Creating opportunity: Is that selfish?

When you have a POV (Point of View) that notices opportunity, what do you do to Magnify your position/situation/livelihood?

Since I published the book, Your Best Just Got Better, the world looks like a marketplace to attract those who’d be the most interested in making things #Better. For example, here’s my view recently at an Airport in Houston, Texas.

Creating opportunity?
Marketing effort?
Success?

Trust me, I’ve thought that these “pop-up” book signing events fulfill all those descriptions and more…it’s like a designer who wears the clothes they make, a photographer always having a camera “on their person,” a mom constantly scanning the vicinity wondering, “Are they ok?”

In July, 2014 I presented a full-day workshop based on that book and the past 8 years of advising clients worldwide on this “Better” philosophy. During the program - on one the breaks, in fact - an attendee approached me and quietly said, “I’m working here now, but I’ve started a side business that really is my dream career.”

We only had about three minutes to talk, and I spent two of those minutes listening.

I contributed one comment about how to view the landscape as one full of opportunity and how to “magnify” the possibility that success can happen.

For the leaders who are reading this, it really is up to you to step in to and own the position the world (at least “your” world) has given you.

You ARE in a position to influence others.

How have you changed your mental perspective to notice more opportunity where you look out in your world?

What is your morning routine?

When the alarm clock ring/start/go off, do you think, “Oh goody, another start to the day?”

Really, I’m serious! Stop laughing. What follows is a really, REALLY important question:

Are you happy with your morning routine?

I believe that how we begin the day is a pretty good indicator of the kind of day we’re going to experience. Wake up tired, cranky and short-tempered, you might want to warn people. Wake up ready to move on the “mission,” and make big things happen? Connect with someone in your physical and/or virtual network and ask them to hold you accountable!

Here’s another question that “may” be worth asking:

“When I start the day thinking about potential, possibility and abundance, how does what happens that day change?”

Look, when you start the day behind, looking forward to the end of the day, feeling lonely/frustrated/upset (or all three!), what you do and who you are and how you show up is negatively affected. You don’t want to be “that guy” do you?

What you do early in the morning…That’s your time to “choose your life.” Choose to live. To bring life to the next thing. To “be” all you can be, while you’re doing all you’re doing.

So, here’s the scenario:

The alarm rings, and it’s time to start another day. Will it be a productive one? Will clients return the calls you make? Will you be able to provide the best service you can throughout the day? These are questions people have on their minds, whether they’re the CEO of Fortune 100 company, an individual contributor within that organization, or a community member with a vision of how things could be better!

Each new morning, we’re given the opportunity to engage in habits we’ve put in to place to get us to where we are. What are some of yours? And, are they going to be enough to take you to the next level of who you want to be?

I recently spent 6 months coaching a client with a very focused goal: She wanted to get her most important work done before 11am every day. After spending more than 10 years building her business, she found that what she does in that early part of the day always produces positive results.

Instead of beginning with a new set of routines, we started a basic tracking system. For the first 2 weeks, we talked regularly (sometimes daily) as she created an honest inventory of her morning routine. Once we knew that there were more than 30 things she was doing between the time she woke up and about 11am, then we began to monitor that routine.

Where did we start? She drafted a list of what I call, “I am at my best when…” statements. These are the things that if she does during the day, there is a higher likelihood of things going her way. For example, here are some of mine:

I am at my best when:
I eat a complete and balanced breakfast.
I ask for help on a project.
I spend a little time outside.
I say thank you to someone who may not expect it.
After you watch the video here, create your inventory and have a day better than most!

If you could not fail…

There is a famous quote that is widely attributed to Sir Winston Churchill:

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm”

Now, as you look around at the life you’re experiencing…have YOU had to go from failure to failure? Personally, one of the things that I’m extremely fascinated by is taking a look around and asking myself:

“…what would I attempt to do if I knew I could not fail?”

I invite you to ask your self that same question.

What would happen if you were to look around and view your work and your world through a different lens? What if you were the actual CEO of your life? What would you demand your finance department focus on? What would you expect your operations group to be working on with the next two or three or five years in mind? And, when it comes to human resources, what would your advice be to the organization that you call family?

When I say that time is on your side, what I really mean is that it’s the only nonrenewable resource you have access to that is absolutely connected to the results you achieve. Want to achieve new results? Stop focusing on what you’re going to do with time, start focusing on what you are not going to do in time.

Now there are two very important words to that last paragraph.

With

In

When you think about the time you have, and everything you have to do, a common misconception is that by scheduling yourself in tighter blocks of time, in creating a to do list structure, in reprioritizing all of your work constantly keeping everything as current as possible, somehow you will get the right things done. An easy way to fail at work and in life is to think about how hard something is going to be, and let that stop you dead in your tracks.

