great question!
Simple answer. START WRITING.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what I write. I blog multiple times every week, create content on a regular basis, and am already working on my next book project. You might find this hard to believe, but do you know that until I actually start writing, nothing gets written? I can spend all day thinking about it, I might even have a pretty good idea on what to write. But until I start pounding the keyboard, nothing gets done.
You have to Start before you can Finish!
I think there are a lot of similarities between this thought on writing and just about anything else you might want to achieve. We have to START. At some point in time, we need to decide that we are done getting ready and just go for it.
There are also similarities on what happens after you start. I have found that in writing, it is only after you start writing the words that the story really starts to come to life. One thought leads to another and “whaddayaknow” a few months later you have a book.
It’s no different in anything else. You want to lose 30 pounds? Well, you have to lose one before you can lose the other twenty-nine. You want to make a million dollars? You have to make one before you make the other … you get the picture!
The Power of Knowledge comes through Action.
The point is, you have to START. If you are reading this, I will make the assumption that you are fairly well educated and have acquired a significant amount of knowledge over the years. But what are you doing with that knowledge? I used to think knowledge was power. NOT! The power of knowledge does not come from simply possessing it, you must act upon it.
This gap between what we know and what we do is the gap that will lead us not only to success, but to significance. Everyday should be a day of closing that gap. But it takes action. Yoda said it best; “There is no try, there is only do and do not.” [Tweet This] So which is it going to be?
In order to close the gap we need to “DO.” The way we do anything is to START. I have found that it is much easier to start something small as compared to something big. It much less intimidating and much easier to achieve. I have seen so many people take on large tasks and fail because they did not identify the small steps along the way.
Every Great Accomplishment has been Achieved One Step at a Time.
Writing is a great example. The idea of writing a book may seem too much for you to ever accomplish. But how about a chapter, better yet a paragraph and if you still think it’s too much, just write out a sentence. To my knowledge, there are no books out there that were not written “one letter” at a time.
Today’s Challenge: Choose something in your life that you want to do but have been putting off because “it’s just to big” and break it down into small steps and START. That is how you will close the gap between what you know and what you do.
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Last week on our Platform Builders Mastermind call. we spotlighted one of the Maxwell Team mentors, Ed DeCosta, who recently release his new book ASCEND: A Coach’s Roadmap For Taking Your Performance To New Heights.
If you want some “no-nonsense, get results” strategies for reaching new levels of achievement, you will find it in ASCEND. But it’s not the book that inspired this post, it was something Ed said on the call.
Ed made the statement that “Sometimes Plan B needs to be Plan Better.” [Tweet This]
I don’t think Ed even realized the genius in the statement when he made it, but genius it is. That comment changed my entire thought process on the idea of a “backup plan.” You see, that’s what I’ve always thought a Plan B was – the option when the desired one doesn’t work. Not any more!
If you have been settling for Plan B, Knock it off!
Maybe you are a lot smarter than me and have already figured this out, but for me, Plan B has always been the backup plan just in case Plan A didn’t work out. Right? Look, being smarter than me is not any kind of earth shattering accomplishment but changing your perspective on this just might be. If you have conceded that Plan B is always less desirable than Plan A, Knock it off!
What if we looked at Plan A failing not as a failure, but as an opportunity to learn and seize the opportunity to make Plan B – Plan Better. What if Plan Better doesn’t work? Well, you can call it whatever you want, but by learning lessons instead of conceding defeat, we can continue a path towards success.
Start learning lessons instead of conceding defeat!
Full transparency here, I just came into this awareness less than a week ago and although I have not had a chance to put it to the test yet, I do have some big “Plan A” activities that will be put to the test this week and this I know – if I have to go to the backup plan, it will be Plan Better.
I think our culture has conditioned us to believe that acceptance of thinking that our results are “good enough”, “better than than they use to be”, or “at least different than they were before” are reasonable outcomes. Nonsense!
Start setting yourself up for success!
