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Daily one-pagers about AI, leadership, technology, and being human.

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September 12, 2016 5 minute read

The Aha! Moment for Me in John C Maxwell’s Top 10 Reasons Why People Fail

FailureMindsetSuccess

The Aha! Moment for Me in John C Maxwell’s Top 10 Reasons Why People Fail

Change…Is it good?  Is it bad?  Are you willing to change?  Does change have an impact on our success?

In this post I share some more wisdom from John C Maxwell’s Failing Forward. Specifically, I will discuss the AHA! moment for me during the chapter where he describes his Top 10 Reasons Why People Fail.

That AHA! moment for me is….

Unwillingness to Change

This is another “look in the mirror” moment.  Especially for me…I certainly was (and likely still am sometimes) guilty of this on many levels, and I had to come to grips with the fact that in order to progress and move forward, maybe I did/do have to change.

Here are 2 great quotes that hit home here.  I can’t find an original reference for the first one:

If you change nothing, nothing will change

This 2nd one has been attributed to Albert Einstein, but I’m not sure he said it, or just implied the concept with his definition of insanity:

If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.

You see, our path is determined by us, and by our actions.  If we are unwilling to make a change, even if the path is not working out, then we can count on not reaching our goals.  It’s that simple.

There are 2 basic types of change, and one is easier than the other.

Willingness to Change Procedures or Methodologies

This is usually the easiest.  It means something like, “I tried this, this isn’t working, now I’ll try that”, or “Let’s try this new procedure from so-and-so because the one I’m following isn’t working.”  Many times, we actually embrace this type of change, because this type of change is not likely to make us feel inferior.

For example, let’s use changing the oil on your car as an illustration.  Assume you’ve changed the oil on many cars and know what has to be done, you just haven’t done it on your particular car.  You start by simply opening the hood and trying to dig in with some level of confidence.  You do this because you know WHAT has to be done (i.e., old oil drained, old oil filter removed, new oil filter installed, new oil installed), and you think there’s a good chance you can just figure it out along the way.  Let’s say you hit a snag in trying to get the old oil filter off due to its placement. So you go to YouTube and check out some “how-to” videos on your particular car and realize you have to (___________) first.  You likely have no emotional problem whatsoever just changing your approach and following the new procedure given by the video.  You don’t consider this change an affront to your ability, or your moral character, or your belief the “right way”.  You simply make the change.

Willingness to Change Beliefs and Self Awareness

Here’s where it gets interesting, but also where real growth comes.  You must be willing to revisit things that you believe in, or things you believe about yourself.  This can be hard, because unlike changing how you removing the oil filter in your car, you must look in the mirror and do some soul searching.  This type of change, or at least the act of revisiting these topics, can be VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.

Here’s an example from my own journey…Network marketing has been around for a long time, and there are many successful people who are very happy to coach and train others on how to be successful.  And there are just as many new network marketers (ahem….) that think they have a different (possibly better) way because the taught way is uncomfortable, or “not me, or (_________).  You may believe that you can do it your way, and possibly you are right, but if you would just look in the mirror, and realize that change is necessary, then progress would start.  Everything else is mostly spinning in circles.  You may never enjoy showing up cold to a networking meeting, or a social gathering filled with people you don’t know, or reaching out to people you haven’t spoken to in a while, but the magic is in making the change that allows you to do it anyway.

You must confront your belief, which is really just fear and resistance, and be willing and open to a change.

Very successful people typically subscribe to the tenet that you have to become COMFORTABLE being UNCOMFORTABLE. You don’t have to love change to be successful, but you have to be willing to accept it and take action when it makes sense.  If you are not regularly doing things that make you uncomfortable, then you are not likely moving forward.

Sometimes the “change” is started by a change of environment.  Many times that geographical or vocational uncomfortableness sparks a change, even a minor change, that pushes you forward.  How many times have we seen a professional athlete or coach simply change teams, and then start to have success.

So embrace the concept of change…take a look inside yourself…get uncomfortable…reach for the sky!

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please comment below, share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

September 7, 2016 6 minute read

3 Tips for Conducting your Home Business or Side Project so it Actually Progresses

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3 Tips for Conducting your Home Business or Side Project so it Actually Progresses (After the Initial Excitement Wears Off)

Has your side business progress ground to a halt?  Was it awesome in the beginning, but now you’ve reached a point where you can’t seem to get it moving again?  Or maybe it’s actually started going in the negative direction?

Whether you already have a side/home business, or you are looking to start one, here’s some important information to help you make actual progress past that initial time when the excitement wears off.  When we first get started, usually all we need is our enthusiasm to make progress.  That’s because you are excited and you’re happy to put time into the project.  It doesn’t seem like work.  Your vision is fresh, and your motivation is at the surface of your mind.  You like (or at least joyfully tolerate) doing ALL of the things you need to do (making phone calls, researching and reaching out online, scheduling and administrative work, etc).

