WEEK 145: FRONT AND CENTER

Outstanding people have one thing in common; an absolute sense of mission.    Zig Ziglar

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Been a great week traveling, learning, growing, and meeting new friends. 

During my travels I was reminded of the importance of this ONE thing which will keep you focused to achieve your greatest goals. 

Well what is this ONE thing?

I will tell you in a sec, but wanted to tell you about my experience in Nashville.

I was there for a conference (of epic proportions) and it was two days jam packed with learning and growth.

Met some great new friends and was reminded of a great story while talking to a new acquaintance.

It was about two groups of extreme hikers who set out to reach the North Pole, that was there mission. 

However, one group decided to march 10 miles per day. Not matter what, snow or shine, they would march the 10 miles. 

The second group decided to march depending on the weather. Thus, they would travel more on sunny days, but would hunker down during the cold and snowy ones.

Did they both make it and achieve their mission?

No, but which one made it?

It was the first group who marched 10 miles a day. 

Why?

Their mission was front and center and changes in temperature or weather conditions did not affect their actions. 

Whereas, the second group based everything on the weather. 

Although they started out knowing what they wanted to achieve, it soon got lost on "the weather." Thus, instead of staying focused on achieving their mission, they focused on other things which, well took their focus away from what they set out to do.

So do you know the ONE thing you need to keep front and center?

***It is is your mission***

Why you are doing what you are doing.

This keeps the focus on what you need to today in order for you achieve your end goal. This means pushing past the hard moments (given on the path to achieving greatness) and being grateful during the awesome ones.

Burnout is the result of losing clarity on why you are doing the things you are doing, ie your mission. 

You focus on all the wrong things:

-Why things are not working the way you thought

-The world against you

-Is this worth it

-Why struggle through this part

and you FORGET all that you are capable of. 

Going back to the story of the two groups, the group who marched 10 miles a day actually made it to the North Pole and then back to base camp.

Whereas, the second group perished before reaching the North Pole.

Moral of the story keep your mission front and center, this will allow you to "march the 10 miles daily" to achieve your greatest goals. 

See you on the other side...J

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. NMR...Lose clarity when you do not do this daily

2. Being in Zen...keeps the focus on what our priorities.

3. Awaken the Killer...to keep us on WHO I AM

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

The power of having a mission and vision front and center keeps you focused on the proper things. 

What are you grateful for?

Having the belief and investing in the greatest asset...YOU!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST

WEEK 144: GET OUT OF THE NEGATIVE CYCLE

The only person you should be better than is who you were yesterday.    Anonymous

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Going to be vulnerable here and tell you I was caught in a cycle of negativity this past week.

One negative thought lead me to another and events from my past sprang up like they happened yesterday to highlight my downfalls (perceived).

I felt like Rocky in one of his movies where it was his round to take a heavy beating from his opponent.

In the past, being caught in one of these cycles would throttle me in this downward spiral of negativity, where my filters would only see just that. An hour, an afternoon, dare I say a day.

BUT...

It only lasted for a few minutes this time.

Well how did I do that?

I will tell you.

Now here is the thing, a mentor once told me the greatest super power you can have is the ability to control your thinking (at the time I was little skeptical).

Where as, now I totally agree. 

I have said in the past your lifeline to weathering a challenging event or time period on your journey to achieving success (challenging moments are givens by the way) is gratitude. 

It is the one thing which will keep you focused and connected to your WHY, when everything around you seems to be crumbling. Your technology does not work. You get called a fraud. You get mail saying you need to pay a large unexpected bill. You are not seeing the results you want. Yada, yada, yada.

Here is the thing, this past week I forgot about gratitude and here is why.

I was on various social media platforms and saw a friend do x, another do y...

That coupled with a few other things caused me to say "why am I not getting the results I want?"

Boom, that was the first step down the downward rabbit hole called comparison.

It is the killer of gratitude, the one thing which will keep you grounded and bring you back from the land of possible burnout (not a place you want to be in life or business).

Today you are bombarded with fantastical results of others; lost 20 lbs, earned 120k per month, acquired 5 clients this past week...

And I have found you can either use it two ways. 

One, you can compare your results with theirs and sever your lifeline to gratitude.

or two, you can say thank you and be grateful.

Yes, you can see these events as validation others can do this, thus so can you. 

They just know, believe, and are doing something you are not. All things you can find out to change very easily. 

To compare or not, the choice is yours. 

See you on the other side...J

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Living in paradigm of flow.

2. Being in zen. It gives me the greatest resource...energy.

3. Not comparing, being grateful!

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

Comparison is the killer of gratitude, your lifeline to your why when things are the most challenging. 

What are you grateful for?

