WOW!  So many emotions over the last few months as the dream of publishing a book became a reality.  The release of Leadership by Invitation: How to RSVP and Embrace your Role as a LEADER, has provided many lessons, many of which I did not see coming during my book launch.

As I put together my launch team, I really wanted to add value to them – the people who were willing to invest in me by promoting and creating a buzz around the release of the book. I had no idea it would become so much more than that.

I recorded videos and did a couple of special calls for my team with the intention of adding value to them.  I was able to talk a few friends and associates to give away some of their content as well to add the the fun.

Hats off to my team.  They blew away my expectations in sharing through their social media circles with links, comments and graphics.  I made a pre-release version of the book available and as soon as the book went live on Amazon, I was able to get several positive reviews.  Thank you Team.  I can’t adequately express my gratitude!

But it was the unexpected that really made this effort a success and it had nothing to do with the book – well not directly anyway.

Part of what I wanted to give me team was a “behind the scenes” look at how I wrote the book and why I wrote it.  I was overwhelmed but the impact that this had.  Inspired by my story, ebooks were published during the course of the launch and commitments were made by others to start writing their own books – or as I like to put it – “their own story.”

We all have a story to tell and I believe that story can help people – YOUR story can make a difference! [Tweet This]

In one of the bonus calls I did, I shared about where I got my inspiration to write the book and part of my own journey to start embracing my role as a leader.  The comments and conversations that resulted from sharing my story and my journey blew me away.  I never thought simply sharing my own experience could have such an impact.

I often use the phrase “The goal is never about the goal, it’s about who you become in achieving that goal.”  What I learned from this experience is that it can be much bigger than that.  Our personal goals can have a greater impact than just on us.

I have always been a big “story” guy, but I am more convinced than ever that more of us need to share that story.  It doesn’t matter if it’s in a book or from the stage – tell your story!  You can make a difference.

Look, I don’t know what your story is, but this I know: it needs to be told.  As much as your personal journey is unique to you, other people are facing the same challenges that you have overcome and you have the opportunity to make a difference in their life. The time to do it is NOW!

QUESTION TODAY:  What goals have you set?

CHALLENGE:  Make that goal a goal that will impact more than just you!

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===> LEADERSHIP by INVITATION now available on AMAZON <===

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Barry Smith  6/20/14   photo courtesy of Kendra Cagle   © Building What Matters 2014

The post What I Learned From My Book Launch – It’s About More Than The Book! appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

I guess my journey over the last few years has taught me that we miss out on a lot of opportunities and lessons simply because we don’t take the time to look around and really see what’s going on.  It’s amazing what you can learn when you start looking!

My brother-in-law, Scott, suggested that he and his son Sam and me and my son Scott go hit a bucket of balls at the local golf course.  Spring seems to finally be showing up and it sounded like a great idea.

We picked up our buckets from the clubhouse, filled them up and headed over to the driving range.  I have a set of clubs and have been playing golf on and off since High School but the lack of consistent play pretty much leaves me reinventing my game on an annual basis.

As I watched the others hit and began hitting my own bucket, I actually tried to focus on my swing and then it struck me that golf is a lot like most of the challenges we have in life.  I may lose some of you here, but golf is only a game, really, it is.  Some of us just take it more serious than others.

What I found interesting is that we can use some of the same principles in improving our golf game as we can in improving our life and here are four of them:

WHAT DO I NEED TO START?

Well, if I want to improve my golf game, I better start playing more consistently.  Dusting off the clubs two of three times a year does not a golfer make.

If I want to improve my life, I need to follow through more consistently and I’m not referring to my golf swing.

WHAT DO I NEED TO STOP?

Several years of slicing and hooking have centered my focus on trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.  I should be focusing on what I need to do right.

In life, I need to move away from deficit based thinking and focus on the assets I have instead of the deficiencies.  Making what I already do right better, will eliminate the bad stuff without even thinking about it.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO LESS OF?

Like many golfers, I spend way to much time thinking about the next swing.  Too many moving parts and too many options.  Limit the things to work on to one or two and take care of them first.

In life, it is no different.  Too many things I want to do, which translates to not doing any of them very well at all.  Less shiny squirrels and less options reduces the noise and clutter and brings clarity to any situation.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MORE OF?

Simple – create better habits.  Habits come from repetition.  Driving range, putting green and chipping from the fringe.  Practice, practice and then practice.

Now I realize life is not practice but this I know – the more I do something, the better I will get at it.  This goes for good things and bad.  What do I need to do more of?  The things that really matter.  The things that make a difference.

Look at that – a simple bucket of balls at a golf course and look what I learned from it.  A couple of questions to leave you with …

What opportunities are you currently missing out on in your life because you are simply not taking the time to notice them?  [Tweet This]

Maybe the more important question is what are you going to start, stop, do more of or do less of in order to see them and act on them?

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Barry Smith  4/25/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014

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Sure this book is about Starbucks, but it’s much bigger than that.  Michelli shows why Starbucks has become the coffee bean superpower of the world.  And it has nothing to do with the beans.  I guess that’s not entirely true, but their success is built much more around who is serving rather than what is being served.

I will admit, I have invested my fair share in the Starbucks brand but I never gave a thought as to what goes on behind the grinder, so to speak.  Michelli explores 5 Principles that give Starbucks the advantage over their competition and I for one, will pay much more attention to what is going on behind the counter next time I visit my local Starbucks.

Definitely a great look at what has made Starbucks so successful, but at the same time, the bar has been set very high for them to continue to live up to their reputation.