But then it hits…either like a lightning bolt, or more often a bit gradually.  You find that you don’t look forward to doing all of the things you NEED to do.  You start taking shortcuts or only doing the tasks you still LIKE to do.  You start adding some of those distractions back into your life.  Then, inevitably, progress starts to slow…

This post provides you with some tips on how to conduct your home or part time business so it actually keeps progressing, especially once you’ve fallen off the excitement cliff.  The KEY to continuing, or restarting your PROGRESS is to realize you must treat your business like a PROFESSIONAL.  In a previous post I gave you some tips on the mindset and big picture stuff on the difference between an amateur and professional.

So if you are reading on, I’m assuming you’ve made the decision to be a pro.  Excellent…because that’s what it takes.  And just because you’re a pro, doesn’t mean you’re gonna kill yourself by working every hour of every day, nor does it mean you have to give up going to your kids’ baseball games and dance recitals.  You have to be efficient and focused with your time, sure, but there is likely room for improvement there. These tips here are really just helping you understand that your side business is a BUSINESS and if you conduct yourself professionally, that’s how you will make progress.

1. Get in the professional work mindset by committing to the work every day

You’re a pro, you want to grow a business.  That means you must commit to doing the work every day.  You cannot do it only when you feel like it or when you have the inspiration…that’s a hobby. Hobbies are awesome down time activities, and can serve as useful “productively unproductive” activities, but they are rarely income generating activities.  If you see this work as a hobby, that’s fine, just don’t kid yourself about the production.

Dr. J has an excellent quote on this subject:

Being a professional means doing the things you love to do, on the days that you don’t feel like doing them.

Commit to it every day…ESPECIALLY on the days when you don’t feel like it.  This is mindset, nothing more, and it makes all the difference.  If you don’t let yourself off the hook on doing the work, you will do the work.

2. Schedule time to do the work

Whether you’re full or part time, you must schedule the work.  Each day, find the time on your calendar during which you will be focused on this work.  It may be the same time every day, or it may be different times depending on the day.  Regardless, put it on the calendar, at least your mental calendar. For example, maybe you are writer and you know that everyday from 9-10 pm is your writing time.  Excellent, just DON’T schedule anything else during that time!

Here’s the next part of that:  during that work time, be 100% focused and committed to the work.  You are fitting work in and around other stuff in your life, you will have to focus.  And sometimes you must do this at the expense of fun or social time like going out to lunch or coffee.  Yes, you need downtime, but you must take an honest look and prioritize social engagements against your work.

3. Conduct yourself like a professional

Yup, even if you are working in your basement, or garage.  What does “conduct yourself like a pro” mean?  Well, its certainly dependent upon what you are doing, but I think you know what this means.  Here are some suggestions:

  • Dress and get ready as IF you are going to an office – OK, maybe you’re working in your basement specifically so you can work in your underwear.  Understood…but don’t under estimate the impact on your mindset and ability to focus if you have PREPARED yourself procedurally for the work. When you work at your day job, you likely get ready: shower, dress appropriately, coffee or tea, eat, commute, etc.  This procedure subconsciously prepares your mind to work.
  • Make your list for the day – Whether you have a fancy electronic app or system, or if you simply use pencil and paper, the daily list is critical to helping you stay focused, and prioritized, on the proper tasks.
  • Take notes – Be diligent about your note taking.  You are likely to be accountable only to yourself.  For some that’s the only accountability they will ever need.  For others, you are softest on yourself.  Note taking, other than the obvious benefit of helping you remember and organize information, will provide concrete metrics for you to look back on and see what you’ve actually done.  Part of knowing what has to be done, is knowing what you did.
  • When talking on phone or sending emails/messages, use your company name – Again this helps you be in the mindset.  If you are sending emails with your official business signature, from your official business email address, it reminds you that this is for real.  If you don’t have an official business email or signature yet, get one.  When you introduce yourself on the phone, use your business name:  “Hi, this is John Macdonald of johnmaconline”.
  • Apply daily routine concepts to your side business – Here is a post about how to have a successful day.

These three tips are simply helping you get in the proper mindset and routine.  You are pro, so progress will depend upon you acting like a pro.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please comment below, share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

 

August 12, 2016 5 minute read

How To Handle When You Don’t Reach Your Goals

ActionMindsetSuccess

How To Handle When You Don’t Reach Your Goals

Many of the messages and mindset training I’ve been sharing have been extolling virtues of failing fast, failing often, and failing forward.  I’ve also shared with you the importance of the racing mindset and setting goals.  Ultimately, wandering through your days without specific objectives setup to help you achieve your vision will rarely allow you to move forward towards your vision.  So you have goals and objectives, and you are taking the action, and then of course…inevitably, frequently even…you won’t be reaching your goals, because we are pushing for FAILURE.  Maybe it happens with a daily, weekly, or monthly goal, or maybe its one of your long term goals.  Regardless, you will miss the mark sometimes, and maybe frequently.  But that’s OK, as long as you know how to handle it.

