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 | Celebration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 53 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Leadership lessons from nature
— From 10 Leadership Lessons from Nature (post on LinkedIn) by Brigette Hyacinth
Happy Earth Day!! To celebrate today, here are a few leadership lessons from Mother Nature from this great post by Brigette Hyacinth. After each lesson there’s an inspiring quote as food for thought.
Patience and persistence. “When it is time for the baby eagles to fly, they are patiently and persistently encouraged… Good leaders patiently coach and support their team until they are ready to fly on their own. They also provide an environment that empowers and enables others to take on greater responsibility so that they, too, can develop into full-grown leaders.” All good things take time to build and grow, especially solid businesses. Hyacinth refers to a quote from Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart in Jim Collins’ book Good to Great: “Somehow over the years people have gotten the impression that Wal-Mart was…just this great idea that turned into an overnight success. But…it was an outgrowth of everything we’d been doing since (1945)…And like most overnight successes, it was about twenty years in the making.”
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
Teamwork. A good team creates powerful synergy and brings about great results. “Ants focus more on the needs of the colony than their own individual needs. Working for a benefit of self can be detrimental to the overall performance of the team or the entire organization. If any of the ants are not working with the team, it will be noticed. The cohesion and teamwork determines whether the team lives or dies.”
“Snowflakes are one of nature s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” Vista M. Kelly.
Change and flexibility. Nature is dynamic and in a constant state of flux. “There is a season (winter, spring, summer, autumn) and time for everything… Organizations go through different cycles, so always plan and be prepared. It’s imperative to embrace change and take risks. […] You can’t just have a system built on bureaucracy. Be flexible so you don’t break when the harsh wind blows.”
“Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.” – Debby Boone
Strong and healthy roots. “Trees have extensive root systems. Roots are the foundation of a healthy plant. While plants can tolerate a fair amount of damage to their upper parts, they are not nearly so forgiving of damage to their roots. It’s important to have a culture that is solidly embedded in ethical and other principles if the organization is to survive. Leadership needs to be grounded in deep values that provide valuable guidance especially when there is a dilemma faced in the decision making process.”
“When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.”― Anthony J. D’Angelo
ACTION
TODAY: Go out and enjoy nature. While you’re at it, think about your life and/or business. Where can you apply some of these lessons of leadership to make it even better?
FUTURE: Everywhere you look, there are lessons to learn from nature itself as well as from the animals that surround us. Look. Listen. Learn. I know I have learned many lessons from my beloved dog, Aragon, such as forgiveness, being present in the moment, and enjoying the small things in life, among many others.
Know someone who would like to read these leadership lessons from nature? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: It’s never the right time
— From What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn) by Seth Godin
In What To Do When It’s Your Turn, Seth Godin talks about our fear of doing things because it’s “not the right time.” He concludes that, “It’s never the right time. When you are starting a family, it’s not the right time. When your kids are about to go to college, it’s not the right time. When there’s an elderly parent depending on you…” You simply have to take the leap because the right time will never come.
Godin mentions that when Gutenberg launched the printing press it was “a foolish time to bring a book manufacturing system to Europe [because] 96 percent of the population was illiterate.” It was indeed too early to launch considering the following: only one in 25 knew how to use the product and learning to use it (reading) would take years. Can you imagine if Gutenberg had decided not to move forward because it was not the right time?
And “when Karl Benz introduced the car to Germany, it was against he law to drive a car. He had to get a letter from the King granting him permission to use his new device. And, worth mentioning, no one knew how to drive a car. And there were no roads. And no gas stations.” Too early again…
We have a million reasons to give up because it’s too early, too late, or simply not the right time. On the other hand, when we take the leap, we are giving ourselves, our loved ones, and those who surround us, the gift of a project that can benefit us all. Godin says, “This is the chance of a lifetime, our lifetime. Not someone else, us. Not later. Now.”
I’ll leave you with this quote as food for thought:
“Do it or not do it—you will regret both. … To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose one’s self.” – Soren Kierkegaard
ACTION
TODAY: What have you been postponing lately because it’s not the right time? Ask yourself: if not know, when? Set a time to get started. Even if you begin with a tiny step, it will be a step in the right direction.
FUTURE: Think of all the things you have postponed because it’s never been the right time. Which of those are still part of your life/business goals? Pay attention to them and set up a time to start. We need you to share your gifts with the world!
P.S. – I have a favor to ask today, please: for a long time I postponed launching my blog because it was not the right time. I’m so glad I finally took the leap to share these ideas with you daily! Since EntreGurus will be celebrating 100 posts soon (woo-hoo!), I want to learn how the ideas have been helpful to you, what your favorite post has been, what other books/topics you’d like me to feature, and what I can do to improve or enhance EntreGurus. Could you please help me by sharing your comments with me in here? Thank you so, so much!