The whole idea of setting goals and stretching outside our comfort zone are to produce what we have not achieved before. Why do we settle for less than we desired? Why is better OK when best is what we are shooting for? Why do words live “CAN’T”, “NEVER”, and “ALMOST” remain in our daily vocabulary?
I think it’s because we have lowered our standards. And by doing so, we have lowered our own self-image. Ed and the other Maxwell mentors all adhere to the belief that we will never out perform our own self-image.
When Plan A doesn’t work, we immediately jump to the next best choice instead of creating a BETTER one. Peter Drucker had some thoughts on this when he said:
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” [Tweet This]
TODAY’S QUESTION: Are you following a downward progression in your decision making process that will ultimately net you less of a result than you originally desired?
TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Learn from the Plan A’s that didn’t work out and set yourself up for success by making Plan B – Plan Better!
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One of the segments we added to The Platform Builders Mastermind Group this year was a “Leadership Spotlight.” During one segment of our call each week, we feature an author or leader and focus on their current projects or activities.
This week we had a great call and were honored to have Dr. Kathryn Cramer join us who recently released her seventh book, LEAD Positive: What Highly Effective Leaders See, Say and Do.
The latest in Dr. Cramer’s Asset Based Thinking (ABT) series, LEAD Positive pack a tremendous amount of great content on how to be courageous, resilient, and optimistic as we as leaders, can produce significant and lasting change in both our personal and professional lives.
This book is full of concepts and ideas that will no doubt change the way we think, and result in raising our leadership lid. Dr. Cramer suggests that we, by nature, are wired to “avoid harm” and therefore react faster to the negative than we do to the positive. Over time, this creates a negative bias in our thinking. But we have the power to change that!
One of Dr. Cramer’s ABT exercises really caught my attention. The Scan-Snap-Savor exercise, although simple in concept, has the potential to completely change the way we think. See what you think …
SCAN
Dr. Cramer suggests that we look for a positive fact that is either happening right now or in our immediate past. Then focus your attention on one of three areas, self, others, or situation. In Dr. Cramer’s word’s, “The self scan requires you to look for your own leadership strengths, capabilities, efforts, and skills that are showing up in the present moment to move things forward.”
To me, this sounds like “short-term version of the Law of Reflection. Dr. Cramer points out that, “The situation scan leads you to zero in on the emerging dynamics working in your favor.” How cool is that! All we have to do is think positive and the energy pulled from that thinking will produce positive results. The power of positive thinking ring a bell for anyone?
SNAP
I recently heard Dr. Cramer describe this part of the equation as taking a mental picture of that positive fact that you focused on the the scan step. When we develop that positive image in our mind just like downloading pictures onto you computer. They are stored there for your future use.
Again, a pretty straight forward concept – visually snap the picture and download it to your cranial hard-drive. (Tweet This) I see it like this, if you don’t take the picture, you are going to have to recreate the image to access that “positive” memory. In today’s warp speed society, we simply choose not to take the time or energy to do it and default to the negativity bias we already have.
SAVOR
This is the difference maker. Before you store away that mental snapshot, spend 30-60 seconds “savoring” it. Remember a hundred years ago when film had to be developed in a liquid solution? It had to soak in that stuff until it fully developed. Dr. Cramer has brought that concept back to life and you don’t even need a dark room.
Follow her advice and, “Let the full measure of the experience sink deeply into your implicit memory. Savor it. In less than 90 seconds, you have allowed yourself to step outside the hustle and bustle of the day.“
Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Maybe it’s time you trade in that old camera that doesn’t seem to be working for you and pick up a new one that takes the type of pictures that will get you the “POSITIVE” results you have been looking for.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Pick up a copy of LEAD Positive and start using your manual focus option. You just might like the increased quality of the pictures you’ve been taking!
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This month in The Platform Builders mastermind group we are working our way through “The Power Of Urgency – Playing to Win with Proactive Urgency” by William Keiper. John Maxwell teaches that the greatest gap is the gap between what we know and what we do. I believe the Proactive Urgency that Keiper is talking about can close that gap.