As a quick aside…Remember that for daily goals you should be focused on your work and your activity, not your results.  Results are part of your big vision and the objectives that are stepping stones to reach that vision. You think about your vision, set objectives that mark the path to that vision, and then focus on the ACTIVITY that is required to reach those objectives, and ultimately your vision.

So how do you handle it when you DON’T reach those goals? How do you handle all of these failures and shortcomings, get your mind set straight, and still move forward?

Ask yourself 2 questions

The first thing to understand is that these are not ultimate failures unless you personally label them as such.  As long as you are failing forward, then there is no ultimate failure.  So how do you fail forward?  You ask yourself these 2 questions:

  1. Was my expectation unrealistic?
  2. What can I learn from the situation?

Was my expectation unrealistic?

If you determine that your expectation was indeed unrealistic, then simply reset that expectation.  Set new, more accurate goals, and then start working towards them.  Here’s an example pulled directly from my day yesterday.

I had set a goal of reaching out to and connecting with 20 new people on social media.  I had set that goal in the morning (as I do most of my daily goals) after looking at my calendar and thinking about the time I could allot to this activity.  I arrived at 20 because I was fired up, and ready to roll (see this post for why).  My method for reaching out and connecting is very personal in that I am not simply sending out form or copy/paste messages.  I am thoughtful about with whom I try to connect and the message that I send to each person.  The moral of this story is that it takes time.  If it takes an average of 10 minutes to reach out to each person, that equates to needing over 3 hours of time to hit the goal of 20 people.  I had not really worked that part out when I set my daily goal of 20.  Well, as it turned out, I only had about 45 minutes of time that I could spend on this activity, which should have been 4 or 5 people.  In reality, it was 3.

Looking back, my goal was unrealistic.  I wasn’t going to have over 3 hours, no matter what kind of day I had.  So I’ve reset my goals for today.  Today’s goal is 5.

That’s NOT to say that you shouldn’t be shooting for “unrealistic” goals.  You are a dreamer, you are shooting to make an impact, you can only become what you think you can, therefore, think you can be GREAT!  Sometimes, however, adjustment is necessary.  It is indeed an internal negotiation.

That’s how its done…reflect upon the realism of the expectation, and adjust accordingly.

What can I learn from the situation?

The cycle of ACTION -> FAIL -> LEARN -> REPEAT is the magical cycle that pushes you forward to your vision.

action-fail-learn

So learning is a big piece of this, and that’s all you do here.  What can you learn from the situation to help you make adjustments for tomorrow?  Take my situation above, for example. Not only did I need to reset my expectation, but I learned that given my method for reaching out, 20 in a day is only realistic on days on which I can commit over 3 hours to the activity.  I don’t have many days like that.  So what I’ve learned is that I either need to figure out how to be faster, or set my expectations according to the time I will have available.

I’ve learned how to improve my goal setting and what I need to work on today.  I’ve reset my expectations more realistically.  I’ve recommitted myself to reaching those new goals today.  That’s how its done.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please comment below, share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

 

August 11, 2016 5 minute read

The Most Important Mindset Training for Achieving Your Goals

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The Most Important Mindset Training for Achieving Your Goals

I had a mind bending “Aha!” moment today.  It was in my car on the way to the office as I was listening to an audio version of the book, “Go For No!”, by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz.  The concept itself wasn’t really new, and it’s something that I’ve been learning and putting into practice for some time now.  But the UNDERSTANDING of the concept was the “Aha!” moment because I realized that the training of the mind is IDENTICAL to the training of your body when it comes to FAILURE.

Training Your Body to Reach New Goals

How do you train your body to get stronger?  Faster?  Go farther?  You train and push to FAILURE!

If you are trying to reach new goals on the bench press, you create training sessions in which you do sets of bench press (and ancillary exercises) at a weight and number of repetitions at which you will FAIL.  And better yet, if you have a spotter, you actually go BEYOND FAILURE.  You use the spotter to help you push through that failure limit.  Then, with proper recovery, your next training session you do it again, and your strength has increased and your failure point is just a bit higher.  You are stronger than you were before because the pushing to the failure point of your muscles caused them to break down and the recovery period causes them to rebuild themselves.  When that rebuild occurs, they rebuild stronger!

The same is true for endurance.  When you are trying to increase your distance, you create training sessions that push you to and past your present endurance limit.  A training plan for a beginner marathoner takes place over many weeks and months, and it has you increasing your distance week over week.  You push yourself to your failure distance this week, and then next week, that failure distance is just a bit further.

Your body already knows and understands that the magic is in overcoming the FAILURE.

Training Your Mind to Reach New Goals

Achievement and success, especially if your goals are above your “current self”, is an exercise in overcoming your mind.  Sure, there are likely new skills you must develop and investments you must make and other procedural kinds of things to do, but ultimately its about your own mindset.

Successful people have been talking about the importance of your mindset and the need to embrace failure since the dawn of time.  Abraham Lincoln was by all accounts a huge failure before becoming one of the most influential men our country has ever seen.  Business icons, innovators, and leaders such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, and John C Maxwell are all on record discussing the critical role that failure had in their lives and projects.  In my opinion, one of the main tenets of Christianity is failure.  Christ’s purpose is to redeem us from our failure.

