by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Productivity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 27 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: 5 kinds of restorative breaks
— From WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink
One of my favorite authors is Dan Pink (Drive, To Sell is Human, A Whole New Mind, and other books), so I was ecstatic when I heard that he was going to be in New York (he lives in Washington, D.C.). I went to an event organized by Grand Central Tech and had the joy of meeting Pink and hearing him talk about his latest book, WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.
In his very charming style, Pink regaled us with the many stories, insights and research findings included in his book. Needless to say I got a copy, which I immediately started reading!
One of the things that he said during his talk is that we need to take more breaks. It specifically struck me the way he stated it: “professionals take breaks, amateurs don’t.” What he meant was that all of us who think that taking a break during the day is going to slow us down (I’m the first one here and so guilty of this—you can find me many times eating lunch at my desk to try to respond to a few more emails …) are not accomplishing as much as the professionals who have tested and proven to themselves that breaks are restorative to our mood and performance, replenish our energy and make us more productive.
But what kind of break should we take? In his book, Pink offers five kinds of restorative breaks:
- Micro-breaks. “A replenishing break need not be lengthy. Even breaks that last a minute or less—what researchers call micro-breaks—can pay dividends.” You might want to consider giving your eyes a break from the computer screen every 20 min and focusing on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds (this is called the 20-20-20 rule). Or consider getting a very small water battle so that when it runs out frequently you can get up to refill it and that way you move, hydrate and take a micro-break. Or you can stand up and shake arms and legs, rotate your core and then sit down again.
- Moving breaks. Since our lifestyle/work is quite sedentary, “build more movement into your breaks.” You can take a 5-min walk every hour, do office yoga poses at your desk, or sneak in a few push-ups.
- Nature breaks. “Study after study has shown the replenishing effects of nature. What’s more, people consistently underestimate how much better nature makes them feel.” Walk in nature (say, a park) if you can, or simply go outside (if your place of work has a little green space with trees or lawn and a bench, “sit there instead of inside.” Remember the quote by Ramon Inmon: if you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”
- Social breaks. “Don’t go it alone. At least not always. Social breaks are effective, especially when you decide the who and how.” Pink suggests calling someone and catching up for five or ten minutes, plan to walk regularly with some colleagues that you like, or don’t schedule it at all if your calendar won’t allow for it. “Buy someone a coffee one day this week. Bring it to her. Sit and talk about something other than work for five minutes.”
- Mental gear-shifting breaks. “Our brains suffer fatigue just as much as our bodies do.” Pink recommends giving our brain a break by trying meditation (doesn’t have to be long, 3 minutes will do), controlled breathing (45 seconds) or lighten up by watching a funny video or listening to a funny podcast, etc.
ACTION
TODAY: Stop reading this now and go take a restorative break! 🙂
FUTURE: Build breaks into your schedule. As you saw, they don’t have to be lengthy, they just need to be powerful enough to take your mind off from what you are doing. Breaks also provide the bridge between a finished task and the beginning of the next. Build the habit of incorporating breaks into your schedule and soon you’ll be working like a pro!
Know someone who needs to take a break?Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 48 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: The Hour of Power
— From The Art Of Less Doing: One Entrepreneur’s Formula for a Beautiful Life by Ari Meisel (read 2 chapters for free)
Ari Meisel, is an entrepreneur, author, CEO, real estate developer, green building consultant, and productivity expert according to Wikipedia. But he is much more than that: he is a driven, solution-finder, and goal-achieving entrepreneur extraordinaire who turned his life and his health around, and overcame the insurmountable (here’s his TED Talk). He managed to cure himself from Crohn’s disease—which is deemed incurable—and he turned the lessons he learned, especially in areas of mindset and productivity, into a replicable process that anyone can follow. When he was very sick, there were days in which he could not work for more than one hour, so he had to find a way to get things done in an ultra efficient way.
