by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Goals, Leadership, Mindset, Wellbeing
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope you are off to a fantastic start! May 2019 be filled with happiness, success, and good health for you and your loved ones.
My family and I were watching a documentary called “The Last Man on the Moon” and there were a few quotes that struck me as incredibly insightful, beautiful, and inspiring, and I want to share them with you.
Gene Cernan, the astronaut protagonist, was remembering his time as a pilot in the U.S. Navy, when the space program was just starting. He was asked (informally) if he’d like to be a part of it. He thought to himself, “I’d love to do it, just give me the chance.” However, his internal hesitation came up immediately and he thought, “But by the time I get good enough, by the time I get qualified, by the time I meet all the requirements, there won’t be anything left to do. All the pioneering will be over.” And, at the end of his life, reflecting on his deeds and accomplishments, he emphatically stated: “Don’t ever shortchange yourself, you never, ever, know what fate has in store.”
After that, the documentary continued narrating and showing Cernan’s life. Once again, there was a scene where he’s looking back at his life, and says, “Don’t ever count yourself out, you’ll never know how good you are unless you try.” Then he encourages us to act:
“Dream the impossible and go out and make it happen. I walked on the moon, what can’t you do?”
With this in mind, my wish for you this year is that you get the chance to do something that you love. And if your internal hesitation pops up, don’t pay attention to it. Keep going because you never, ever, know what fate has in store for you. Give yourself the gift of trying, so that you can find out how good you are. Take action on your dreams and go out and make them happen.
Remember that you have to do something you’ve never done to get something you’ve never got.
I’m immensely grateful to you for being one of my wonderful Gurupies—a member of the EntreGurus family—and I’m cheering for you and wishing you a wonderful 2019.
What can’t you do this year? Imagine the possibilities!
With much love,
Helena
P.S. Love these quotes? Please share them to spread the inspiration and good wishes: email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Resources, Tools
TODAY’S IDEA: 12 Books of Greatness – Day 8
The 12 days of Christmas refers to the period of celebration (secular and religious) from December 25 through January 5. And because it coincides with the period of time that I’m going to be out on vacation visiting my family, I thought I’d make a miniseries for you during this time with posts from 12 Books of Greatness.
I strongly believe that greatness starts within us, so all of the posts that I chose for these 12 days come from books that are tremendously insightful. My hope is that reading these posts will give you plenty of ideas and “a-ha!” moments to end 2018 strong and start 2019 on a high note!
12 Books of Greatness – Day 8
From The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months
By Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
Links to other posts in this miniseries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7.
Know someone who would like this book or this miniseries on 12 Books of Greatness? Please share it with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Time, Tools
TODAY’S IDEA: 12 Books of Greatness – Day 6
The 12 days of Christmas refers to the period of celebration (secular and religious) from December 25 through January 5. And because it coincides with the period of time that I’m going to be out on vacation visiting my family, I thought I’d make a miniseries for you during this time with posts from 12 Books of Greatness.
I strongly believe that greatness starts within us, so all of the posts that I chose for these 12 days come from books that are tremendously insightful. My hope is that reading these posts will give you plenty of ideas and “a-ha!” moments to end 2018 strong and start 2019 on a high note!
12 Books of Greatness – Day 6
From Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
By James Clear
Links to other posts in this miniseries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5.
Know someone who would like this book or this miniseries on 12 Books of Greatness? Please share it with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Resources
TODAY’S IDEA: 12 Books of Greatness – Day 4
The 12 days of Christmas refers to the period of celebration (secular and religious) from December 25 through January 5. And because it coincides with the period of time that I’m going to be out on vacation visiting my family, I thought I’d make a miniseries for you during this time with posts from 12 Books of Greatness.
I strongly believe that greatness starts within us, so all of the posts that I chose for these 12 days come from books that are tremendously insightful. My hope is that reading these posts will give you plenty of ideas and “a-ha!” moments to end 2018 strong and start 2019 on a high note!
12 Books of Greatness – Day 4
The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
By Jack Canfield
Links to other posts in this miniseries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
Know someone who would like this book or this miniseries on 12 Books of Greatness? Please share it with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 30 Questions to Ask Before Setting Business Goals
— From Marketing: A Love Story: How to Matter to Your Customers, by Bernadette Jiwa
As this year comes to an end and we think of what new and wonderful things await for us in the New Year, it’s only natural to plan ahead. However, when setting business goals—or general goals—for something completely new, the limitations of knowing “how-to” do something, tend to scare us, or even stop us on our tracks, as the uncertainty befuddles us. Yet these limitations are actually a gift, even though we may not see it at the time.
“There is no one right answer” when starting something new, says marketing guru Bernadette Jiwa in her wonderful book Marketing: A Love Story. Whether you’re setting a goal of starting a business or creating something new for your business, “There is no one way to get to where you want to go, and that’s a GREAT thing. If there were a how-to guide, then everyone would have the formula and nothing we created would be unique.”