So its perfectly clear that failure is the pathway to success.  HOWEVER, its one thing to intellectually understand it from other’s points of view, and its quite another to get the concept on the basic, guttural and emotional level that it takes for you to BELIEVE IT.  Well, that moment happened for me today when I put together the analogy that training your body is just like training your mind when it comes to failure.

This resonates with me because I’ve been an “athlete” my entire life.  I’ve always been physically training, and I understand and believe from my own experience that training to your failure point is how progress is made.  So it makes PERFECT SENSE that your mind would work the same way.

If you start training your mind by pushing to your failure point, the following occurs:

  1. You get mentally tougher:  The more you fail, the better you get at handling it, the less you are afraid of it, and the more wisdom you can pull from it.
  2. You set yourself up to push farther next time: Your mind gets stronger, and when it gets stronger, your failure point is beyond what it was.

A New Paradigm for Measuring Yourself

For whatever reason, we seem to have been conditioned or trained to avoid failure at all costs.  Certainly this is my problem.  I don’t know if that’s due to external influence and training, or whether its inherently part of me, but its there.  Fear of failure is one of my deep inhibiting mindset issues because it feeds my fear of what others think of me.

So the new paradigm will be to seek out the failures…Fail fast, and fail often…Embrace the failure.

Embrace the Suck!

Success awaits on the other side!

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please comment below, share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

 

August 9, 2016 5 minute read

The Difference Between Knowledge and Learning

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The Difference Between Knowledge and Learning

There’s a difference between knowledge and learning?  Yup…At least connotatively in practice.  The purpose of this post is to help you understand the difference and why learning is what is going to help you have success.

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Definitions

(provided by New Oxford American Dictionary)

knowledge: noun

  1. facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject: a thirst for knowledge | her considerable knowledge of antiques. 
    • what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information: the transmission of knowledge.
    • Philosophy true, justified belief; certain understanding, as opposed to opinion.
  2. awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation: the program had been developed without his knowledge | he denied all knowledge of the overnight incidents.

 learning: noun 

  1. the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught: these children experienced difficulties in learning | [ as modifier ] :  an important learning process.
    • knowledge acquired through experience, study, or being taught: I liked to parade my learning in front of my sisters.

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Very subtle, for sure.  The main difference in the formal definitions is that learning uses the term knowledge in its definition, and also includes the term skills. The acquisition of knowledge or skills.  It appears that looking for the subtle distinction in the formal definitions is an exercise in splitting hairs.

The Real Difference and Why It Matters

However, CONNOTATIVELY, there is an important and profound distinction between the two.  To illustrate this, we’ll use some practical wisdom from a couple of superstar leaders and teachers.  Here’s what legendary coach Don Shula says about learning in his book “Everybody’s a Coach“:

Learning is defined as a change in behavior.  You haven’t learned a thing until you can take action and use it.

And here’s what legendary personal development teacher and leader Jim Rohn has to say about the subject:

Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge, let it lead to action.

The difference between knowledge and learning is action!  This was an extremely important concept for me to understand. I love knowledge and I love to learn.  I’ve been reading and “gaining knowledge” for all of my life, but it wasn’t until not too long ago when this distinction hit me.

Why is it so important?  Because when you are trying to move yourself forward, and achieve goals, LEARNING is what moves you down the path.  Learning is what can push you forward.  Knowledge may be useful at a dinner party conversation, but learning is how progress is made.

My Personal Journey and Results

What has been the results for me once I understood the difference between knowledge and learning?  This entire blog is filled with the things I’m actually learning.  These are the concepts that i’m putting into action and learning them.  They are not simply theoretical.  You can literally pick any and all of the posts in this blog, but some good practical ones that you may find useful are the following:

Conclusion

To achieve, to succeed, to move forward, your GOAL is to engage in LEARNING, not just knowledge.  The difference between knowledge and learning is simply action.  When you put your knowledge into action, that’s what puts you on the path to success.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please comment below, share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

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August 6, 2016 8 minute read

Are you Racing or Participating?

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Are you Racing or Participating?

Whenever you take part in or spectate at a 5k, marathon, triathlon, Spartan race, or any type of endurance event, there are two kinds of people that are contestants:
  1. Those that are participating
  2. Those that are RACING

OK, So what? Does it matter?  Why do I care? Isn’t participation what’s important here?  There are only a few people in each of these races who actually have a chance to place.  Isn’t it just as important to get out there and do it, even if you have no chance to place?

Well, that depends.  The concept of racing vs participating in an endurance challenge services a great model for life.  The distinction that I’m drawing here has little to do with the results of the race, it’s MINDSET.  You may indeed have no practical chance at “winning”, but that doesn’t mean you, and many others, aren’t RACING!  No matter what activity you take part in, you are always RACING against YOURSELF, and the RACING MINDSET is exactly the mindset you need to move forward, and progress, and achieve the life you want.

