get by with a little help

Brant Secunda and Mark Allen explain how to Ask for help!

Train your mind to see possibilities, not limits.

We call this weight lifting for the soul. Competitive athletes and other high performers are often held back more by their negative emotions than by their mental and physical abilities. Practice letting do of thoughts that weigh you down.Instead of “This is too hard,” let the thought be “I have all it takes to make it through.” Instead of “This is a waste of time,” ask yourself “What can I learn right now?” Instead of “I don’t have the time,” ask “How can I make my next steps a success?” Lift the weight from your soul and let the positive aspects of life become your identity.

Remedy self-doubt and discouragement with an action.
We can transform “what ifs” simply by taking action. Action creates joy, hope, and positive thoughts, and sustains our health and fitness goals. A number of studies have corroborated the fact that exercise has a positive and significant effect on people with depression. The act of moving your body, and doing it consistently, helps to counteract negative emotions, such as self-doubt, that get in the way of your competitiveness.Bottom line: when self-doubt about reaching your destination starts to creep in and you feel you “can’t do it” or “will never get there,” there’s a simple remedy. Take action. Start moving. And do it consistently—every day.

Ask for power and energy from the earth.
At age 37 Mark went to Hawaii to defend his title as the returning World Champion, competing against other triathletes nearly half his age. In the bike portion, a 24-year-old German flew by Mark as if on a motorcycle. By the end of the bike segment he had amassed a lead of more than 13 minutes. Soon three others passed him as well. Mark was feeling defeated, discouraged, and ancient.And then he remembered a simple tip Brant had taught him. His body and soul were already in great shape. All he needed was a little help. “Everything is alive,” Brant had told him. “The trees, the stones, the earth. Call out when you need help.” He called out to the Big Island, standing over 30,000 feet tall from its base at the ocean floor to its highest point atop Mauna Kea. Its power is undeniable. Mark called out: “Help me! I’ll give it everything I have, but I need your help!” He began to gain steam. At mile 23 of the marathon, he finally caught the leader, three miles after that he closed out his Ironman career with a sixth World Championship title in a race that would go down as the greatest comeback in Ironman history.

Competing and winning are about more than working out and working hard. Learn how to develop a calm, confident, optimistic mindset bolstered by a balanced life. A fit soul, along with a fit body, will help you succeed at anything.

Plant, water, weed and focus

Ivana Taylor reviews Mike Michalowicz' Pumpkin plan


STEP 1: Plant promising seeds
STEP 2: Water, Water, Water
STEP 3: As they grow, routinely remove all of the diseased or damaged pumpkins.
STEP 4: Weed like a mad dog.  Not a single green leaf or root permitted if it isn’t a pumpkin plant.
STEP 5: When they grow larger, identify the stronger, faster-growing pumpkins.  Repeat until you have one pumpkin on each vine.
STEP 6:  Focus all your attention on the big pumpkin.  Nurture it around the clock like a baby, and guard it like you would your first Mustang convertible.
STEP 7: Watch it grow.  In the last days of the season, this will happen so fast you can actually see it happen.

Find that success in 2012

Cathy Caprino has some sage advice to those slogging through 2011 and looking for success in 2012.
 

Intensive Focus

Focus more intently on the top two or three areas that I most want to expand most this year.

Something from Nothing

In challenging times, all around us we see despair, confusion and a lack of hope and energy.  It’s contagious.  We also see businesses drying up before our eyes.  It’s scary indeed.  But success comes from being your own source of positive energy, from finding a way to internally generate your own authentic enthusiasm, energy, and excitement about what you do, even when outside forces are pushing against you.

Several years ago, my son came home after school and told me that his teacher asked the students this year to “be the change you want to see” (Gandhi’s beautiful invitation to the world).  There’s such a keen nugget of truth in that for all of us.  If we want success, joy, meaning and purpose to come to us, we must first be that — embody and live the principles and experiences of the success and fulfillment before they’ve been manifested.  That is how doors open to new success.  Energy attracts like energy.

Undying Commitment

The key is to commit yourself without doubt, without reservation, to do what’s required, yet to be flexible and not overly attach to what “success” has to look like.  Realize that you have vulnerabilities and gaps in knowledge, ability and vision, and continually work to fill them.  Believe in yourself, get the outside help you need as soon as you need it to keep growing and learning. 

Work in spurts

Tony Schwatrz explains spending and renewing energy

Professionals live today in a world of relentless demand. To meet their obligations, their default instinct - including mine, if the pressure gets high enough - is simply to push harder.

The problem is human beings aren’t meant to operate the way computers do: at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. To the contrary, people perform best when they pulse rhythmically between spending and renewing energy - not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

Unfortunately, rest and renewal get no respect in the organizational world. Most managers view the need for downtime as weakness.  The problem is that when their employees work without pause, they very quickly get decreasing incremental returns on each hour invested.