In The Art of Less Doing, he talks about the hour of power: “every day, each one of us has roughly a ninety-minute period of peak productivity. This peak period is when you are able to produce your best work, but it is also the time frame within which you can most easily get into a work mode. […] If you identify that time, respect it and use it effectively to focus, you should be able to be two hundred times more effective than during any other time of the day.”
The hour of power is different for each one of us. For some may be at 4 am and for others 4 pm; or it may come at 10 am or 8 pm. Regardless of when your hour of power is, schedule it and keep it distraction-free so that you can fully immerse in it and achieve flow. (Flow: definition, TED Talk.)
But what about when it’s not your peak time?
“Just as we all have an hour of power in our days, we also all have a brain-dead part of the day.” Meisel quotes David Allen, the author of the famous productivity book Getting Things Done who has a “brain-dead” list of activities that you can accomplish when you’ve exhausted your mental capacity to function at a high level.” Chores that don’t require too much brainpower, such as doing laundry, folding clothes washing dishes, and a myriad of other personal and professional things can be achieved even when we’re not at our best. The important thing is to acknowledge that none of us are on all the time, but that we can still make the most out of every period of time, whether it’s a peak or a valley.
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin
ACTION
TODAY: Look at the way in which you work today and how your mind and body feel: are you easily distracted or are you in flow? This is a great start for finding out when your hour of power is.
FUTURE: Continue to monitor your mind and body at regular intervals throughout a week. This will help you further pinpoint your hour of power as well as your “brain-dead” times. Schedule your hour of power accordingly and honor it fully. You’ll be glad you did once you start seeing the results of your newly added productivity streaks.
Know someone who needs help to find their hour of power? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 48 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: Running ahead of the pack
— From Common Sense Leadership: A Handbook for Success as a Leader by Roger Fulton
Leadership guru John C. Maxwell says that if you think you are leading but nobody follows, you’re just out for a walk. So true. Leaders owe their title and position to their followers. Despite leaders being at the front of the line, they should never forget that there are followers right behind.
In Common Sense Leadership, Roger Fulton has this to say about running ahead of the pack:
Leaders are a little more progressive.
A little more innovative.
A little more creative.
They take that extra step.
Spend a little more effort.
Get a little more accomplished.
Get a few more results.
They get promoted a little sooner.
However, they can’t run too far ahead of the pack.
They need support from others to be successful. If they’re too far ahead, others can’t keep up. If others can’t keep up, they can’t help their leaders if they encounter trouble.
So, unless you want to go it completely alone, keep ahead, but not too far ahead.
Perhaps we need to reconsider the phrase and, instead, run with the pack. I’ll leave you with this African proverb as food for thought: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the many instances in your life where you lead, both professionally and personally. Where are you going way too fast? Where do you need to slow down and catch up with those that you are leading? Conversely, where are you going too slow? What are the changes that you need to make?
FUTURE: As you embark on new leadership projects, think of your followers and the community that you want to build around each project. What are the expectations among the people you will lead? How about you: what are your expectations? Are both sets of expectations compatible? What are the constraints? What are the opportunities? Where do you want to take the project and in what timeframe? Make sure you are all on the same page so that you can be successful together. Remember that you, as a leader make all the difference!
Know someone who is running too far ahead of the pack? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 18 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: Find your unique genius
— From The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work the Way You Like. Have the Life You Want. by Elaine Pofeldt
Elaine Pofeldt writes about one-person businesses that break the seven-figure revenue mark for Forbes.com. In her recent book, The Million-Dollar One-Person Business she shares the insights from her research, as well as lots of stories from entrepreneurs who have achieved this goal. The book is a great crash course on how to make it happen, with plenty of advice and resources, and she leaves no stone unturned.