What’s the difference?

As I already mentioned, it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with your results on the scoresheet, i.e., it doesn’t have to be about “winning” or “placing”.   It’s all about comparing your results with your vision and goals, and the effort you are putting forth leading up to and during the event:

  • Your goal could be performance.  It could be performance in comparison to others (i.e., winning or placing), or it could be performance compared with yourself.  Maybe you are looking to set a personal best, or do better than the last race, or maybe you’ve been injured and you are looking to get back to a time that may be no where close to your best, but will be an accomplishment.
  • Your goal could be mastering the activity.  Maybe simply FINISHING means you’ve been racing, regardless of the time.  For example, I’m a runner and triathlete, but the races in which I participate are short: 5k – 1/2 marathons and sprint and olympic triathlons.  If I ever set a goal of competing in a marathon, just FINISHING will be a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT for me.  I will be racing simply by finishing.  The same would be true if I set a goal of 1/2 or full Ironman triathlon.  If I finish, I will have been racing.

The RACING MINDSET can be applied to everything you do:

  • Your business
  • Your career
  • Your health and fitness
  • Your family
  • Your life
Successful people…people that are moving forward…people that have set goals and are working towards them…they are the ones who are RACING, everyday.  At least racing in the areas that are important to them.  People who are racing are inspired, they’ve prepared and trained, and they are giving maximum effort during the training and on race day.
Sometimes, however, we’ve given the effort and we’ve trained, but don’t meet our goals.  At least not initially or at the time we wanted.  BUT…that doesn’t mean you aren’t racing.  It just means some adjustment is needed…either to the goal, or to the work and effort that has gone into the training and preparation.  In either case, make the adjustment and keep moving forward!  RACING is NOT just about RESULTS, its about MINDSET. Change your mindset about failure, and keep moving.

How to apply the RACING MINDSET to your life?

It’s actually very similar to the concept that I put forth in “Are you amateur or a pro?”.  It takes vision and goals, intentionality, discipline and effort.  Here is how to get the RACING MINDSET:

  • Find the inspiration and the vision
  • Have a goal or goals associated with that vision
  • Make a plan to reach that goal
  • Work the plan…everyday (the Slight Edge!)
  • Maximum effort, don’t let yourself off the hook…during your preparation and especially on race day!

This is how it’s done.  Find your vision, make the plan, and start racing.

A Case Study

Recently, I was at a Spartan Sprint race in which my oldest son was participating.  He’s a college student who is a good runner and in fabulous shape, but had never done an event that combined endurance plus strength obstacles.  On our hour long ride to the mountain for the race, I could sense his nervousness of the unknown, but I knew he was trained and ready.  He had no idea what to expect (except for the limited advice and coaching that I could give him from my previous experience), but he did have a definite time goal set of under 2 hours.  That was his goal since the time he signed up.

Now we’re at the mountain, all registered, and checking out what we can see of the course.  His start time: 12:30…the hottest time of the day.  Now it’s 12:15, time to slam the Preworkout and get into the cattle shoot and test himself against his physical and mental preparation!  As the 100 or so contestants in this heat were shuttled into the starting area, there was plenty of high-fives and fist bumps, as well as more than a few anxious faces as they stared up the grueling ski hill that was their first challenge of the race.  The announcements were made, the “Aroo!!’s” were yelled and he was off! He took off up the ski slope and I lost him over the first ridge.  I was so excited for him!

Unfortunately, the only way I could follow him was via sparse text updates until he got towards the end.  The updates were agonizingly slow, but finally I got news that he was heading to the buckets challenge, so I scampered across the mountain to see if I could catch a glimpse and get some pictures.  Sure enough, just before he got there, at about 1 hour and 35 minutes after his race start, not only was I able to watch him, I actually met him with some much needed water and Energy.  We spoke briefly as he rested for just a couple minutes and then he was off — “Gotta beat 2 hours!”

Now I was able to follow his progress in person over the last couple of obstacles.  The last tough obstacle was a mud slicked, ring traverse.  He got up on them, slipped off…tried once more and slipped off again.  His hands were simply spent, and could no longer hold on. So he ran to the burpee zone to get his 30 burpees in.  “How much time?….about 3 minutes”.  Burpees done…sprint to the mud wall to slide under and then sprint to the fire jump and the finish line.  I was so proud!!  Now spent, with hands on knees, medal around neck, and his hapless father bungling toward him, I hear, breathlessly: “Hey Dad…I think I may have done it…What’s my official time”? So we headed over the tent with the results…1:59:36….BAM!  He did it!

IMG_3734 IMG_3746 IMG_3751  IMG_3754

On the ride home, we stopped for some much needed nourishment.  As we got out of the car and closed the doors I hear, “Wait, Dad…can you unlock the doors again?”.  “Sure, what did you forget?” “My medal!  I’m wearing this the rest of today, to work tomorrow, and maybe all week!”.