Just as I did, you stop thinking as clearly, creatively, and strategically, and you take more time to get less accomplished.

Though you may not realize it, you’re physiologically designed to operate in cycles of approximately 90 minutes, during which you move from higher to lower alertness.  These phases are called “ultradian rhythms.”

The counterintuitive secret to great, sustainable performance is to live like a sprinter. In practice, that means working with the high intensity, uninterrupted, for periods no longer than 90 minutes, and then taking a break to renew and refuel.

Context is the key to implementing any strategy

Credit card fraud is rampant so clearly retail establishments need to initiate processes that help to curb the process. However, do not let processes create a situation where you are generating customer resentment rather than customer advocacy. Everything is in context. If the credit card signature does not match the card exactly do not ask for a ID. A proper response would have been, "your signature does not match the card, do you have an ID?"   Provide a reason for the inconvenience or better yet consider the context of the transaction and let it go!

The business process in this case questioned a legitimate transaction and has now lost me permanently as a customer. So if the aim was to prevent fraud, it failed brilliantly. 

Being prepared is the best insurance

Jeff Haden's offers a lesson on how to succeed in uncertain situations

1. Build the basic skill. If being asked a question during a meeting instantly makes you anxious, your problem isn’t a fear of public speaking.  Your problem is you don’t know what to say — so you freeze.  Start by never walking into a meeting unprepared.  You know the meeting agenda, so always prepare for possible discussions.  Then think about two or three ways you can constructively contribute, take the plunge, and jump in.  When you’re prepared and confident about what you want to say the act of speaking is be a lot easier.  If it helps, write down what you want to say, and practice.  Then make it a point to contribute at every meeting.  In time speaking up will get easier.
2. Rework the basic skill. But don’t stop there.  Ask to lead a meeting.  Ask to present an idea.  Ask people if they have questions about a project or task.  Go to a Toastmasters meeting and speak.  Step outside your comfort zone; see comfort as a base to build on, never as an end result.
3. Practice for “What if?” Once you build decent speaking skills, the next step is to eliminate unexpected reasons that could cause you to choke.  What if your PowerPoint presentation locks up?  Figure out what you’ll do.  What if you get questions you can’t answer?  Think about how you will respond.  What if your 45-minute presentation is suddenly cut to 10 minutes?  Think about how you’ll shorten it to ensure your main points are delivered.  Then…
4. Visualize. You may never be faced with a power outage during a presentation, much less practice an outage, but you can think about what you would do.  And you can imagine someone tries to hijack your meeting, and mentally prepare how you’ll respond.  And as you visualize…
5. Create a mental solution pegboard. What will you do if you present an idea and it bombs?  What will you do if an employee challenges you in front of others?  What happens if you forget your place during a presentation?  Stick the answers in a mental solution bag and reach for the solution when the no-longer-unexpected happens.  While everyone will assume you thought quickly on your feet, you’ll know preparation was the key.
6. Benefit from close calls. If an employee almost touches on a sensitive subject, especially one you aren’t ready to address during a group meeting, don’t just walk away thinking, “Wow, am I glad I didn’t have to deal with that.”  What would you have done?  What would the best response have been?  Think through your options, mentally rehearse, and create a new solution bag for your peg board.  If something almost happens this time… guaranteed it will happen someday.  Be ready.

Isolation is not sustainable policy

The other side to Seth's argument is Dave's call to not attempt battle in isolation,

The first step is to recognize that the path to defeating fear does not lie with figuring out a perfectly safe answer. There is no guaranteed path. A common failing of solo business owners is to over-think their situations, hoping to work out a solution that guarantees single-stroke success. This approach virtually guarantees defeat. You cannot conquer fear with logic and reason, and you cannot win the battle in isolation.

The first habit to develop: reaching out. Business pioneers throughout history have one thing in common: they did not climb the ladder to success by themselves. Do you have someone you can call at any time when you are feeling doubtful and resigned about the success of your business? If not, finding that person (or people) needs to become a top priority. Take a look through the list of contacts in your cell phone. Who has a positive attitude and a resilient spirit?

Effrot without reward

Seth questions your motivation

There's an entire system organized around the idea that we're too weak to deliver effort without external rewards and punishment. If you only grow on demand, you're selling yourself short. If you're only as good as your current boss/trainer/sergeant, you've given over the most important thing you have to someone else.

The thing I care the most about: what do you do when no one is looking, what do you make when it's not an immediate part of your job... how many push ups do you do, just because you can?

Raise your luck quotient

Jessica Stillman explains,

Maximize Chance Opportunities Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, including networking, adopting a relaxed attitude to life and by being open to new experiences.

Principle Two: Listening to Lucky Hunches. Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. In addition, they take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities by, for example, meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.

