by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 22 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Believe you can succeed and you will – Part 1
— From The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D. (Read an excerpt here.)
The dedication of The Magic of Thinking Big is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever read: it tells the story of David J. Schwartz’s son, Davey, feeling “mighty big” when he graduated from kindergarten. Schwartz asked Davey what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he responded, “I want to be a professor.” When Schwartz asked what kind of professor Davey wanted to be, he responded, “a professor of happiness.” And so the author dedicated his book to “a fine boy with a grand goal.”
And the reason why this is relevant to today’s idea is because we’ve previously talked about quitting (here, here, and here), but we haven’t talked much about the mindset of success itself and the importance of setting of grand goals.
Success means different things to different people, yet they’re all good, wonderful, and positive things. “Every human being wants success. Everybody wants the best this life can deliver. Nobody enjoys crawling, living in mediocrity. No one likes feeling second-class and feeling forced to go that way.”
Schwartz goes back to the old adage that says that faith can move mountains. “Believe, really believe, you can move a mountain, and you can.” Not many people believe in themselves and in their grand goals, and thus, not many are able to move their mountains.
The author is quick to point out that some people will think, “It’s nonsense to think you can make a mountain move away by just saying ‘Mountain, move away.’ It’s simply impossible.’ People who think this way have belief confused with wishful thinking. And true enough, you can’t wish away a mountain. You can’t wish yourself into an executive suite. Nor can you wish yourself into a five-bedroom, three-bath house or the high-income brackets. You can’t wish yourself into a position of leadership.”
But, Schwartz says, “You can move a mountain with belief. You can win success by believing you can succeed. There is nothing magical or mystical about the power of belief.”
The belief—the deeply entrenched belief—that Schwartz is talking about is the “I’m-positive-I-can attitude [that] generates the power, skill and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.”
Let’s remember the quote by Goethe that says, “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.” That act of definitive committing is nothing but the belief that we can do it. And we’ve all experienced—in major or minor ways—how providence moves with the opportunities, coincidences, chance encounters, ideas and the myriad resources that present themselves to help us forge a path towards achieving our goals once we’re fully committed.
“Belief in great results is the driving force, the power behind all great books, plays, scientific discoveries. Belief in success is behind every successful business, church, and political organization. Belief in success is the one basic, absolutely essential ingredient of successful people. Believe, really believe, you can succeed, and you will.”
Stay tuned: tomorrow’s Part 2 will share three steps to develop the power of belief.
ACTION
TODAY: Think of a few times in the past when you’ve fully committed to something (big or small) and made it happen. Do you remember the deeply-entrenched belief you had in yourself to complete your goal? There was zero hesitation as to whether you’d complete it — it was a given that you would. That is what we’re aiming for here. If that belief is not readily available to you now, take a walk down memory lane and dig it up, it’s inside you, believe me. Keep that memory handy, as you will revert back to it when you need to evoke this feeling.
TOMORROW: Come back to read Part 2 of this miniseries.
Please share this post! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 47 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Idea incomes
— From: Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” said Jim Rohn, personal development guru. This idea reflects in all we do, as author Austin Kleon points out in Steal Like an Artist: “if you take the incomes of five of your closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income.”
Further, Kleon points out: “I think the same is true of our idea incomes. You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.” And he recalls how it drove him crazy when his mom used to tell him “Garbage in, garbage out.” Fortunately, that’s a thing of the past and now he understands and appreciates what she meant.
If you are reading this blog, it means that you are a professional and a lifelong learner. As one myself, I wholeheartedly agree with Kleon when he says, “Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.” The more you do this, the more your idea incomes will rise.
Collect your ideas selectively, and share them with the people who surround you so that their idea incomes can go up as well. Remember the quote by President John F. Kennedy, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” Let your ideas be the rising tide.
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of the 5 ideas you most like and share it with a loved one or a colleague. Ask them to do the same with you.