More and more is less about what you are going to do and much more about what are you going to choose to ignore.

Now the reality is you have already been doing this.

Look around right now at your work, and your life, I challenge you to print the list below and do a quick self assessment/admission process (and put a checkmark next to the ones that jump off the page) that you have ignored even a little bit of your priorities over the past 14 days. In fact, you may want to begin this process by opening your calendar and actually printing where you have gone, what you have done, what you have focused on, and who you have met with over the past two weeks.

Here are the areas that I would like you to know if you have been ignoring:

  • ____ Important conversations with key colleagues at work
  • ____ Important conversation with family members
  • ____ Health, and/or wellness activities
  • ____ Down time, regenerative introspection time
  • ____ Personal/professional development beyond required for work
  • ____ Involvement in/with certain civic or community groups

I read recently that one of the main causes of stress - if you’re too stressed out, you may fail at more of the things you take on - is a constant reflection and renewal of holding ourselves accountable to that which is unfinished. The stress of the undone is something that I talk a lot about in the book, your best just got better, I even dedicated an entire session of a recent online university course to the very topic, the stress of the undone.

Would you like to achieve more? Is it time for you to think bigger? If you knew how to work smarter-saving between 15 and 45 minutes every day-would your life be even a little bit different?

Here is my challenge to you:

If it is time for you to learn the 12 skills we will teach over the next year through our get momentum online community coaching program, Sign Up for a year-long Get Momentum membership and I will schedule a 14-minute meeting sometime in the next one or two weeks.

Why 14 minutes? 14 minutes is about 1% of your day. This laser-focused approach will not fail you. I will make the case, actually I will prove to you, that there is extreme value in reassessing your own approach to work, life, prioritization, and productivity. When you understand the three main areas of getting  and keeping momentum, you will understand how to get time back on your side.

Are you ready?

“If you’re waiting until you have time…”

You know what happens when you work with someone influential? You think of them often, and you quote them out loud from time to time. Yeah, I do that a lot. Here’s a quote from a master mentor of mine, his name was Jack Smith, and he was my principal when I taught high school a while back:

“If you’re waiting until you have time, to figure out what to do when you have time, you’ll always be behind.”

That one is SO true. And, it’s why we started the Get Momentum program. We’ll show ya how to get ahead, fast!

How do you juggle three balls in the air at one time?

Yesterday, I was able to spend some free time with my niece and nephew who are visiting us from Los Angeles. Early in the day, I had so much to do, I wasn’t 100% positive I would be able to meet them at the pool.

But, using the same techniques I’m teaching this month at Get Momentum, I was able to free up about 75 minutes later in the afternoon.

How do you keep three balls in the air at one time?

You have momentum.

You need momentum to make progress on all the goals you’ve set for your work, your life and your community. Whether your “Big Thing” this year is personal or professional, membership in Get Momentum will guide you to successful outcomes.

A while back, Scott Keller, a director at McKinsey & Company, described the importance of personal growth and development. He said we have got to know “what to change at a personal level.”

Just take this month’s Town Hall webinar as an example. Tomorrow, in just 45 minutes, you will learn at least 5 ways to get more things done each day. If you have been saying you “need more time” in the day, join us.

This month’s topic is:

Productivity Through Technology

This month, Get Momentum members around the world have told me they have:

  • 1. Learned to maximize the technological tools they have (at work/in life);
  • 2. Saved up to an hour a day using these tools;
  • 3. Feel much more productive, as they make improvements their personal organization, productivity tools and workplace routines.

At the heart of Get Momentum is a focus on developing your self-awareness. The more you know about the 12 skills we study each year - one skill each month - at Get Momentum, the more successful you will be.

Become a member by 9am PST on Wednesday, July 25th and you can attend the LIVE presentation of our Town Hall. And, if you join as a member after that, you’ll be able to watch a recording of that webinar by Thursday.

Welcome, you’re about to Get Momentum. As Steve Jobs once said, “I think this is the start of something really big. Sometimes that first step is the hardest one, and we’ve just taken it.”

 

The Best Way Is To Give Just 1% More

Are you waiting until there is more time? If you’re in a position to make more things happen between now and then (when is your then?), you’re going to have to give a little more to the goal.

Right now, everything you’ve got around you - personally, professionally, health-wise, etc - is the result of what you’ve focused on over time, and what you’ve accepted until today. Over the past few months, I’ve asked people around the world, “Is there anything you’re doing that you want to change?”

Here’s what happens most of the time: The person I’m talking to takes a deep breath, looks at me in my eyes, looks away and then says something like, “Yeah, but I just don’t have the time.”