One of the concepts that I liked very much—because it can apply to all walks of (business) life—is that of finding your genius or your unique marketable skill. Many people believe that “they can succeed only in marketing expertise that is tied to what they studied in school or do for a living. Those avenues can offer you exciting possibilities, but there may be many more options available to you.” Whether you are starting a business or a new job, or you just want an additional stream of income, or you don’t aspire to any of this, Pofeldt offers a set of questions designed to help figure out what matters to you and how you can go about finding your genius.
- “What niche areas of your work do you have a special passion for—and a deep knowledge about?”
- “What hobbies and personal interests do you read and learn about constantly, because you genuinely enjoy them?”
- “Which of your endeavors generate the most curiosity among the people you meet? These may be activities like home-schooling, urban farming, teaching abroad, or other pursuits the average person may not have had a chance to try.”
- “What challenges and problems have you addressed successfully in your own unique way after doing thorough research? These may be ‘good’ problems like decorating a small house on a budget, or serious ones, like addressing a child’s illness through alternative healing modalities.”
- “What roles do you play in your personal life—parent, caregiver, coach, neighbor, mentor, volunteer—that have given you unique knowledge that might benefit others?”
- “What situations have you been unwittingly thrust into that gave you a fresh perspective on an issue people care about?”
- “What trends do you know abut that other people have yet to discover?”
As you can see, all these questions help us figure out what we’re good at, above and beyond our most visible expertise and experience (college, business). This will open up possibilities for you and will enable you to see yourself in a more positive light.
“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.” — Thomas Berger
NOTE: If you happen to be in New York this Thursday, May 3, 2018, I’m organizing an event with Elaine at the Business Library. She will moderate a panel with some of the entrepreneurs featured in her book. It’s free. Find out more and register here. If you are not in NY but want to watch it online, it will be livestreamed via Facebook.com/NYPLBiz from 6-7:30 PM (U.S. Eastern Time) or you can always catch it later on the video section of that page.
ACTION
TODAY: Go through the set of questions above. What new things did you discover about yourself? What had you forgotten? What did your memory bring up that you had not considered a skill or an asset before? This is such a worthy exercise, especially because we sometimes take our gifts for granted. We don’t dismiss them on purpose, but we don’t necessarily acknowledge them as gifts because they come to us so easily that we think they’re normal and that everyone else is the same. That is your unique genius.
FUTURE: Whenever you are contemplating a new project in your life, go through the questions above. They will help you reflect on your strengths and gifts, and also on how you can bring your unique genius to the project for maximum success.
Know someone who needs to find their unique genius? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 47 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership skills from Sam Walton
— From Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies by Derek Lidow
Derek Lidow, is one of my favorite entrepreneurs. He was the CEO of a USD $2-billion public company, and left because he saw a need in the market. In truly entrepreneurial fashion, he decided to fulfill that need, founded iSuppli (a leading market research firm), grew it successfully and sold it for $100 million. Today he gives back by teaching, mentoring and writing. In his latest book, Building on Bedrock, he shares his insights on what it takes to be an entrepreneur with detailed stories—warts and all—of well-known and not-so-well-known entrepreneurs to illustrate the who, what, when, where, how much and why of their successes and failures.
One of the known leaders that he focuses on throughout the book is Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Lidow analyzes 5 core skills that Walton had—and that every leader must have—in order to accomplish their goals. We can all learn so much from this!
- Self-awareness. “Sam always listened and watched to see what could be improved… as soon as he realized he had a gap, he acquired and practiced the requisite skills. Self-awareness is itself a skill, not something you’re born with. You can learn it—learn how to identify your capabilities and your personal modes of learning and self-improvement.”
- Relationship building. “Sam was highly skilled at building relationships—creating strong, shared objectives with others. It’s a skill that you can learn and master, whether you are an extrovert or an introvert. […] Sam most likely mastered relationship building by deliberately practicing with people to whom he wanted to get closer. When he set a goal of getting to know somebody, he accomplished it and then figured out how he could do it better the next time.”