FUTURE: Ponder the ideas you have and the new ones you come across and create a list. Share it. Repeat as often as you’d like. Make it a habit of expanding your mind and thus raising your idea income with at least one new idea every day… By the way, I know of a blog that can help you with that! 😉
Let’s lift the boats in your circles today: please share today’s idea with someone! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Quit before you start
— From The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin
Dick Collins, the ultramarathon runner, said, “Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out. You don’t want to be out there saying, ‘Well, gee, my leg hurts, I’m a little dehydrated, I’m sleepy, I’m tired, and it’s cold and windy.’ And talk yourself into quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.”
In life and business, just as Collins did it with his sport, it’s important to figure out what the conditions are for quitting before you get started. In The Dip, marketing guru Seth Godin says that this is tool number one: “If quitting is going to be a strategic decision that enables you to make smart choices in the marketplace, then you should outline your quitting strategy before the discomfort sets in.”
Godin goes on to say, “quitting when you’re panicked is dangerous and expensive. The best quitters… are the ones who decide in advance when they’re going to quit. You can always quit later—so wait until you’re done panicking to decide.”
The problem with the way we quit is that, barring emergencies or life-or-death circumstances, the decision is made at a moment of great pressure or great discomfort, without much time to think and truly analyze the consequences of our actions.
“When the pressure is greatest to compromise, to drop out, or to settle, your desire to quit should be at its lowest. The decision to quit is often made in the moment. But that’s exactly the wrong time to make such a critical decision. The reason so many of us quit in the Dip is that without a compass or a plan, the easiest thing to do is to give up. While that might be the easiest path, it’s also the least successful one.”
The hardest part, Godin says, is to have the perspective to know when you are in a Cul-de-Sac to quit, and when you are in a Dip to continue. That is why setting your parameters before you get started is very powerful, because once you’re in pain, frustrated or stuck you may just want to get out, but that may deter you from reaching your goals.
ACTION
TODAY: Are you about to start something? Set your parameters for quitting before you get started. Or if you are already involved in something but have never set up your criteria for quitting, do it today. Remember that quitting is not a bad thing and we all need to do it. Here are two posts to expand on this: Selective Quitting and Understanding When to Quit and When to Stick.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of setting your quitting criteria before you start something. That way you won’t have to make a decision that you might later regret because your mind was under much pressure.
Know someone who needs to set his or her criteria for quitting? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Growth, Leadership, Marketing, Mindset, Opportunity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 18 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Emulate chefs
— From REWORK: Change the way you work forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
What do the names Emeril Lagasse, Julia Child, Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, Rick Bayless, Giada De Laurentiis, and Ferran Adriá have in common? They are all famous chefs. Yet, with the enormous amount of restaurants that exist today, why do we know these names better than others? What makes these chefs so special?
While they are indeed gifted, that is not the reason why they are famous. They have achieved fame and success “because they share everything they know. They put their recipes on cookbooks and show their techniques on cooking shows.”
Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, authors of Rework, invite us to share everything we know too. “This is anathema to most in the business world. Businesses are usually paranoid and secretive. They think they have proprietary this and competitive advantage that. Maybe a rare few do, but most don’t. And those that don’t should stop acting like those that do. Don’t be afraid of sharing.”
If chefs make a living from their recipes and their cooking, why would any of them create a cookbook with the recipes? Why would they go on TV and show you, step-by-step, how to cook those recipes to perfection? Then anybody could replicate them!
But that’s not how it works, say the authors. The chefs know that the recipes, techniques, and tricks are not enough to beat them at their game. “No one’s going to buy [the] cookbook, open a restaurant next door, and put [the chef] out of business. It just doesn’t work like that. Yet this is what many in the business world think will happen if their competitors learn how they do things.”
Fried and Hanson’s advice? “Get over it.”
And they go on to say, “Emulate famous chefs. They cook, so they write cookbooks. What do you do? What are your “recipes”? What’s your “cookbook”? What can you tell the world about how you operate that is informative, educational and promotional?”