In Part two of The Power of Urgency, Keiper takes a deep look into the idea of Playing to Win with The Power of Urgency.
“Your current state is a perfect reflection of your prior decisions.” – William Keiper (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
In this, the final of three posts, I want to offer up Keiper’s thought provoking take on the idea of Proactive Urgency. Keiper ends each of the 17 chapters with an “Urgency Rule” and I want to highlight a few to set the frame for Part 2 of the book.
Urgency Rule #12 – A purposeful commitment to acting with pro-urgency is a sustained, continuously renewed promise manifested in your bold actions. This ongoing promise leaves no room for fakery, conformity or false consensus.
I love this quote from Keiper, “The path of least resistance will always be crowded with those who occupy half-numb, half-lived lives.” Commitment never follows the path of least resistance. Commitment will require you to step outside of your comfort zone and do the things you have never done before to become someone you have never been before.
Urgency Rule #14 – An initial decision, no matter how good, immediately becomes a prospect for an adaptive decision based upon new inputs. Be the best challenger of your own decisions.
How often do you challenge your own decisions? Be honest! In almost everything we do, we can do better. There are very few decisions that we make in life that would not benefit from asking these challenging questions:
- What do I need to start?
- What do I need to stop?
- What do I need to do more of?
- What do I need to do less of?
- What am I missing?
If we made better decisions and became just 1% more productive each week, we would increase our productivity by more that 50% every year.
Urgency Rule #17 – Proactive urgency is personal. If pursued with clarity and commitment, it will transform your work, your life and the lives of those around you.
There is that word clarity again. If you have heard me speak, you know how important I believe clarity is in everything we do. Lack of clarity brings confusion and lack of focus. Focus is what keeps you on the right path. Knowing where you are and where you are headed are the keys to getting there.
The question: Have you really committed to reaching your goals or are you still playing small and working through the path of least resistance?
The challenge: Choose a goal you are working towards and fully commit. If you are not struggling, you are not growing.
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I haven’t written about this topic in a while but thought today would be appropriate. Today begins another week long event that happens twice a year. The John Maxwell Team Live Certification event is like no other that I have ever been involved in.
There is huge added value for an incredible team, and of course teaching from John himself. This will be my fifth trip to the event and I will be joining about 200 of my returning friends and colleagues. In addition to them will be over 400 that will be attending for the first time.
I have been watching the posts over the last month reading about the excitement, anticipation and even a little bit of fear. John Maxwell has taught is that if you want to do something you’ve never done before, you need to become someone you’ve never been before. (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
That’s a pretty powerful statement if you ask me. Many of my teammates were already coaches, speakers, or trainers when they joined the team. For many others, these are areas they may have never explored before and were simply drawn to the team because of the focus on leadership and access to John’s wealth of knowledge on the subject.
You know I love questions! As my own level of awareness has increased over the last few years, I have become much more intrigued with the answers as well. There are always many questions at the live training event and I want to take a look at three of the answers that cover a multitude of those questions.
YES, AND …
Life is not black and white. It’s not yes or no either. I have experienced the value of taking a yes or no question a step further. Let’s face it – yes might be the right answer, but is it the best answer? I have found that yes can almost always be followed up with “and.” The “and” is the opportunity to add clarity.
And as far as I am concerned, we can always use more clarity. So the next time you answer “yes” – see if putting an “and” after it can get a better answer.
IT DEPENDS
Well many times it does depend. “It depends” is a way to force a better question. It forces you to add some clarity in the question itself. A better question will always result in a better answer.
Our culture has put us into an immediate gratification mindset and when you think about it, all this has done is create an environment in which we grab the first response that moves us forward. The problem is, that sometimes that forward is in the wrong direction. Make sure you know what it “depends on” before moving on.
JUMP, AND BUILD YOUR WINGS ON THE WAY DOWN!