- Motivating others. As most leaders, Sam was charismatic. Contrary to popular belief that this is an inborn trait, Lidow says, “the ability to motivate other people is a skill that you can learn and practice. Sam’s technique is classic: he made people feel good about themselves in the context of doing something important [whether for Walmart, church, a sports team, etc.]… You can imagine him saying something like, ‘it’s amazing how well you penetrated the defense in last night’s game; what’s your new technique?’ People on the receiving end not only feel good about themselves, but also want to rise to the occasion again.”
- Leading change. Lidow states that most change is confusing because it’s usually poorly envisioned and poorly aligned, and I would add to that poorly communicated. However, in the case of Sam Walton, he was constantly changing things to improve them. “The associates and managers of Walmart expected change, embraced change and viewed change as positive… because Sam explicitly let them know why each change was important, what was expected, and how they could benefit from it. […] Not that there weren’t surprises or mistakes, or disappointments, but Sam’s weekly meetings meant that adjustments and mitigations were made quickly.” By having weekly meetings, outlining the changes to be made, and receiving feedback and suggestions on what went well, what didn’t, and what needed improvement, Sam was continually engaging in intentional and deliberate practice and, thus, honed in his change leadership skills that way.
- Enterprise basics. “This too,” says Lidow, “is a learned skill, not one you’re born with… [Sam] created simple routines (i.e., processes) that made repetitive tasks… as productive as possible, so he and the organization could focus on relentlessly implementing improvements (i.e., projects). He diligently created a culture of people who loved to undertake projects and use processes to make customers happy…” While this last skill may seem to apply solely to entrepreneurs, I would respectfully disagree: I think finding ways to operate effectively, productively and using our time wisely is the best that we can do for ourselves, our workplace and all our efforts.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about how you apply these 5 leadership skills from Sam Walton on a daily basis. Rate yourself and figure where you need help. Figure out how/where/what kind of help you will get.
FUTURE: One of the most important things as a leader is to develop your relationships: practice deliberately. Set up a goal to meet and get to know one or more people, and then go about doing so. I’m excited for you—let me know how it goes!
Know someone who could use some help to sharpen their leadership skills? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Mastermind groups
— From The Power of Focus Tenth Anniversary Edition: How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Absolute Confidence and Certainty by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Les Hewitt.
Mastermind groups are a wonderful thing! I have been in a few and I’m currently in one, and I’m so grateful for all the support and great ideas have come out of my masterminds. If you are not familiar with a mastermind group, it’s a very simple concept: a group where the minds meet, which means two or more people get together to talk about a particular thing that each one is working on, and the other(s) provide, support, help, ideas, contacts, resources, etc.
In The Power of Focus, the authors describe a mastermind group as, “ideally made up of five or six people who want to develop excellent long-term relationships. The primary purpose of the group is to establish support for each other emotionally, personally and professionally. It also provides a unique forum for sharing ideas and information, as well as discussing meaningful topics and everyday challenges.”
The authors suggest four action steps if you want to create or enhance your mastermind group:
- Select the right people. Limit your group to six people for maximum benefit and interaction. You don’t have to choose all participants at one (unless you want to, of course). The authors suggest starting with two and gradually build up. “Choose people who are likely to create synergy—ambitious, open-minded, goal-oriented individuals who have a positive outlook and bring a healthy, positive energy to each discussion.” Depending on your goals and the focus of the group, you may want to select similar participants (say, all salesmen under 40) or from varied backgrounds (men, women, regardless of age and industry) to add a broader focus and a deeper and richer perspective for discussion.
- Everyone must make a commitment. “The level of commitment determines how successful your mastermind group becomes. Commitment requires regular attendance, a willingness to participate each time you meet, and an agreement to keep confidential anything that is shared in the group. […] The real benefits occur only when there is a high level of trust within the entire group.”