P.S. 2 — Know someone who is waiting for the right time? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Collaboration, Creativity, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 38 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Make it a Honey Day
— From The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want by Dave Kerpen
Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Hope it’s a joy-filled holiday with your family if you celebrate it.
Growing up, I remember loving Easter because my mom made it very special: when we were little she decided that the Easter Bunny would bring us presents, above and beyond the traditional Easter eggs. So, in the Escalante household, besides Santa Claus coming in December and the Three Kings bringing presents in early January (yes, we Mexican kids have it so good in the holiday presents department!), the Easter Bunny would show up a few months later bearing gifts. One of my favorites was a fluffy, stuffed rabbit toy I called Ynnub (bunny spelled backwards… lots of neurons went into crafting that name…). To this day, decades later, the Easter Bunny continues to bring gifts and now includes my husband and our dog. (I love you so much, Mom, thank you! I know you’re laughing out loud reading this.)
I share this because it’s a perfect example of the topic that I want to talk about today: lovely, made up celebrations that delight and create beautiful memories. How can we make it special for our loved ones, our coworkers, our clients, etc? What kind of holiday or special gift can we come up with to recognize or celebrate an accomplishment, something special, or just because?
One of the best ones that I have come across was “Honey Day” as described in Dave Kerpen’s book The Art of People. Dave is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Likeable, a digital agency (with a great story behind it). He found himself at the office one day thinking it was another regular day… until Brian Murray, the Director of talent and recruitment announced: “Today is Honey Day. The entire day will be dedicated to appreciating the amazing work that Honey does for us.” Out came the balloons and ribbons and even a cake in Honey’s honor: surprise! Honey Comer-Cantrell is the VP of Client Services at Likeable today, yet back then, in Dave’s words, “From the little I know, Honey is a terrific employee. But she wasn’t a manager and hadn’t accomplished anything remarkable. That was the whole point… Just by recognizing someone who worked hard and represented the Likeable core values well, Brian sent a message not only to Honey but to the rest of the team and to would-be team members that this was a group that celebrated hard work and loved to surprise and delight. [… And while no one can] afford to surprise and delight everyone all the time, by surprising and delighting some people at random and unexpected times, you get everyone thinking that she could be the recipient of that special something… the next time.” (Meet Dave, Brian and Honey here.)
When was the last time you had a holiday created just for you? When was the last time you did something to make someone feel i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y special? Keep in mind that causing delight doesn’t have to cost any money. “It’s all about making people feel special and doing things a little differently to accomplish that.” Also, you don’t have to throw a big party or celebration, you can delight people on a daily basis in small ways too: a kind word, a nice email, a heartfelt compliment, a handwritten thank you note, a piece of candy, a magazine or newspaper clipping (or link via email) of something you saw that reminded you of them… any thoughtful gesture… they all go a long way to brighten up someone’s day.
ACTION
TODAY: Put your creativity hat on and make a list of the various ways—big and small—in which you can delight your family, clients, coworkers, etc.
FUTURE: From the list that you made, select the first way in which you will delight someone. Plan it and make it happen. Depending on what that is, you can schedule a few of these actions in your calendar to make them happen throughout the year. You can choose recurring dates, or at random—such as Honey Day—or you can even go as far as to create a unique tradition—such as the Easter Bunny presents. Enjoy!!
Happy delighting, and cheers to you for creating beautiful, indelible memories!
Know someone who’d be delighted to read this? Please share via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 40 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The Rosenzweig Technique
— From Footprints on the Moon by Seth Godin
The Rosenzweig Technique is named after Franz Rosenzweig, “an author who served in the First World War. He wrote his ideas on postcards and sent them to his mom for safekeeping. He turned them into a book years later.”
Last Summer, a bunch of friends and I exchanged postcards through the mail according to a slightly modified version of The Rosenzweig Technique. It was inspiring, fun and, most of all, we all found ourselves giddy when going to our mailboxes to pick up the correspondence for that day. I’m inviting you to do the same today! While you may or may not write a book out of this, the postcards are a great exercise to share ideas with yourself as you are writing them, and then to reflect over those ideas when you receive them.
Let me share technique as Seth Godin describes it:
“Get a stack of blank postcards… address each of them to yourself, probably at home.
The challenge is simple: Four times a day, fill a postcard with an idea, a message to yourself from today to tomorrow. And then mail it.
A few days later, handwritten ideas from your past yourself will begin to arrive.
Each day, when you get home from work, you’ll get three or four (or even five) ideas worth reading.
As each arrives, your job is to take that germ and write it up, expand it, put it into the word processor on your computer. It’s the end of the day, so there’s no need to worry about checking your email.
Do this for five weeks, for 35 days, for 140 cards. Do it without cease, without hesitation, without regard for whether it’s perfect or not.”