Say it with me slowly, “I. Just. Don’t. Have. The. Time.”

And, You Never Will

You can use this statement to get out of things and explain your reasons why you’re not doing what you know you should be doing. Goals, tasks, projects and intentions all fall by the wayside because of this FACT: there ISN’T enough time. This is a fact that many of the greats in our history have had to grapple with. The way I look at it there is at least one thing all these people had in common:

  • Martin Luther King
  • Lucille Ball
  • Steve Jobs
  • Mother Theresa
  • John F. Kennedy
  • My Grandma, Colleen

That thing they all had in common? They didn’t have enough time! So, what is one to do?

Take 1% of your day today - and every day - to envision the world you want to see. 1% of your day, it’s about 15 minutes. So, in a quarter of an hour you can up level your engagement with - and the likelihood that good things will happen in - your life. When it comes to making more possible, you simply need to look around and find out how you can invest 15 minutes in your future.

What do you do for those 15 minutes? I’ll share a “punch list” of activities that I do…

1. Clarify the next thing. Spend a bit of time thinking about a project I’m working on or an event I’m participating in and I write or talk or think or plan how it will come about through time. I’m a big fan of mind-mapping and brainstorming. But (and I wrote about this in chapter 8 of the book Your Best Just Got Better) I also know the absolute importance of looking around and asking for help from people who are smarter and more experienced that I am.

For the most “bang for the buck,” I believe that 15 more minutes of planning can be worth more than an hour of distracted action-taking. My favorite tool for this kind of directed thinking is: www.e.ggtimer.com

2. Plan spontaneity. Years ago, when I worked a senior facilitator of the Getting Things Done seminars (founded by David Allen), I developed an expertise in coaching people to organize their work spaces and create very simple lists they could use to manage their projects and actions. It was then that I learned the absolute significance of planning time in the day to be impulsive and “spur-of-the-moment.”

I had a mentor once tell me, “If you’re waiting until you have time to figure out what to do when you have time, you’ll always be behind.” Thank you Jack Smith for telling me what really needs to be done: We gotta think about what we’re thinking about, so we can make more of it happen.

3. Fall in love. Look at your calendar. Review your email inbox. Revisit your to-do list. That white board in your office, look at that too. If you have a journal, look through the older pages. While you’re doing all that, find a problem, an opportunity, a situation, an upcoming event that you can fall in love with. I had another mentor of mine say to me one day, “Jason, fall in love with the problem.” I is some of the best advice I’ve ever taken.

You’re right about that time thing. You don’t have enough of it; and, you never will. At best, you’ll have moments of engagement. Your job - ok, your mission, should you decide to accept it - is to look around your world, question your routines, and create the environment that will support you in getting the right things done.

Andy Hayes Shares His Plan to Meet 100 New People

Have you ever set out to meet 100 new people?

When Andy Hayes, founder of the luxury community, Plum Deluxe moved from Seattle to Portland, he set a goal to meet 100 new people in his local business community. Andy talks about the 6 ways he built his network by reaching out to his existing community for personal introductions as well as what that’s lead to in his current business.

Jodi and Andy have been friends for years…  and were actually introduced by a mutual entrepreneur friend. They make an effort to see each other in person whenever they attended the same business conferences as well as stay in touch online. When it came time to move his life and career to a new city, he reached out to Jodi as one of the 100 people in his network to help him meet other business professionals in his local city.

Here are the 6 ways Andy went about meeting new people as well as improving the relationships he already had:

#1 Do your homework.

The more specific your request, the more likely it is that someone can help you achieve it. One way is to look at the list of connections your friend has on LinkedIn. You can filter the list by “Location.”

#2 Be clear in your intentions.

Andy asked me specifically about 3 people I might be able to introduce him to.

#3 Have a “clean” request.

What I liked so much about Andy’s request is he asked for fellow business owners that he could meet with. He wasn’t asking to mine my list and do a sales pitch.

#4 Follow up with each introduction.

Andy actually made coffee appointments with each of the people that I introduced him to. And he let me know how their meeting went. I felt great to be part of that whole experience.

#5 Make it easy for people.

Andy sent me a few sentences about his business and himself. It made it so easy for me to forward to my contacts.

#6 Set a Goal!

Without the 100 Person Goal, I can imagine how this process might feel overwhelming. But with having a specific metric, he was able to measure his progress along the way.

 

xo,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s your coach?

Are you wondering: What does “Your Best Just Got Better” do for me?

