by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 20 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: How should you focus your time and energy?
— From The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow by John C. Maxwell
Why do lion tamers hold a stool with the legs extended towards the face of the animal? Because the lion tries to keep up with all four legs of the stool at once and, unsure on what leg to focus, it loses concentration and freezes. “Divided focus always works against you,” says John C. Maxwell, leadership guru.
In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Maxwell states that priorities and concentration are the keys to having the focus required to be a truly effective leader. “A leader who knows his priorities but lacks concentration knows what to do but never gets it done. If he has concentration but no priorities, he has excellence without progress. But when he harnesses both, he has the potential to achieve great things.”
Maxwell sets out a few guidelines to focus our time and energy for maximum results:
Focus 70 percent on strengths. “To be successful, focus on your strengths and develop them. That’s where you should pour your time, energy and resources.” And he quotes Peter Drucker, management guru, as saying, “Nobody ever commented, for example, that the great violinist Jascha Heifetz probably couldn’t play the trumpet very well.”
Focus 25 percent on new things. “Growth equals change. If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving… If you dedicate time to new things related to areas of strength, then you’ll grow as a leader.”
Focus 5 percent on areas of weakness. “Nobody can entirely avoid working in areas of weakness. The key is to minimize it as much as possible, and leaders can do it by delegating” …or outsourcing, or finding a way for someone else to do it faster and better than they could.
These guidelines are great if all is well and you have your priorities clear. But what happens when you’ve lost focus and minor things are consuming your time? To get back on track, Maxwell suggests doing the following:
- Work on yourself. You are your greatest asset or detriment.
- Work at your priorities. You will have to fight for them.
- Work in your strengths. You can reach your potential.
- Work with your contemporaries. You can’t be effective alone.
“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” – Anonymous
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of three of your strengths and three of your weaknesses. How much time do you devote to them? Are you in alignment with the 70-25-5 guidelines above?
FUTURE: Plan to divide your working time as close as possible to the 70-25-5 guidelines above. Give it a try. Test and test some more to see what works for you.
Know someone who could use help to align his priorities and concentration? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 58 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: Taking care of yourself is part of your job
— From: Habit Changers: 81 Game-Changing Mantras to Mindfully Realize Your Goals by M. J. Ryan
M. J. Ryan, leading expert on change and human fulfillment, says that she’s lost count of the number of her high-achieving clients who recognize that self-care is something that they keep putting off. She recalls a specific story of a female executive who said, “I’ve got my life really nailed… The kids are great, my work is going well. The only thing is that I’m not taking very good care of myself. Exercise has gone out the window, I’m eating lots of junk, and my sleep isn’t so great either.”
We all know that we should take care of ourselves, so why do we put it off for a later time that never comes? The reasons are as varied as each individual, and we simply chalk it off to being busy. Ultra busy. And we make work and others’ needs our priorities, while putting ourselves last (usually in the if-there-is-a-25th-hour-in-the-day-category-I’ll-get-to-it…category).
This reminds me of a quote by Deepak Chopra that says, “If you don’t take care of your health today, you will be forced to take care of your illness tomorrow.”
While the quote jolted me the first time I heard it because of its ominous nature, I think there is much truth in it. Yet I prefer Ryan’s response to this problem, “No one ever told you, but taking care of yourself is part of your job. It’s not optional. Because to succeed at work, you need high ongoing mental, emotional, and physical energy to do your best. If you keep ignoring self-care, eventually you’ll perform at a subpar level. […] When you understand that taking care of yourself is really part of your job, you see it as the business priority it is. So make a schedule of self-care and stick to it.”
I love this approach since it’s a very logical way to see and practice self-care. As Ryan further says, this method is designed it to “give high-achieving folks like you permission to take the time to focus on themselves.”
ACTION
TODAY: Do one thing about self-care that you’ve been putting off.
FUTURE: Schedule in your calendar the times that you will use for self-care. Stick to them!
Know someone who needs to take care of his or herself? 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 | 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!