I love this one. It has all but become the mantra of the John Maxwell Team. So many of us let fear hold us back, and not only from the things we want to do, but from the things we were meant to do. I’m not suggesting we be irresponsible and take action without thinking first. I’m suggesting that you think first and then take action, even when it scares you. Like I said earlier, the only way we can do things sometimes, is to DO IT AFRAID!
Dieter Jansen, one of my teammates that I recently took through our 90 Day Success Roadmap program, posted this earlier today as he prepared to head north from Capetown, South Africa:
“Never been to a live event, never been to a think tank. I have so many questions. But being confused is OK once you get used to it. You meet such nice people along the way…”
How beautiful is that! What a great attitude! Isn’t amazing how things can change just from adding a little positive perspective and suspending the need to know how. Those are the words from someone willing to step outside their comfort zone. My prediction for Dieter … Success!
The Question: What question did you answer recently with “yes” and yes was only the right answer?
The Challenge: Re-visit that answer and add the “AND”
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]]>This month in The Platform Builders mastermind group we are working our way through “The Power Of Urgency – Playing to Win with Proactive Urgency” by William Keiper. John Maxwell teaches that the greatest gap is the gap between what we know and what we do. I believe the Proactive Urgency that Keiper is talking about can close that gap.
As soon as I write and publish this post, I will start on the final chapter of my new book, Leaderhip by Invitation – How to RSVP and Embrace Your Role as a LEADER, that will be available in April. I wish I would have practiced pro-urgency a little sooner in getting by draft completed.
Procrastination, or lack of pro-urgency as I understand more clearly, has plagued me all my life. Start a project and then start a project and then, you guessed it, start another project. But never getting any of them done. My greatest accomplishments always seem to come when I am under the gun.
I used to think that this was a strength, and I guess it can be at times, but the truth is that pro-urgency eliminates a lot of the “unknowns” that can creep up while attempting anything. Life happens fast, and sometimes what happens comes at us so fast we have to go on the defense just to protect our end of the field.
The recent Super Bowl was an example of a great defense resulting in victory. But that defense was calculated, well thought out and well planned. That defense used pro-urgency to prepare and produce.
The lack of pro-urgency results in a defense that is fighting for it’s life. This defense is reacting instead of responding and it shows. My experience has been that although this type of defense can function, and even function well, they forfeit the opportunity to make adjustments for the unknown and unplanned events that happen. Basically, it limits your ability to stay in control and be flexible.
“It is important that you get clear for yourself that your only access to impacting life is action.” – Werner Erhard (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
In this, the second of three posts, I want to offer up Keiper’s thought provoking take on the idea of Proactive Urgency. Keiper ends each of the 17 chapters with an “Urgency Rule” and I want to highlight a few to set the frame for the rest of the book.
Urgency Rule #9 – There is power, clarity and efficiency in creating and consciously attending to distinctions. You can see what you need to see, when you need to see it.
The noise and clutter that we face everyday overwhelms our senses and numbs our ability to focus. Pro-urgency provides the clarity to cut through all that noise because we know what we want before we need it. That way, when the time comes that we need it, we already know what it is.
Urgency Rule #10 – The future of a moment ago has arrived. You bring it your perfection along with your uniqueness. Make it your mission to leverage your uniqueness starting immediately.
You should be using your uniqueness as an advantage over everyone else. The things that make you different are exactly the things that will let you stand out in the crowd. All you need to be is 1% better or faster than the next guy to have an advantage.
Urgency Rule #11 – Security is mainly illusory. Remember Helen Keller’s words: “Avoiding danger is typically no safer in the long run than outright exposure.” Practice leaving your comfort zone.
If you want to do something you’ve never done before, you need to become someone you’ve never been before. The only place you will find that is outside your comfort zone. And the time to leave is now!
The question: What is it that you know you need to do, but haven’t because it will require you to step outside your comfort zone?
The challenge: STEP!