This book - and seminar series - is designed to put you in control. Together, we will create a Dashboard that you can check at the end of and during each day to keep you on course. This is not another “goal-setting” workshop; it’s more. When it’s time to further develop your:

  •  Mindset
  •  Skill Set
  •  Tool Kit

…then, it’s time to attend a day-long, life-changing workshop. And, when you’re ready to own your own experience, to be the designer, architect AND general contractor of building your business and life, well then…join http://www.getmomentum.com

(Picture from an event in Morelia, Mexico.)

 

Recently, I received this note from a client here in America:

Your Cleveland program was extremely well received among the 100 participants.

On our internal scale of 1 to 7 with 5, 6 and 7 being “Excellent”, the session received a 6.8 for “”Effectiveness of the Speaker” and 6.7 for “Value of the Content”.

No one rated the workshop’s level as “Too Low”, while 1% rated the pace as “Too Slow”.

To put these numbers into perspective, since we launched [our seminar series in] Cleveland in 2004, attendees have scored our sessions at 6.1 for “Effectiveness of the Speaker” and 5.9 for “Value of the Content”.

Now, I’m aware that those comments don’t give you the picture of “what” we do, let me do that on the phone with you. Contact us any time by clicking the Contact tab on the menu bar at http://www.getmomentum.com

I look forward to serving you…

When it’s time, how much does it take?

This month, global members of the Get Momentum leadership coaching program are studying the theme:

“Productivity Through Technology”

Of the 12 skills leaders, managers, and founders will perfect this year, this is one that will make the most difference starting tomorrow morning.

It all started many years ago when I realized that by doubling my own spying speed, I’d be able to write more, faster, and get things done before the end of the day. Then, I realized there was a “better” and “more efficient” way to take notes in meetings (in my Moleskine journal) so that later on I’d know exactly what I needed to do AND had access to referenced/sidelined information. Oh, still later, I relied that I could use the camera I carried with me everywhere to take more notes, capture more ideas, and stay in better contact with people I meet along the way.

In fact, this month you’ll learn a minimum of 10 different ways to get more from the tools, systems and gear you have under your fingertips and in your pocket/purse. The point of teaching you these tactics is simple:

To Regain 1-3 Hours A Day!

No matter WHEN you join, you’ll have access to all four “coaching sessions” this month:

  • Momentum Module: The basics you need in order to utilize/maximize the tools, gear and technology you have.
  • Town Hall: Sign up for the live (or watch the recording) 45-minute presentation/step-by-step presentation.
  • Success Profile: Learn from an expert in the technology field who - after tracking his time spent/productivity ratio - realized a 1 hour per day savings…Minimum!
  • Community Discussion: I’ll host a few “online” discussions as members around the world share their questions, stories, and examples of how THEY are more productive through technology.

There are a minimum of 3 things I’ll ask you to consider this month:

1. Long ago I wondered if it was possible to speed up AND automate the “copy/paste” tasks I had to do when I was replying to emails potential clients sent to me. I talked to a few people I know, and we brainstormed ways that I could create multiple signatures in email to semi-automate my work. That one query led me to save about 60 minutes a day.

2. Often, I visit “video tutorial” web site, type in the name of the product I want to learn about and then, I watch a video. After it’s done, I’ll watch another video. My intention is to see what each video leads to. Based on the “problem” I’m trying to solve, I’ll eventually come to a video I can watch about it.

3. You can make any tool work. You really can. The BIGGER game is to keep asking yourself, “What am I trying to accomplish?” What would remove steps, be re-useable in my process, help me find/do/make what I need more easily? Your job is to NOT  get too attached to the tool or app; instead, focus on your outcome and what can get you there.

If you’re ready to work smarter, lead better and get more done each day, click on Sign Up in the menu bar above.

The Right People = The Right Stuff

Over the past few weeks, traveling and speaking in Ventura, California, Morelia, Mexico, Cleveland, Ohio and Danville, California, (schedule’s always updated here…) I’ve been amazed at how many people are showing up to do the good work. Not only are they interested in learning more about how to “be better,” they are supporting those around them…

I am now more sure than ever that it is important to surround yourself by the ‘right’ people. If you have a chance to watch a video, I made this for college athletic coaches last summer while I was living in Mammoth Lakes, California.

Members of Get Momentum, you’ll have 2 modules each year focused on your community; that group of 4, 5 or 6 people around you who is there to move the mission forward, to help you focus on the MITs of life and work. Find people to invest your time and attention in that give you energy, that help you see the world as a better place. These positive connections make it possible to work hard, be your best-self, and to feel better along the way.

Look, there will be people out there who try to ‘de-energize’ you. Whether they mean to or not doesn’t matter; the fact is…They do. Even a little bit of negativity goes a long way in damaging your energy and engagement.

If you’re looking to join a community ready and willing to watch you soar, join Get Momentum today.