- Decide when, where, how often, and for how long you want to meet. “Two to three hours every month is a good rule of thumb, or you can meet more frequently if you want.” In my case, my group meets virtually for an hour every Friday morning. The frequency, duration and (virtual) location of the meeting are up to you based on your goals.
- What will you talk about? Be focused and make the most out of your precious time together. Here’s a suggestion from the authors: “Elect a chairperson whose main role is to keep the conversation flowing, and to allow everyone equal time. Start each meeting with a brief comment from everyone about the best thing that happened since the last meeting… Then ask two questions: ‘What’s happening in your business life (or job)?’ and ‘What’s happening in your personal life?’ Go around the table one person at a time. […] Another good question is, ‘What’s your greatest challenge at this time?’ Also, discuss and support each other’s individual goals. Inspire everyone to achieve what they want. Encourage them to think big and introduce them to people who can accelerate their progress.” The main goal is to provide support, encouragement and help each other level up. Here’s a worksheet that we sometimes use in my own mastermind group in case this is helpful to you.
ACTION
TODAY: If you have a mastermind group, think of how you can enhance it with the four points offered above. If you’d like to start a group, give some thought to the persons you’d like to invite and the goals for the group.
FUTURE: Make a commitment to stay in the group for a reasonable amount of time, and ask the others to make the same commitment too. At the end of that time evaluate whether the group is still of value. If it is, congratulations! If not, examine why not, and tweak to improve it. The tweaks can be in all aspects, from the location, duration, topics discussed, format, etc., all the way to the participants. If there is someone who does not want to be there or who is not as engaged or committed, perhaps it means that their time has come to fly away.
Know someone who could benefit from creating, belonging or improving a mastermind group? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Cultivate generosity
— From The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow by John C. Maxwell
John C. Maxwell, one of the foremost experts and authors in Leadership says, “Nothing speaks to others more loudly or serves them better than generosity from a leader. True generosity isn’t an occasional event. It comes from the heart and permeates every aspect of a leader’s life, touching his time, money, talents, and possessions. Effective leaders, the kind that people want to follow, don’t gather things just for themselves; they do it in order to give to others.”
Maxwell offers 5 points to keep in mind for cultivating the quality of generosity in our lives:
- Be grateful for whatever you have. “It’s hard for a person to be generous when he is not satisfied with what he has. Generosity rises out of contentment, and that doesn’t come with acquiring more.” The idea behind this is that if we’re not happy with little, we won’t be with a lot; and this projects into our giving: if we’re not generous with little, we won’t be either with a lot.
- Put people first. “The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him, but the number of people he serves.” This is beautiful because it turns the widely circulated concept of leadership on its head by putting others first.
- Don’t allow the desire for possessions to control you. In our culture of consumerism, “if you want to be in charge of your heart, don’t allow possessions to take charge of you.”
- Regard money as a resource. In here, Maxwell quotes E. Stanley Jones as saying, “money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.” The way to put money to work as our servant “is to hold it loosely—and be generous with it to accomplish things of value.”
- Develop the habit of giving. “The only way to maintain an attitude of generosity is to make it your habit to give—your time, attention, money, and resources… If you’re enslaved by greed, you cannot lead.” Maxwell quotes writer John Bunyan who drives this point home by saying, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
I’ll leave you with this wonderful quote as food for thought:
“No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” – Calvin Coolidge, U.S. President
ACTION
TODAY: Think of your 3 Ts: Time, Talent and Treasure (money and other valuable resources). Where are you giving of each? Where are you adding value to others? Are you being as generous as you can? Note that generosity starts with you, and you have to make sure that you are ok in order to be able to give to others. It’s similar to the instructions on board a plane: if the oxygen mask drops from the ceiling put it on yourself first, and then assist others. That’s the only way in which you can truly help. With this in mind, how are you generating value and being generous to yourself first, in a way that will enable you to give to others in a meaningful way?