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Click here to get a copy of my Kindle Book “The Manifesto Of An Influential Leader”
Join me on the STOP CHALLENGE CHOOSE 12 week health transformation
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This was one of those blog titles that I plugged in a few weeks ago because I thought it would be a good topic for one of my upcoming posts. As I opened up wordpress to start in on the post I had to laugh. This is a picture of my desk at the exact moment I logged in. Appropriate subject? Ya Think!
I have been very transparent about my “comfort zone” when it comes to my work space. Most of my life, I have had a million things going on, finishing very few of them in a timely manner, but feeling achievement by getting lots done. Right? I guess it’s a matter of perspective. Checking 30 items off your list in one day may appear to be a huge success. But if you had three hundred items when you started the day, maybe not so much.
Being Busy And Productive Is Not Enough
I have learned a lot about the difference between being busy and being productive over the past few years and it has helped. In my defense, I have been working diligently on getting the draft done for my new book, Leadership by Invitation, and earlier today, I was pulling quotes from several different sources (as you can tell) but my desk still ends up like this at least once a week. I guess old habits are hard to break.
For the most part, I have turned being busy into being productive, but with that success (if you can call it that) I have come to realize that there is a new level in achievement. That comes form moving from productivity to effectiveness. Now you might think that these two words mean relatively the same thing. Well, not in my world. And here is why.
Success Comes When We Move From Productive To Effective
As I have focused in on living out my purpose – “building what matters – people!” – I have realized that we can be very productive, while at the same time not be effective at all. Huh? In my book, I talk about strategies and vision that produce results. These results are based upon a specific purpose. Do you see where I’m going with this?
I can be very productive, take out the trash, wood on the fire, shovel the snow off the driveway and so on. All of these are productive, but really don’t connect back to my purpose. Based on my experience, many people out there are lost somewhere in this state of confusion. They get busy with a list, over time that list grows (with many items serving other people’s purpose rather than their own) and they lose sight of what they really want to accomplish.
So what can bring clarity to all of this and help you maintain focus on fulfilling your purpose? In a few months you will be able to read the long version when the book comes out, but here is a snapshot for you that might help you get headed in the right direction.
How To RSVP Your Way To Success
Be clear on your VISION. What do you really want? If you are in a leadership position, and you are, what vision are you casting to those around you? Are you even casting a vision?
Once you identify that vision, you need to determine your role in achieving it. That’s right, your purpose. Identifying and understanding your PURPOSE is what brings additional clarity to the big picture and helps you to stay on task. (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
Now that you have a vision and understand your purpose in fulfilling that vision, you need a strategy to achieve that vision and fulfill your purpose. The right STRATEGY is what keeps your work not just productive, but effective.
Now that the strategy is in place and you are casting your vision and fulfilling your purpose, take a look at the RESULTS you are getting. If they are not what you identified within your strategy, make the necessary course corrections and stay at it.
There is a quick look at what’s coming up in much more detail, but I believe that even taking a little time right now to see how your current condition or circumstance fits into this framework, might just make a difference for you.
The Question: Are you being productive or effective?
The Challenge: Take a look at your activities and find something you are doing in which you can move from being not just productive, but effective.
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Here we are … “What I Learned This Week” Friday. Along with the usual stuff this week, I spoke with a handful of corporate executives, attended a few webinars and participated in a few mastermind groups. The theme this week in just about everything I did was CLARITY.
For me personally, clarity was the difference maker in my transition out of the construction industry. I mean it’s hard enough as it is to try and stay clear and focused when you only have one job. Going from one to another, and one that is completely different, produced a lot of fuzz in my vision for a really long time.
I think the most significant thing that was missing early on was guidance. I was trying to do it all myself and well, you can probably guess how that turned out. When I became part of the John Maxwell Team, I not only was connected to John himself and an incredible roster of teammates, but a mentorship team that has been invaluable in my successful transition.
One of my teammates, Kary Oberbrunner, who was coaching and mentoring in his own business took me a step further by introducing me to a framework that included an Overarching Vision, Purpose, Unifying Strategies and a Scorecard for Significance. If you want to know more about that framework, let me know, but the end result was gaining the clarity that I had been lacking that brought my world back into focus.