Virtual-knowledge empires are being built online with people and companies sharing what they know. What do you know that you could teach? The world needs you.
ACTION
TODAY: Think about your business. What do you do? You obviously know how to do that very well. How about teaching it to those who are interested? Emulate chefs!
FUTURE: Share your gift of knowledge with those around you. Even if you don’t go outside your company, you can share the know-how with new hires, for example. Or you can set up an internal program for professional growth and development and share your experience and expertise. The more you share, the better you’ll feel and the more of an impact you’ll have on those that surround you.
Know someone who needs to emulate chefs and write a “cookbook”? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Celebration, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Networking, Opportunity, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 21 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 46 strategies for businesspeople to deal with tough times
— From The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE by Tom Peters
Excellence guru Tom Peters started his blog in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he started publishing “success tips” and this book, The Little BIG Things, is a compilation of them. It’s an easy read, and it’s full of great advice. (Any advice from Tom Peters is golden!)
Peters is a famous author (In Search of Excellence and many more books) and a sought-after speaker. For a seminar in Finland in 2009, he developed these 46 “Secrets” and “Strategies” for Dealing with the Severe Downturn of 2007. However, after reading through them, I realized that they easily apply to both good and bad times. And as it relates to rough times, they may be of any kind, not just economic. Personally or professionally, whether you find yourself in the midst of real turmoil or just having a bad hair day (see #13), I’m sure you’ll find some words of wisdom and guidance that can help. Here are the 46 secrets and strategies verbatim:
- You come to work earlier.
- You leave work later.
- You work harder.
- You may well work for less; and, if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile—even if it kills you inside.
- You volunteer to do more.
- You dig deep, deeper, deepest—and always bring a good attitude to work.
- You fake it if your good attitude flags.
- You literally practice your “stage face” in the mirror each morning, and in the loo mid-morning.
- You give new meaning to the idea and intensive practice of “visible management.”
- You take better than usual care of yourself and encourage others to do the same—physical well-being significantly impacts mental well-being and response to stress.
- You shrug off sh*t that flows downhill in your direction—buy a shovel or a “preworn” raincoat on eBay.
- You try to forget about the “good old days”—nostalgia is self-destructive. (And boring.)
- You buck yourself up with the thought that “this too shall pass,” but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon; and so you rededicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now—character is determined, virtually in full, by one’s reaction to adverse circumstances.
- You work the phones and then work the phones some more—and stay in touch with, and on the mind of, positively everyone.
- You frequently invent breaks from routine, including “weird” ones—”change-ups” prevent wallowing in despair and bring a fresh perspective.
- You eschew all forms of personal excess.
- You simplify.
- You sweat the details as never before.
- You sweat the details as never before.
- You sweat the details as never before.
- You raise to the sky and maintain—at all costs—the Standards of Excellence by which you unfailingly and unflinchingly evaluate your own performance.
- You are maniacal when it comes to responding to even the slightest screw-up.
- You find ways to be around young people and to keep young people around—they are less likely to be members of the “sky is falling” school. (Naïveté can be a blessing.)
- You learn new tricks of your trade.
- You pass old tricks of the trade on to others—mentoring matters now more than ever.
- You invest heavily in your Internet-Web2.0-Twitter-Facebook-“cloud”-computing skills.
- You remind yourself, daily, that this is not just something to be “gotten through”—it is the Final Exam of Competence, of Character, and, even if you’re not a boss, of Leadership. (People often make great leaps in a short period during difficult times.)
- You network like a demon.
- You network like a demon inside the company—get to know more of the folks who “do the real work,” and who can be your most dependable allies when it comes to getting things done seamlessly and fast.
- You network like a demon outside the company—get to know more of the folks “down the line,” who “do the real work” in vendor-customer outfits. (They can become, and will become, your most avid allies and champions.)
- You offer thanks to others by the truckload if good things happen—and take the heat if bad things happen.