You see, he was RACING!  He earned that medal and he had every right to be proud of it.  Regardless of how he did against the other people (he actually did quite well and came in 3rd in his age group), he had set his own goal, and he accomplished it.  If he had not set that goal, its likely that:

  • He doesn’t sprint in between the last couple of obstacles.
  • He doesn’t keep looking at the time to see where he’s at.
  • He doesn’t push himself beyond what he normally would.
  • He’s not nearly as proud of that medal.

That’s how its done.  You set the goals and then your mind helps you and pushes you.  Sometimes even beyond what you think you can ever do.  Now he already has new goals set for the next race.  He’s figured out that he could easily shave 10 minutes off that time with no change to his training, plus he knows for what he needs to train better.

Setting goals…making a plan…giving maximum effort.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Now get out there and RACE!!

 

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July 26, 2016 7 minute read

The 3 Areas in Which You MUST Invest in Yourself

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The 3 Areas in Which You MUST Invest in Yourself

Are you investing in yourself?  Are you placing a high enough priority on helping yourself grow and be healthy?  Do you know how to invest in yourself?

The one guaranteed positive return you can ALWAYS count on is if you invest in YOURSELF.  The INVESTMENTS you make in YOURSELF may be the most IMPORTANT you will ever experience.  Whether you have definite goals, or are simply trying to move forward in the best way you can, investing in yourself is absolutely critical. It is one of the most critical tools of being of becoming a pro, yet many of us simply ignore it as a selfish act, or worse, not worth our time.

The first step here is to be aware that it is NOT a selfish act.  Investing in yourself ultimately results not only in the betterment of your life, but in the betterment of the lives of the people in YOUR WORLD.  When you get better and move forward, you help others be better and move forward.  That can be literally materially, but it can also be socially, relationally, and spiritually. You give off this “betterment glow” that affects those around you.

There are several ways to be investing in yourself, and here I give you my top 3 ways.  In my opinion, these are the critical areas of self investment to help you become the person you want to be.  These are the areas in which you should place a priority for your time and financial resources.  When you do, the returns can be astounding.

Gratitude

Gratitude, an investment?  Yes, gratitude.  When you are mindful of the blessings you have, you are grounded and less inclined to be critical of yourself, or question your motives (although checking yourself and your motives is a good occasional exercise).  Being thankful helps you stand on solid ground when everything else around you may be unsure and unstable.  Understanding where you are presently helps you recognize and be even more thankful for the progress you make.

Do these 2 exercises everyday:

  1. Make an actual list of all of the blessing for which you are thankful.  Look at this list and read through it every day. As the days go by, add to it if you see fit.
  2. Every day find something new for which to be thankful (and write it down or not…it’s the thinking that counts).  It can be one thing, or maybe you have a flood of new things that day. What matters is you took some explicit thought time to find something new. Some days are easier than others, but you will see that you will find something new each and every day.

Education

Be a perpetual student.  What?!  Maybe some of you are saying to yourself, “I couldn’t WAIT for school to be over. I’m not going through that again.  That part of my life is over!”  OK, school or formal classwork is only one small way to continue being a student.  Investing in your education doesn’t have to mean “school” at all.  But continuing to learn is a critical self investment area.  You need to further your education and develop your skills regardless if your motivation is:

  • Current career
  • New or side business/career
  • Fitness and health
  • Hobby
  • General personal development

All of these require you to continuously develop your skills and knowledge.

What does being a perpetual student actually look like?  It’s actually quite varied, and the great news is you can pick the best method for yourself and the way you learn. It generally just requires a SOURCE, and then putting the information from the source into PRACTICE.  The source can be as simple as continuously watching and taking physical and mental notes of someone you are trying to emulate. Or it can be as formal as classwork or training.  The key is it requires actual practice and participation.  The learning occurs during the action of putting what you have SEEN into PRACTICE.

Here are some sources to kick off your self investment in learning:

  • Traditional Classwork: Self explanatory
  • Books, Online Courses, Video Series, Blogs, etc: This is the Do-It-Yourself approach and with today’s technology and ubiquitousness of source material, this is an outstanding option for the self-motivated.
  • Seminars and Training Events: An event at which you physically show up and participate.  If you’re not as self motivated, get around those who are, and you typically find them here.
  • Masterminds: Groups that get together specifically to discuss and brainstorm each others projects.  The projects are mainly business related.  Here’s a tip:  find a group where you are the “least-skilled” in the room. Then suck up all you can from the others.
  • Hire a Mentor or a Coach:  Sometimes the personal one-on-one is just what you need.  This is a very popular and effective approach in the business and health and fitness worlds.
  • Experience:  That’s right, your own experiences can be a platform from which you learn and move forward.  But you have to understand that the “failures” you may encounter are the KEYS to moving you forward.

I can’t stress enough that real learning occurs when you take the source material and apply it by putting it into practice.  The more you learn, the more equipped you will be to accomplish your vision and goals.  Life moves forward, and for you to keep up, you must move forward as well.