I said clarity was the theme this week, but it came in different forms and I offer these up to see if your world currently resonates with any of them.
I’m not sure where I am so how can I possibly know where I’m going?
You have to start somewhere, right? Well it only makes sense to start where you’re at. I have found that if you find yourself in this situation it’s because you’re lacking a benchmark, nothing to define your current condition. I love the idea of starting with the end in mind. Do you have a vision for your future?
Look, I will be honest, if you don’t know where you’re going then it doesn’t matter where you are. Knowing where you want to go allows you to establish what the difference is between the destination and where you currently are. A destination provides the clarity to map the course to get there.
I’m too busy to figure out where I want to go. I can barely take care of today.
I know some of you are in this category. I won’t pretend to minimize your current workload or responsibilities, but this I know – if you don’t know where your going, it really doesn’t matter where you end up. If you don’t have a plan, someone else will make one for you and if you didn’t know this already, they don’t have much planned for you.
Clarity doesn’t just happen. It comes from strategically planning out the steps you need to achieve a desired result. And it only starts there. Once you have that plan, you need to work it. Clarity is the glue that holds a plan together and makes it stick! (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
I’m not quite ready for clarity, I need to take care of a few things first.
Really? Doesn’t that, in itself, suggest that clarity is needed? The time for clarity is now. Remember earlier when I said BEGIN with the end in mind. Last time I checked, the beginning is usually the first part. My point is that the next move is your most important because it sets the stage for the rest.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need to take care of a few things before you create and implement a plan. Those “things” should be part of your plan. Start now with the plan you want to execute. Be strategic and specific with every move.
My guess is that you fit into at least one of these three scenarios, maybe more. This week I mentioned the gap between what we know and what we do. Clarity can close that gap.
The Question: Which of these scenarios are you currently in?
The Challenge: Before going back to whatever it was you were doing, take just 15 minutes and come up with one action item you can take immediately to improve your current condition or circumstance.
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As a coach, speaker, trainer and author, I strive to get results for my clients. My biggest challenge – it’s not up to me to get them. It’s not up to me to choose the goals or achieve them. It’s not what I want, it’s what the client wants.
My role is to provide a path to get there. In other words, I bring the tool box and we collaboratively figure out which tools to use and how to use them. Any project will require tools to complete. So which tools do we need?
A conversation I had recently with a client pushed me to take a look at the toolbox I carry with me and figure out which tools are required for any effort. A few thoughts crossed my mind. Do I have the right tools? Do I have too many tools? Am I offering the right tools for the project?
After reflecting on this idea for a while, I came to the conclusion that there are 3 tools needed to achieve success in any project we take on. I am certainly not suggesting that these are the only tools you will need but these 3 tools are the ones you better take out of the toolbox before you even look at the blueprint.
You Can Only Get Here From There!
TOOL 1 – AWARENESS
When I speak to people and ask them about their goals, I get all kinds of responses. Some are simply the “one-liner conceptual type” and others are full of detail and very specific. I love to follow this up with a question. Where did you come up with that idea? This is where it get’s interesting. “I don’t know, I just think that would be real nice to achieve that.” Or, “Well I want more than what I have now and that is more.”
Most people set their goals upon only that which they know. They never even consider that there might be options that they have not even thought about. That conversation I had allowed that person to enter into the awareness of possibility she had never thought about before. All it took was a few curious questions she had never asked herself.
Stepping To The Line Of Intention Is Only The Beginning
TOOL 2 – INTENTIONALITY
Nothing happens without setting the intention for it. Sure, life happens but I’m not talking about life happening to you, I’m talking about “intentionally” happening to life. Peter Drucker said; “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)
Drucker is spot on. If you want to achieve anything of significance in life, you need to be intentional about it. Do you think the Seattle Seahawk defense figured because they were the #1 rated defense this year, they could just show up to the Super Bowl and perform? Not hardly. I know enough about the game of football to know they were very intentional about everything that happened on the field in New Jersey on Sunday.