“Nobody told Jobs and Wozniak how to build a computer company [Apple], let alone how to make it one of the most loved brands in the world; and Howard Schultz didn’t get the Starbucks’ magic from a manual. Nobody can tell you what to stand for or how your values, wants and needs should intersect with those of your customers and then manifest as a business, an idea, or an experience. Figuring out the destination is hard, but recognizing it is more valuable than knowing exactly how you’re going to get there.”
Jiwa says, “Until you do the hard work of understanding the why? and the who for? every tactical how-to has the potential to take you down the wrong track. The most useful answers are the ones we take time to figure out by ourselves, not the ones everyone can find in a handbook.” And to figure this out, she shares 30 questions to ask before setting business goals: the answers will bring much clarity and will turn into a roadmap to follow. While she geared these questions to startups and entrepreneurs, I believe they are also helpful for any businessperson who is setting a goal of starting a new project that hasn’t been done before.
30 Questions:
- Why are we doing this?
- Why are we the people to do it?
- Why is now the time to start?
- What will happen because this idea exists?
- How will this change how people feel about x?
- Who is it for?
- Why will they care?
- What do the people we hope to serve want?
- What do they believe?
- How do they feel about the problem we solve?
- What do they do—where, when, why and with whom?
- What will customers say to their friends to recommend this product or service?
- How can we make customers feel good because they recommend it?
- What are we really selling beyond the utility of the product or service?
- How can we add more value?
- What happens because our business or project exists?
- How will people find us?
- Where are they already looking, or not looking?
- What’s our greatest strength?
- What weakness might get in the way if we don’t address it?
- What does success look like, today, this year, next and five years from now?
- What do we value?
- What do we want to change?
- What promises do we want to make and keep?
- What matters most right now?
- What’s going to matter more three, six or eighteen months from now?
- What’s our difference?
- What do we need to do today, to make sure that we can keep doing the things we want to do tomorrow?
- If we could do anything today would this be it?
- If not this then what?
Jiwa points out that “Having your own map is more powerful than having someone else’s directions. Once you have the map, you’ll always have a way to get from where you are to where you want to go.” It’s worth putting in the time and effort to answer these questions before setting your goals: the answers will turn into the actual goals and help you draw your own map to accomplish them.
Cheers to you finding your own path!
ACTION
TODAY: As you are setting business goals for the New Year, and especially if you are starting something new, make some time in your calendar whether today or over the next few days to answer these questions. Create your proverbial roadmap so that it can take you to your desired destination.
FUTURE: Even if it’s not for the New Year, whenever you are setting business goals and/or starting something new, come back to this list and go over it again to paint a clear path for your success.
Know someone who would like these 30 questions? Please share them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds
TODAY’S IDEA: Commitment: Failure vs. Fallure
— From The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington; and “Leadership Lessons of a Rock Climber,” post on Fast Company by Jim Collins on December 1, 2003.
One of the ways to guarantee that we will accomplish a goal—any goal—is by making a commitment. Easier said than done.
Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, authors of The 12 Week Year say, “The first key to effective commitment is a strong desire.” So true. However, life happens, and sometimes the initial desire may wear off when faced with the actual hard work of making the goal happen.
“Because commitments will require you to sacrifice, in addition to learning to say no, you will need to train yourself to think about and connect with the longer-term benefits versus the short-term inconvenience and discomfort.”
In other words, delayed gratification is the mindset to adopt.
Further, the authors advise, “With commitments, and anything you are serious about for that matter, don’t give yourself a psychological out.” And they point to a great article that Jim Collins (renowned author of books such as Good to Great and Built to Last) wrote for Fast Company called “Leadership Lessons of a Rock Climber,” where he talks about failure vs. “fallure” a new term he coined.
Here’s an excerpt of the article as it appears in the book:
Failure and fallure. The difference is subtle, but it is all the difference in the world. In fallure, you still do not get up the route, but you never let go. In fallure you fall; in failure you let go. Going to fallure means full commitment to go up–even if the odds of success are less than 20%, 10%, or even 5%. You leave nothing in reserve, no mental or physical resource untapped. In fallure, you never give yourself a psychological out: “Well, I didn’t really give it everything. … I might have made it with my best effort.” In fallure, you always give your full best–despite the fear, pain, lactic acid, and uncertainty. To the outside observer, failure and fallure look similar (you fly through the air in both cases), but the inner experience of fallure is totally different from that of failure.
You’ll only find your true limit when you go to fallure, not failure.
Moran and Lennington then conclude, “Commitments by definition demand you ‘go to fallure, not failure.’ Set it in your mind right now that the process is more important than the result. You don’t control the result; what you control are your actions.”
In thinking about the New Year, what are you committing to? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Take some time to think about the commitments that you will undertake next year. Are you willing to go to fallure and then start “climbing” again if need be?
FUTURE: As you are working towards your goals, remember failure vs. fallure. Sometimes that may be the push you need to get through that one uncomfortable action that you need to take.
Know someone who would like to read this? Please share this post via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