Principle Three: Expect Good Fortune. Lucky people are certain that the future is going to be full of good fortune. These expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies by helping lucky people persist in the face of failure, and shape their interactions with others in a positive way.

Principle Four: Turn Bad Luck to Good. Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and often even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, do not dwell on ill fortune, and take control of the situation.

You might be thinking that Wiseman’s principles are all well and good, but that people’s ability to adopt them is basically a function of their personality and difficult to change. If you’re a worrywart by nature, for instance, can you really teach yourself not to dwell on bad fortune? Can control freaks learn to break their routines and embrace chance encounters?

Yes, says Wiseman in an article for Skeptical Inquirer (download the long, fascinating read here). In it he described operating “luck school” that actually had an impact on increasing participants’ good fortune:

I explained how lucky people… create good fortune in their lives, and described simple techniques designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. For example… without realizing it, lucky people tend to use various techniques to create chance opportunities that surround them, how to break daily routines, and also how to deal more effectively with bad luck by imagining how things could have been worse. I asked my volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises and then return and describe what had happened. The results were dramatic. 80 percent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives, and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.

Transitions

The transition between the breakfast and lunch shifts or the lunch and dinner shifts is always difficult. I would go as far as advising just to close down. The hand off is never smooth and the customer service always suffers.

If you are going to stay open during the transition than make sure that there is no downgrade in the service.

The need to sleep.

No one really knows why we need to sleep or how we wake up, however the when we miss sleep the results are startling. Tony Schwartz explains

So why is sleep one of the first things we're willing to sacrifice as the demands in our lives keep rising? We continue to live by a remarkably durable myth: sleeping one hour less will give us one more hour of productivity. In reality, the research suggests that even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a significant toll on our health, our mood, our cognitive capacity and our productivity.

Many of the effects we suffer are invisible. Insufficient sleep, for example, deeply impairs our ability to consolidate and stabilize learning that occurs during the waking day. In other words, it wreaks havoc on our memory.

 ...

What I've learned about those days is that I'd rather work at 100 percent for 5 or 6 hours, than at 60 percent for 8 or 9 hours.

With sufficient sleep, I feel better, I work with more focus, and I manage my emotions better, which is good for everyone around me. I dislike having even a single day where I haven't gotten enough sleep, because the impact is immediate and unavoidable. On the rare days that I don't get enough, I try hard to get at least a 20-30 minute nap in the afternoon. That's a big help.

Here are three other tips to improve the quantity and quality of your sleep:

• Go to bed earlier — and at a set time. Sounds obvious right? The problem is there's no alternative. You're already waking up at the latest possible time you think is acceptable. If you don't ritualize a specific bedtime, you'll end up finding ways to stay up later, just the way you do now.
• Start winding down at least 45 minutes before you turn out the light. You won't fall asleep if you're all wound up from answering email, or doing other work. Create a ritual around drinking a cup of herbal tea, or listening to music that helps you relax, or reading a dull book.
• Write down what's on your mind — especially unfinished to-do's and unresolved issues — just before you go to bed. If you leave items in your working memory, they'll make it harder to fall asleep, and you'll end up ruminating about them if you should wake up during the night.

Height and prosocial behavior

Linking height, escalators, views from airplanes or satellites help individuals be more cooperative

David Schroeder explains

Overall these studies show remarkable consistency, linking height and different prosocial behaviors -- i.e., donations, volunteering, compassion, and cooperation. While we may be inclined to think that our behaviors are the product of comprehensive thought processes, carefully weighing the pros and cons of alternatives, these results clearly show that this is not always the case.

How are you marketing Earth Hour

The opportunity to help the planet and your brand are rarely woven into one. Earth Hour is a convergence of all things good.

The moment before

Michelangelo's iconic painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel captures the moment before. Life, business and the universe are all about doing the right things consistently until the moment before everything changes.  



James Altucher posts about the moment before,

The moment before their famous walk across Abbey Road, Paul had to adjust something on Ringo’s collar. At that moment they were human. In the famous walk, which we’ve seen everywhere, they aren’t human anymore. They’ve become gods.

The outcomes are all uncertain. Life hasn’t changed just yet. You can be anxious for the outcome. Or you can relish the moment, knowing the preparation is in place. You’ve done all you can. Good things will happen.

You can say, “live life as if its your last moment before you die.” But there’s also, “live life as if it’s the last moment before you really come alive.”

Now you have to wait. If you did the right preparation, the moment will come. If you did the preparation with passion, with inspiration, with aspiration. Now you wait. Every day we have the potential for godhood, to be something that breaks us out of that fate. That careens us onto a path God had not intended for us.

Imagine you are Paul Mcartney right this second. You’re adjusting Ringo’s collar on his tuxedo. The noon sun is hot and bright and you’re uncomfortable in the clothes but every wrinkle has to be just right. You’re about to cross the street to make the famous photo for Abbey Road.  And for the last time in your life, you are 100% human.