Who Are You When Someone Else “Is Watching?”
TOOL 3 – ACCOUNTABILITY
You need the awareness and you need to set the intention but without the tool of accountability you are simply rolling the dice on whether or not you will be successful. I am not saying you can’t accomplish great things on your own but let’s be real. If you could do it on your own, it would already be done and it wouldn’t be on your list anymore. Make sense?
The simple fact is we perform better when someone else is watching. If they are going to watch, they might as well call us out when we need it. Quit fooling yourself by saying “this time will be different.” The only way it will be different is if you make it different.
So I have a little different type of challenge for you today. Think about these 3 tools and then think about someone that you know that carries these with them. Go talk to that person and ask them how they use those tools to find success in their endeavors. You never know, they just might make a pretty good accountability partner as well!
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The post The 3 “Must Have” Tools For Success – What’s In Your Toolbox? appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.
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One of my mentors, Scott Fay, challenged me earlier this week to expand my thinking by focusing on one specific thing I learned throughout the week and take action upon it. This was a “double-dog-dare” so backing down was not really an option.
So here is the plan … Friday’s post will be dedicated to “What I Learned This Week” (WILTW). I hope you will join in with me on this. Friday’s I will deliver my take-a-way for the week and give a call to action as we head into the next.
As I look back on this week, there were several times when I was involved in some type of interaction – training, webinar, coaching, conference call and so on – that brought to light the “greatest gap.” The greatest gap is the gap between what we know and what we do.
It Takes Results To Get Results
Earlier today I was on a call with Paul Martinelli, President of the John Maxwell Team, and he made the comment “Doing Nothing Is Not A Result” and proceeded to explain, in detail, how we can’t expect any kind of result without taking action.
I made similar comments to two groups of John Maxwell Team members that I am leading through a 90 Day Success Program. We will finish this 90 Day journey next week and I told them all that after we attend one of the bi-annual Maxwell Certification events next month, I want to reconnect and discuss their “action plan” in moving forward. You know … that accountability thing!
Are You Still Getting Ready To Get Ready!
All too often, we get hung up on the “getting ready” piece of accomplishing goals and when you think about it – getting ready has everything to do with what we know and nothing to do with actually doing it. Don’t get me wrong here, preparation is a huge part of success, but you could be the most prepared person on the planet and if you don’t execute your plan, it’s all for not.
Here is where I think a lot of people get stuck in this. They set a date to accomplish something knowing that they need to prepare. The problem is that we assume that just because preparation comes before execution, the chronological order of things will take care of itself. The net result is that we hover in the “getting ready” phase and the deadline slips by because we are still getting ready.
Quit Doing Something That Get’s You Nothing!
So what did I learn this week? I learned that somewhere between knowing and doing there is an point where preparation stops and execution starts. Yes, I realize that most things in life continue to evolve and that we will always need to be preparing for what’s next, but that CAN’T be a reason to live in get ready world. I know that doing something that get’s you nothing is not the result you are looking for.
So here is what you need to do. There is something you are working on right now that has you getting ready and you probably have some idea of when you need to actually do it. Break up this omelette of activity into it’s original ingredients and put a date on each step. Write this down ==> On (fill in the date), no matter what state of readiness I am in, I am going to start. And them make any necessary course corrections needed along the way.
If nothing is what you are getting from your something, it’s time to make a change. (Tweet This / Share on Facebook / Post to LinkedIn)
C’mon people – It’s time to close the gap and start getting results!
***********************************************************************
Click here to get a copy of my Kindle Book “The Manifesto Of An Influential Leader”
Join me on the STOP CHALLENGE CHOOSE 12 week health transformation
Don’t miss a single post from Building What Matters by subscribing at the top left of this page.
Help support us by clicking here and Liking our facebook page
Barry Smith 1/31/14 photo by author © Building What Matters 2014
The post WILTW – Doing Nothing Is Not A Result! appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.
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