FUTURE: If you’re not already there, get involved in something that will outlive you: a cause that you really care about. This way you’ll be able to channel your generosity for creating and adding value to others. Also, keep in mind that the best and most valuable thing that you can give is yourself. If you’re at a point in your leadership where you can do this and mentor others, that’s fabulous. If you’re not there yet, why not do the inverse? Get mentored so that you can learn how to do it, and pay it forward when you are ready.
Be generous and please share this post with someone who will benefit from reading it! You can share it via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you. 🙂
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 24 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Celebrate wins, big and small
— From: The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive by Brendon Burchard
EntreGurus is celebrating 100 posts today, wooooooo-hoooooooo!!
You’re invited! Details for the virtual party at the end of this post.
This lead me to pick the concept of celebration as a fitting topic for today’s idea.
In The Charge, high performance coach, speaker and author Brendon Burchard, talks about activating 10 drives of human emotion and happiness. As a bonus, he includes an 11th drive, which is that of celebration.
Celebration, Burchard says, “is a distinctly human desire that makes all our efforts and struggles and hard-fought gains… so worthwhile. It’s a drive that unites us when we see an athlete exert his or her best, when our teams at work meet the impossible deadline, when we witness a hero emerge from the inferno, when our children demonstrate character and aid others, when we, ourselves, having slogged through our own insecurities, doubts and dilemmas, suddenly emerge ahead and clean and pure, astounding those around us an even ourselves. [The drive to celebrate is] activated only in witness of our best efforts and character, and… when we’ve committed to and achieved something worthwhile, something meaningful, something in service to something larger than we.”
Most of us celebrate milestones and big wins, but what about small ones? How about our daily or weekly victories that, when compounded, lead to the big wins?
Burchard also has a video where he talks, precisely, about this. He provides 3 steps to help us take pride and joy in what we do and not take it for granted, or, even worse, diminish its importance for being small steps.
- Create a reflection schedule. It’s important to set a time in your calendar every week to think about the wins for that week. Ask, “What did I do well this week? What did I achieve this week? What went well this week? What good things happened that I didn’t even anticipate? How can I feel good about something that happened this week? What happened that brought me joy or fulfillment or a sense of accomplishment or even just made me feel more connected?” It’s important to build your sense of self-confidence so that you can be ok with larger wins down the line: “we have to integrate our accomplishments and achievements into our identity to feel stronger.”
- Allow yourself to feel the win. Get a better connection with your internal world. Think about your win: “you have to relive it, and feel it, and integrate it if it’s really going to generate confidence for you… When you’re doing your reflection schedule or even at the end of each day… just allow that heartfelt, deep connection of satisfaction or engagement that comes with recognizing yourself.”
- Share the win. Enjoy and be proud of what you’ve accomplished and share it with enthusiasm! When we do this “we feel better about life, we feel more engaged.” Sharing is not bragging, and you should not minimize what you’ve done: “you’re never going to get far in life by minimizing yourself.”
This last point reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Marianne Williamson from her book A Return to Love:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? …Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
ACTION
TODAY: Come to my virtual party to celebrate your wins! See time and details below.
FUTURE: Set aside time in your calendar for a weekly reflection schedule. Celebrate your weekly wins and give yourself credit for what you do. Share with someone who loves you, who will be proud of you, and who will cheer for your success. And share with me too, I’m cheering for you and would love to hear and celebrate your wins!
In light of the above, I am happy to share with much enthusiasm EntreGurus’ wins during its first 100 days of life:
VIRTUAL PARTY TO CELEBRATE WINS: Now that you’ve heard EntreGurus’ wins, I want to hear yours and connect with you! So that we can chat and celebrate together, I’m having a virtual party via video conference, today, April 27, 2018 from 12:00 – 2:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time (GMT-4: here’s a time converter). Come and go as your schedule allows, all you need to do is click on this zoom link to join. I’ll be there the whole time and would love to connect with as many of you as can make it to the party. There’s much to celebrate and be thankful for!