- You behave kindly, but you don’t sugarcoat or hide the truth—humans are startlingly resilient, and rumors are the real spirit-killers.
- You treat small successes as if they were World Cup victories—and celebrate and commend people accordingly.
- You shrug off the losses (ignoring what’s going on in your tummy), and get back on the horse and immediately try again.
- You avoid negative people to the extent you can—pollution kills.
- You read the riot act to the gloom-sprayers, once avoiding them becomes impossible. (Gloom is the ultimate “weapon of mass destruction” in tough times.)
- You give new meaning to the word thoughtful.
- You don’t put limits on the budget for flowers—”bright and colorful” works marvels.
- You redouble and re-triple your efforts to “walk in your customer’s shoes.” (Especially if the shoes smell.)
- You mind your manners—and accept others’ lack of manners in the face of their strains.
- You are kind to all humankind.
- You keep your shoes shined.
- You leave the blame game at the office door.
- You call out, in no uncertain terms, those who continue to play the “office politics” game.
- You become a paragon of personal accountability.
- And then you pray.
ACTION
TODAY: Keep this list handy: you can print it directly from Tom Peters blog.
FUTURE: Keep coming back to this list whenever you need quick and helpful advice. It works wonders as a pep talk too.
Know someone who is having a bad day? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Fresh start
— From WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink
July is the start of the second half of the year. Where did the first half go? It evaporated!
How did you do? Did you move forward in your goals? What did you accomplish? Where do you need to change course? Where do you need to start again?
I did very well in some areas and, frankly, I’m not proud to admit that I had no progress whatsoever in others… (!). But I must accept and learn what went well and what didn’t, so as to course-correct and move forward.
Tama Kieves, in her book A Year Without Fear, says “Focus on your present chances, not your past disadvantages. Are you repeating history by repeating the story of your history? The past is over. It’s a new dawn. It’s a new you. There are infinite chances to reinvent yourself. The past is over.”
As we move on with the rest of the year, today is one of those infinite chances to reinvent yourself. So, how about starting again in this second half of the year with those goals that stalled somewhere between January and June?
Dan Pink, in his book WHEN, says that “Just as we human beings rely on landmarks to navigate space—‘To get to my house, turn left at the [gas] station’—we also use landmarks to navigate time.” These dates are called temporal landmarks.
Further, some people use these temporal landmarks to start anew, and this is called “the fresh start” effect. Pink explains, “ To establish a fresh start, people [use] two types of temporal landmarks—social and personal. The social landmarks were those that everyone shared: Mondays, the beginning of a new month, national holidays. The personal ones were unique to the individual: birthdays, anniversaries, job changes.”
“Temporal landmarks interrupt attention to day-to-day minutiae, causing people to take a big picture view of their lives and thus focus on achieving their goals.”
Pink offers a list of 86 days in the year that are especially effective to make a fresh start:
- The first day of the month (12)
- Mondays (52)
- The first day of spring, summer, fall, and winter (4)
- Your country’s Independence Day or the equivalent (1)
- The day of an important religious holiday—for example, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Eid al-Fitr (1)
- Your birthday (1)
- A loved one’s birthday (1)
- The first day of school or the first day of a semester (2)
- The first day of a new job (1)
- The first day after graduation (1)
- The first day back from vacation (2)
- The anniversary of your wedding, first date, or divorce (3)
- The anniversary of the day you started your job, the day you became a citizen, the day you adopted your dog or cat, the day you graduated from school or university (4)
- The day you finish [reading WHEN] (1)
ACTION
TODAY: Decide to make a fresh start on those goals that you want to get done this year. Today is the beginning of the second half of the year and a Monday too. Happy temporal landmarks!
FUTURE: Pick a few temporal landmarks between now and the end of the year to check in on your progress. That way you can always course-correct, pivot or start anew, remember that there are infinite chances to reinvent yourself.
Know someone who could use a fresh start today? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