Health and Fitness

As I discuss in this post, you may have all of the money, and all of the time you need, but if you aren’t healthy, those don’t really matter. Your health must be good enough to do the things that you want, and therefore, you must absolutely invest accordingly.

Your overall physical health is made up of genetics, diet and nutrition, and your level of activity.  You are born with your genetics, but YOU can control your nutrition and your level of activity!  Do as much as you can. Most of us have ups and downs with our health, but be aware that your investment in your own health is always worth it.

Here are some of the ways to invest in your health:

  • Shop around the outside of the grocery store.  The reality is that the food that is BEST for you is the food that is closest to its natural form.  You find this food in the produce section, the meat department, and the dairy section. Sure, there are debates about meat and dairy, and these are healthy debates, but that is not the point here.  The point is to basically stay away from the middle of the grocery store because that is where all of the PROCESSED and PREPACKAGED “food” is found.  A general rule would be “the more processed, the less healthy”.
  • Take the proper nutrition supplementation. Even if you CAN get all of what your body needs from your food, 99% of us don’t from a practical standpoint because we don’t actually eat all of what we need.  Plus, if you are using regular prescription medication, there is almost a guarantee that you are depleting some of your nutrients.  You can make up for a nutritional deficiencies by taking high-quality supplementation.  If you would like to learn more, please contact me anytime, I can help.
  • Schedule and commit to exercise.  Put it in your calendar every day.  It doesn’t have to be Ironman training or power lifting, but it needs to be something.  It helps not only your physical well being, but it helps your mental sharpness and creativity as well. 

Investing in yourself is a GUARANTEED RETURN.  And make sure you are investing at the level of where you WANT TO BE, not just where you are today. That investment shapes not only who you are today, but who you will be in the future.  It can literally be the one thing that makes the difference between living the life you want, or not.  So invest for the future, invest for the now…do it!

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

 

 

July 14, 2016 3 minute read

1 Simple and Powerful Tip to Help Make Your Workdays More Productive

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1 Simple and Powerful Tip to Help Make Your Workdays More Productive…and Your Time Off More Enjoyable

Are you looking for a simple strategy to make you more productive today that doesn’t require a complete mindset shift, or total revamping of your daily routine, or getting over fear?

Here I’ll give you one!  An EASY to APPLY concept that literally takes NO MINDSET SHIFT or months of working at NEW HABITS or an overhaul to the way you currently conduct your workday.

The magic behind this strategy lies in keeping your WORK tasks BUBBLING and STEWING in your SUBCONSCIOUS so when you get cracking the next day, your brain is already firing.  One of the main keys to having a successfully productive day is to get it started in the proper mental state.  The tip I share here is simple and easy, and also one of the most effective for doing just that.  On the surface it may seem counterintuitive, but it does really work.

Here it is:

If tomorrow is a workday, make sure you end today in the middle of something.

That means if you finish something towards the end of your workday, make sure you start something new.  Even if it is literally just starting and not making any significant progress.  It’s not the progress that matters, its the fact that you’ve left something unfinished. When you leave a task unfinished, it percolates in your subconscious.  This helps you wake up with purpose tomorrow, and waking up with purpose is the key to kick off your day properly.

If we leave the day having finished something, especially something big, our mind really disengages. This causes us to have to shift the gears the next morning and we spend extra time and effort getting our brain engaged.  When we end the day in the middle of a task, we are more likely to pick it up first thing the next day with energy and a clear mind.

Here’s the bonus…Do the OPPOSITE on the days before your time off.  When getting ready for the weekend, or a vacation period, make sure you finish something, even something small.  Always end those days with the satisfaction of having cleared the plate of at least one thing.  This allows your mind to disengage and relax.

Think about this in your own life. How many times have you started your workday already running because you’ve been thinking about something since yesterday?  And conversely, how many times have you found yourself on the day before a vacation scurrying to get as much complete as possible because you don’t want to think about it on the vacation?  You already know this principle, you just have to be conscious of doing it.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

July 12, 2016 3 minute read

How to Change Your Mindset on Self-Doubt and the Fear that Results From It

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How to Change Your Mindset on Self-Doubt and the Fear that Results From It

Are you DOUBTING YOURSELF?  Do you feel the Resistance and the fear that emanates from this doubt?  Is this one of the things that is holding you back?

If so, don’t worry, you are by no means alone.  Most people at some point doubt themselves.  This has got to be one of the most debilitating types of fear because it’s 100% inward.

There is a way, however, to OVERCOME IT…well, at least understand it, and then use that understanding to start taking action.  And its the action that ultimately provides the solution for overcoming the fear.

For this message we are pulling more wisdom on fear and resistance from Stephen Pressfield’s “The War of Art”.

The KEY to UNDERSTANDING the self-doubt which leads to the fear lies in knowing that you must CHANGE your MINDSET about that self-doubt. Here’s how you change your mindset:

You simply start to think of that self-doubt as an ALLY!  What?  That’s right, an ally.  In reality, your level of confidence and fear are actually an ally, because these give you an explicit indication of exactly what you should be doing.  What you should be STARTING.