I am absolutely grateful and very honored that you let me share ideas with you on a daily basis. It’s been a most joyous ride so far and I look forward to many more hundreds of days together. Cheers! 🙂
by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Creativity, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 1 minutes, 0 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Bake a bigger pie
— From: Habit Changers: 81 Game-Changing Mantras to Mindfully Realize Your Goals by M. J. Ryan
Today’s idea is brief, but very insightful. It comes from the book Habit Changers, by M.J. Ryan, where she shares this concept from Guy Kawasaki, renowned entrepreneur and author of 13 business books.
Baking a bigger pie is “a great metaphor for the art of collaboration. Many people think that collaborating simply means agreeing with others, but in reality it’s the process of jointly coming up with previously unthought-of solutions that expand the pie to satisfy everyone. It requires open and honest communication and a focus on creative and novel solutions.”
Whenever you are stuck, instead of “splitting the difference” or having to compromise on a result that leaves everyone wanting, simply ask: “how can we build a bigger pie?” Creating the habit of asking this will result in bigger and better ideas for the benefit of all involved.
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: When you find yourself stuck, ask, ask, and ask again, “how can we build a bigger pie?” You’ll be surprised at the possibilities that this opens!
Know someone who needs to build a bigger pie? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 55 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Running effective meetings
— From Common Sense Leadership: A Handbook for Success as a Leader by Roger Fulton
Today is the 114th day since the beginning of the New Year. Q1 has ended, which means this is about the time when we’re having tons of meetings to analyze, compare, strategize and move forward. But whether it’s for this reason or any other, do we really need to meet?
In Common Sense Leadership, Roger Fulton says, “too many otherwise productive hours are spent in long, boring, marginally productive meetings.” He suggests looking at the alternatives:
“Don’t conduct a meeting if a memo will do.
Don’t send a memo if a phone call [or an email] will do.
If there’s information to disseminate, maybe [the best way is indeed] face-to-face. Out where the action is! Among your people.
However, if you must have meetings, they should always:
- Start on time.
- Have a definite agenda.
- End as quickly as possible.
Get everyone back to what they do best: working!”
Think about meeting time in a different light: a 1-hour meeting where 5 people convene is really a 5-hour meeting if you look at the man-hours invested to make it happen. Is that the best use of everyone’s time? Is the “investment” on the outcome of the meeting worth 5 hours? Or are there other ways to communicate in order to free up that time and dedicate it to something more productive? And what if your meeting runs longer than anticipated?
Look at meetings as an investment and create a budget for them. For instance, if you have 3 meetings every week, assign a budget of 1.5 hours total. You can spend those 90 minutes in meetings, any way you want (e.g. 45 min in one meeting, 30 min in another and 15 minutes on the third one). Once you run out of meeting minutes, do not meet again until the following week. I will assure you that your meetings will quickly start running on time and will not go over your budget.
ACTION
TODAY: Do you have any meetings today? Take some time to think how can you achieve the same results while cutting down the time and making them more efficient? Is it possible to do a video chat instead of a meeting and save travel time for all involved? Is it possible to send an email instead? Is it possible to assign 1-2 min talking turns, so that attendees don’t ramble on forever? How about having the meeting standing up? How about taking turns on attending the meeting? Today you attend and share notes with a colleague, next week your colleague attends and shares notes with you. Test some of these ways today: even if no one else knows, test them on yourself, and once you know they work, then start sharing them with your meeting group. They will thank you! And please share those ideas with me, I’m always looking at ways to become more effective and productive!
FUTURE: Create a time budget for your meetings and stick to it. What is your return on the time you are investing (ROI)? Is it worth your time or do you need to cut down some more? Keep expanding on the many options from the action above. Do some brainwriting on how to make your meetings über-effective and achieve the results you want in less time. Test, test, and then test your ideas some more until you can find a way that suits you and your needs.
Know someone whose meetings run way too long? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