In this, the first of three posts, I will recap Michelli’s exploration of “The Starbucks Connection” and Principle 1 – Savor and Elevate.

THE STARBUCKS CONNECTION

The story starts with Howard Schultz stepping back into the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2008.  Schultz introduced his “Transformation Agenda” establishing a forward-looking vision that enhanced the companies established mission.  Michelli shares that:

“While the Starbuck mission was “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, and one cup and one neighborhood at a time,” the transformation vision set an energizing and rallying objective, “to become an enduring, great company with one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world, known for inspiring and nurturing the human spirit.”

Whether you are a fan of the coffee or not, I guarantee you will look at the organization differently after giving this book a look.  The investment that Starbuck makes in their people is impressive.  Their commitment is to not only continually improve the product but the way they connect with the customer.  It’s not too hard to figure out why your local Starbucks is always full.

PRINCIPLE 1 – SAVOR AND ELEVATE

There are many great quotes about the Starbucks philosophy throughout, but the message is consistent.  Connect with your customer and create an experience that will be remembered long after that last sip from the cup.

This is done by being passionate about your product and the service provided to deliver it and do it in a way that inspires the customer to share the same passion.  Here is a great quote that represents the Starbucks culture:

“We take the ordinary … and give it new life, believing that what we create has the potential to touch others’ lives because it touched ours.”

It is clear that Starbucks culture is built around both the customer and the product and it’s hard to tell which is top on the priority list but one thing is clear, they are completely committed to make both the best.

This is probably my favorite quote from this section of the book; “all business settings are a stage from which all experiences emerge.”  (Tweet This)  What if we all looked at our business that way?  People are going to pay for your service or your product or both.  The real question becomes, will they enjoy it?  The answer to that will determine whether or not they come back.

TODAY’S QUESTION:  Your brand is really a representation of who you.  What are you doing to use that brand to create an experience that will get your customer or client to share in your passion?

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Barry Smith  4/10/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014

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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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Barry Smith  3/26/14   photo courtesy of the Weaving Influence   © Building What Matters 2014

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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.

• Read Part 1 by clicking here
• Read Part 2 by clicking here

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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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Barry Smith  2/27/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014

The post The Power Of Urgency – Leveraged Action appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

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!

• Read Part 1 by clicking here

***********************************************************************

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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Barry Smith  2/12/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014

The post The Power Of Urgency – The Time To Act Is Now appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

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.

***********************************************************************

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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Barry Smith  2/7/14   photo by author   © Building What Matters 2014

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The post WILTW – Finding The Clarity You Need To Close The Gap appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

I have to admit that, compared to the rest of the world, I have had it pretty easy during my 48+ years on this planet.  I have always had my needs met and have had more than my share of wants.  I used to take this for granted but after spending a week in Guatemala last June, I realized how blessed I have been.

As much as I appreciate my good fortune, my reflection on my life has helped me to understand that I allowed that blessing to be a crutch at the same time.  I never really felt a sense of urgency growing up.  I never got into that mental or emotional state of despair that some would consider a place of urgency.

Because of that, I have struggled to apply a sense of urgency to really, much of anything in my life.  Don’t get me wrong, I have faced deadlines and situations where the pressure was on, but I always saw a path to the end.  I never realized how this was setting me up for failure.   Maybe failure is the wrong word here, but I have gone through most of my life assuming that things will simply work out and they usually did.

“We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential.” – Eric Hoffer  (Tweet This / Post to LinkedIn)

The real impact in this is that complacency and mediocrity, the status quo, became an acceptable outcome for me.  If you know me, you know that I have always had a strong work ethic and have accomplished quite a bit in my lifetime.  That being said, the idea of “Proactive Urgency” that Keiper describes in great detail was never part of my game plan and I realize now how much more I could have accomplished.  Never too late to learn, right!

In this, the first 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 #1 – Proactive urgency is purposeful, insistent, committed action pursued with a passionate edge.  It is an activist choice to access your deepest personal power for the creation of almost immediate transformation.

What would be on your list of items that you are purposeful in, insistent upon and committed to?  All I can say is I need a bigger list!

Urgency Rule #4 – The world has changed.  Our long-trusted external support systems are weakening.  Self-reliance in thought and action is critical for reaching your most important objectives.

Based on current statistics, the things that we could once depend on – work, family, education and religion are becoming diluted in today’s cyber-world.  Unfortunately, our ability to find strength in those items is becoming more difficult.  These were once the foundation of our existence and now they have become, for many, simply things that fit in when we have time.

Urgency Rule #6 – Choosing to act with on-demand urgency yields continuous, incremental advantages.  Think of pro-urgency as your edge in a competition – your life where winning by fractions always matters.

It’s true, the difference between winning and losing or success and failure in often found in the minor details.  The smallest of details do matter.  Just ask an Olympic swimmer or downhill racer.  A sense of urgency might just give you the advantage that makes the difference.

The question: Who do you know that displays this “Proactive Urgency” in their life that has resulted in success?

The challenge:  Go talk to them and find out how they use it and how you can apply the same principles in your life.

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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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Barry Smith  2/5/14   photo courtesy of amazon   © Building What Matters 2014

The post The Power Of Urgency – Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late! appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

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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Join me on the STOP CHALLENGE CHOOSE 12 week health transformation

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Barry Smith  2/3/14   photo by Author   © Building What Matters 2014

The post The 3 “Must Have” Tools For Success – What’s In Your Toolbox? appeared first on BUILDING WHAT MATTERS.COM.

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.