Get what you want

Ivana Taylor explains,

Getting what you want is really just a function of three things:

1.  Being clear about who your audience is and what’s important to them.

2.  Taking the time to analyze the situation, design a solution, and craft a creative and visual presentation of your idea.

3.  Making it easy for your audience to say yes to your idea and take action.

Let’s go through the outline minute by minute.

:30 - 1:00 minute  

What’s happening? This is the first statement of the presentation – but it will probably be the last thing you actually write.  Starting your presentation with an authentic statement about what’s happening will get everyone on the same page.  After you make your “What’s Happening” statement, the little voice inside your audience’s head should say something like “WHAT?  How can you say that?”  Your “What’s Happening” statement should be no more than two or three sentences.

1:00 – 3:00 minute  

How did we get here? In this section of the outline, you get to prove your point.  This is the section where you place all your data, charts, and graphs. Don’t overwhelm your audience with numbers and tables.  Make the title of each graph what you want your audience to be left with. Instead of “2011 Sales By Region” use “Southern Region Exceeds Sales Goals." Your audience will thank you because they won’t have to analyze the data themselves and you can move on with your presentation.

3:00 – 5:00 minutes   

What will we do? At this stage, the little voice inside your audience’s head is begging for solutions.  Now you have them where you want them.  They are eager to hear your ideas.  Don’t let this opportunity go to waste.  Take the time to present your idea in a tangible, visible way.  Use props or demonstrations to engage your audience and get them living into the future of your idea in action.

5:00 – 6:00 minutes   

What’s the payoff? You have a great idea, but why is it good for your audience? That’s what they will want to know and you get to tell them.  Be clear and descriptive about the benefits.  Use lots of adjectives to describe how wonderful the future will be with your solution in place.

6:00 – 7:00 minutes   

How do we get started? By the time you get to this stage of the outline, your audience will be excited and ready to do something.  Tell your audience what you want them to do and make it easy for them to take action right away.  If there is something to be signed, make sure that you have the forms, the pens, and anything else that’s required.

Discipline to Cut Losses

The one thing that large organizations do better than quick nimble entrepreneurs is they cut losses in a discipline fashion. When a unit has not made it's numbers for (X) consecutive quarters, then the unit is shuttered, period. The metric is (X), the action is closure, end it, cut the loss.

Individuals on the other hand consider sunk costs. Sunk costs is what you have invested in the project already, be it financial or emotional. Those sunk costs cloud your decision making process. "I have too much invested in this now to give up", is the mantra that leads to success occasionally, however in most cases it leads to further loss.

There is a time to reap and a time to sow. There is also a time to cut the loss.

Nuturing the root

Jon Gordon offers this,

How about you? Do you focus on the numbers, the outcomes and the fruit?

Or do you focus on the purpose, people, innovation, culture and root of your success.

Always remember the amount of fruit we produce is just an outcome and measurement of how well we are nurturing our root.

If we take care of our root we’ll always have an abundant supply of fruit.

Ignore the root and say goodbye to the fruit.

Goal Setting 101

Forget 5 year plans. Forget 1 year plans. Start with 1 month plans, or 1 week plans or 1 day plans. Start accomplishing something today. Momentum will build on it's own

Different color coffee cups

When a person orders decaf coffee, he or she does not want to keep explaining the decision to everyone who comes around to refill the cup. How about using a different color cup or some other distinguishing feature, so that I do not have to explain that I want decaf?

Mindset creates reality

Jeffrey Pfeffer shares Chip Conley's wisdom about mindsets

I asked why he thought it was so hard for people to do things like networking that didn’t seem difficult and were clear paths to power. Conley said that for most people, networking, building social relationships with strangers at, for instance, events and functions, was seen as a task. That mindset held true for many of the other actions required to build power–they were tasks. Tasks, he said, are things like taking out the garbage. You don’t try to develop your “skill” at taking out the garbage, you don’t think much about it, you just do it and get it over with.

However, if you think of networking as a skill, then that mindset changes everything. Skills are things that can, and maybe even should, be developed. You think about how well you are performing skills, you work on getting better, you get feedback, you apply thought, you learn.

The implication of Conley’s insight: the difference between people who build effective networks and those that don’t, the difference between people who develop political skill and grow that skill over time and those that don’t, has much less to do with intelligence or charisma or charm and everything to do with how people see and define what they are doing–as skills or as tasks.

...

So here’s some practical advice: the next time you find yourself at some meeting or event, the next time you get what you think is a boring, trivial assignment, consider how your mindset affects your approach. Chip Conley is right–there is a big difference in what we do and what we learn depending on whether we define some activity as a task or a skill. As a consequence, our ability to build power and influence derives as much from how we think about our activities as from our abilities.