The modified version that I did with my friends was as follows:
- Send a postcard on Day 1 to four people in the group.
- Send a postcard on Day 2 to another four people in the group.
- Keep sending postcards as the days progress to groups of four until everyone has sent a postcard to every member of the whole group.
- Then start again and send more postcards to the first group of four, and so on, until the cycle is complete for 35 days.
While the thoughts that each one of us shared in the postcards were completely spontaneous and random, and we had no control as to when they would be delivered (we live in different countries), the postcards that I got in the mail always seemed to arrive at the right time with the right message on them. I remember, for instance, that I was stuck with a project one day and received a postcard that said, “move forward imperfectly.” Boom!
ACTION
TODAY: Decide if you want to embark in doing The Rosenzweig Technique over the next 35 days. I highly recommend it because of the insights, inspiration and ideas that you can share and receive with yourself/ your friends. Plus, the reflection that this brings as you are writing about the postcards that you receive is invaluable: you’re guaranteed to get more insights, solve a few challenges here and there, and expand your mind. However, if four ideas/thoughts a day for 35 days is too much, feel free to modify the technique however you see fit (for example, one idea per day). Don’t work for the specifics of the technique, instead, make the technique work for you! If you are ready, go get your postcards and your stamps and get started today.
FUTURE: Do you want to do The Rosenzweig Technique with me? I’m starting on March 21 to commemorate Spring, and I’d love to do the modified version again, this time with my fellow gurupies*! 🙂 If you are interested, send me an email (no later than March 19) letting me know that you are in, and I will send you all the details. It doesn’t matter where you live, postcards are used to traveling all over the world. This should be a lot of fun and we will all learn a ton from each other and from our own reflections. Hope you will join me — really looking forward to this! Sorry, this has already been done. We had a blast! If we decide to do it again I’ll post about it so that you can join. 🙂
* Gurupie = blend of guru and groupie = how I fondly refer to the EntreGurus’ community, because we all follow the ideas of the gurus.
Know someone who would like to join the upcoming exchange-of-postcards group? Let that person know via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes.
TODAY’S IDEA: WOW! All business is personal
— From The Book of WOW: A practical and inspirational guide for driving extreme client loyalty by John L. Evans
We’ve all heard the saying, “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” (Uncertain author) And this gets compounded if we add the words of writer and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez, who said, “Life is not what you lived, but what you remember and how you remember, so as to tell it.” *
With this in mind, if you want to surprise your customers or clients with acts of thoughtfulness, that are truly meaningful and memorable, you have to create a “WOW” experience for them. This means the kind of experience that makes the clients go “WOW!” and blows them away because it shows them that you know what they care about.
“The essential premise underlying the WOW concept is that all business is personal.”
By reinforcing the personal aspect in client interactions, you de-commoditize your business and separate yourself from the competition, because “a merely satisfied client is not loyal—a satisfied and emotionally engaged client is.”
To make it personal, first and foremost, the Platinum Rule needs to be applied: “Do unto others as they would want done to them.”
“When doing something extraordinary for your clients, use the talents, resources or connections that are available only to you or through you, whenever possible.” This way you will ensure that the experience becomes memorable, indelible (and not repeatable by your competitors), causing your clients to talk about it to others and to recommend you. That’s why “the best WOWs bounce around—they get shared in the form of enthusiastic retellings [via] positive word-of-mouth.”
WOW moments are as varied and creative as the nature of each business. The openness and attentiveness to recognize when the opportunity arises is in the eye of the beholder. However the one underlying thread is that, to be able to imagineer (blend of imagination + engineering) the best possible WOW moments for your clients, you have to have as much information as you can about them. Get to know them in as much depth as your business will allow.
Also, while the WOW moments or experiences don’t necessarily have to be unique to each client, they do have to feel that way to the recipient. You can always “operationalize, but don’t [ever] DE-personalize.”
Above all, keep in mind that “WOWs don’t have to be complex or worthy of a world record to produce the desired effect. Some are. But most are smaller in scope. When left to accumulate over time, they can end up having an enormous impact.”
ACTION
TODAY: Think of someone who has wowed you during this past week. What did that person do that made you feel special? Now turn it around: who did you wow this week? A client? A loved one? How did you let them know that you care about them? Start imagineering how you can WOW your customers, clients or loved ones with the resources that you have.
FUTURE: Think of ways in which your business can get more info about what makes your clients tick. This will naturally give way to ideas for WOW moments. Make a list of every touch point in your client’s journey to see how you can personalize those interactions. How can you elevate them from the ordinary to the extraordinary and memorable?
Create a WOW moment for your friends and colleagues by sharing this post via email, Facebook and Twitter. Thank you!
* Original quote in Spanish: “La vida no es lo que uno vivió, sino lo que recuerda, y cómo la recuerda para contarla.”