Most of us spend our lives walking and running away from that which we are afraid. But what we learn here is that to make an impact, to make the impression that only YOU can make, you’ve got to turn that thought process around and start walking towards those things.  Your level of self-doubt and fear is the INDICATOR of what you HAVE to do.  The more you doubt yourself, the more important it is that you do it.

It’s not easy…you’re low level of confidence and high level fear will ensure that.  However, take heart, that you at least know WHAT you should be doing.

Mr. Pressfield has a great quote about using this self-doubt and fear and the indicator:

The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident.  The real one is scared to death.

He’s saying that over confidence does not lead down the proper path.  The proper path is lit by your self-doubt and paved with the fear.  Embrace it, because it’s likely that the big ways in which you can make an impact, are also the things with which you have a healthy amount of self-doubt.

That’s the key to how you change your mindset.  First, its the awareness that your level of self-doubt is an INDICATOR of what YOU SHOULD BE DOING.  Then, you embrace the fear and start taking the action.

Get out there and be afraid!

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

 

 

July 11, 2016 5 minute read

A Mindset Shift on Money That Will Empower You

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A Mindset Shift on Money That Will Empower You

Is your view of money secretly holding you back from achieving your dreams?  Mine was for sure, until I had a mindset shift.  To be honest, the shift was really a gradual awakening rather than a particular event.  Here I will share with you that shift, and why it’s made all of the difference.

I’ll start with a story about the genesis of my initial view on money.

I was in college, but I honestly don’t remember the exact moment. I do, however, remember the exact sequence of thoughts that led me to my view on money in my younger years.  I think it is quite normal for all of us when we are at this age, no matter if you go to college, or to the military, or simply start working, to start figuring out our thoughts on career, life, and what it all means.  I was an engineering student and wrestling with figuring out “what I want to be when I grow up”.

I remember pretty vividly arriving at the following thought sequence (Full disclosure here: I am a Christian and my worldview and moral compass are firmly shaped by that position):

  1. There is a finite amount of money in the world
  2. The only way to get MORE for YOURSELF is to TAKE it from SOMEBODY ELSE
  3. I don’t have the right to TAKE anything from ANYBODY else, especially money
  4. More money is BAD

So…money is bad…that’s where I started out.

But here’s the thing, over the 25 years of my life since then, I’ve seen many people who have had the financial resources to:

  • Make a difference as a significant donor and/or investor
  • Live life as they choose in a moral way
  • NOT be destroyed by it

So…more money can be good? Hmmm…

Since my initial thoughts were formed those many years ago, I’ve been trying to coalesce the two seemingly incongruous concepts. BUT…over time I think I’ve figured it out, and I see that my initial view was so simplistic.  The shift in my mindset was this:  MONEY is simply a physical, tradable RESOURCE that is a representation of VALUE.

And guess what: VALUE is INFINITE!

Why is VALUE INFINITE?  Because there is literally no end to the amount of value that can be provided.

Here are some things that have VALUE:

  • Physical things like natural resources and man-made products. I guess that you could argue that there is a finite limit to physical items (maybe, but I’m not convinced…at least not a practical limit), and therefore, the value is finite as well.

But…

  • How about knowledge and the teaching of that knowledge?  What is the value of that?  It is INFINITE! There is literally an infinite amount of knowledge to be gained as well as the teaching of that knowledge.
  • How about creative endeavors like stories, poetry, music, painting, etc? Also INFINITE, with infinite collective value.
  • How about software?  Also INFINITE.  There is literally no end to the amount of software that can be developed.
  • How about your health?  To you, the value of your health is INFINITE!

Here’s the empowering part of this mindset shift…

When you are providing real value, you will likely receive some sort of compensation in exchange.  One form of that compensation is money.  There are other forms, of course, but money is certainly a popular one.  If someone has received value, and is providing compensation, they are providing it FREELY.  They are GIVING it.  They are GIVING, and you are RECEIVING.

When your mindset changes from trying to TAKE or GET MONEY to providing VALUE and RECEIVING commensurate COMPENSATION, then the whole world opens up for you.  Now you realize that when you have noble goals, money is just one of the resources you are likely to require in your quest to achieve them.  You realize that money is just a thing that you need to accomplish a vision. Depending upon your vision, you may need more, just like you may need more wood and nails to build the deck.  Your goal isn’t more wood, your goal is the deck.  Same with money. Set your sites on the vision, and view money as just one of the required resources.

Here’s an outstanding side effect of this mindset.  It fosters the GIVING and RECEIVING cycle in the world!   Most people who view money and other resources as something they have RECEIVED, are the very ones who are happy to be GIVERS in exchange for value!  It seems that in the world today, we’re constantly trying to “break the cycles”, but here is one that we should be actively trying to foster and encourage.  And it’s a natural side effect of this mindset.

So go on a mission to provide value, and freely receive compensation.

I hope this helped you in some way, and if so, please share it with others, and please connect with me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and the experiences you’ve had as well.

Have a great day!

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