Being able to control my thinking. It is a super power and I am grateful for learning the strategies to do this on a consistent basis. 

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST

WEEK 143: ACLIMATE

Most people never run enough on their first wind to find out they have a second.    William James

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Going to keep this short and sweet as I have just returned from traveling with two little kids across the country. 

As you know I have been running consistently for the past month and half and have found many parallels from running to achieving success. 

This past week I had the pleasure of running at home in Colorado and wow, what a difference elevation makes.

It took some time to acclimate to the altitude, but I felt like I was running on top of the world by the end of the week.

Now, I mentioned on Facebook I found THREE insights between running and achieving success.

So being late and all, no time for any other shenanigans tonight.

***

1. Focus on your LEAD indicators

Could write a whole post on this but achieving your goals can be broken down into two parts. One being the result or target you are trying to achieve, ie your Lag indicators and two, the processes or actions which will help you achieve them, ie your Lead indicators. 

In terms of running the Lag indicator is the end distance I wanted to run (5 miles in my case), where as the Lead indicators are reaching the next telephone pole which were placed along the road I ran on.

Focusing solely on the end result, finishing 5 miles, while my lungs were burning at mile one is recipe for disaster. That is why you focus on the reaching the next telephone pole, then the next, and so on until you finish. 

2. Success is built on Success

Back in China I was consistently running 5-6 miles every other day (at sea level), so naturally I came home to Colorado and thought I could do the same. 

Answer.

No (elevation is no joke).

I took my first run earlier in the week and thought I could easily do 4 miles. Well, I ran 2 that first day.

I was disappointed, but used the first run as a learning experience to get used to the altitude and temperature (nearly 10 degrees C cooler than in China).

The next day, I ran 3 miles and did not feel as fatigued. A definite success from the previous day. 

Naturally, I felt fully confident I could hit the 4 mile mark the next day, and that is what I did the next day. Another success from the previous day.

This lead me to eventually running a 5 mile circuit by the end of the week (actually did it twice).

Moral of the story, success begets success. Build upon small success and let them help you achieve higher levels of success. 

3. The Paradigm of FLOW

Now think of this like a river. Flow is when you naturally "flow" with the current and do not struggle or fight where the water takes you.

Where as, the opposite of flow would be you fighting with force trying to get up stream...constant struggle and pain.

Often times you make success way harder than it is. You make it too complex and subconsciously bring about situations which bring about more struggle and pain (as that is what you are used to).

Back to the running example. Now often times you will here someone say a run was hard. 

But...what does that mean? 

Was every stride they took painful? 

I doubt it (unless they had a broken leg).

In the grand scheme of things, there will be definite parts of a run which will be difficult, but they will be a fraction of the whole.

This is what the "Paradigm of Flow" is. 

There will be moments (fraction of whole) of struggle and pain, but the overall process is easy (unless you make it otherwise).

So you want to achieve success take these THREE insights to help you do just that...ACHIEVE!

See you on the other side...J

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Practicing living in the Paradigm of Flow. 

2. Sticking to my rules...no matter what. 

3. Being present. Not reliving yesterday and plotting all the different variations of tomorrow. 

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

Your brain has over 20 million thoughts per second and you only see about 20 of them, so set you filters with proper expectations. 

Otherwise you will constantly see what you expect. 

What are you grateful for?

Having Meggo as my wife. She is perfect for me in so many ways. Nothing else to say other than that!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST

WEEK 142: TRUST THE PROCESS

Forget about the results, they are lag indicators. You must train your mind to focus on the lead indicators (process) and the results will take care of themselves.   Taylor Welch

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Well, finally made it after 30+ hours of traveling from China all the way to the US. 

Three major airports, two international flights, and everything in between from taxis, cars, boats, and planes.

This week I want to share with you an insight I had while I was hitting my second wind and landing in the US after our 13 hour flight from Asia to the US.

It of course ties into the ONE thing you need to do achieve any goal, and higher levels of success and performance.

Where to start...

First, I have been blessed to have the opportunity to travel internationally and actually do it quite regularly.

Kind of crazy, but actually enjoy it...the packing planning, walking through airports, and flying of course. 

Now here is the thing, traveling by yourself no problem. However, traveling with a 3.5 and 1.5 year old equals stress. 

The process actually starts a week before we even board the plane. Planning out all the clothes and items which need to be packed. Then, all the appointments we need to attend to before we leave. Also, checking online for our flights. Then....(you get the point).

The day of we need to get the bags completed closed up and weighed so they do not go over the weight limit. Then we call the taxi to take us from our house to the ferry terminal to take us to the airport. Then...

But, I really want to to focus on the actual 13 hour flight my wife (she is amazing) two kids, and I just completed. 

We have this saying that "we will get there eventually, no matter what."

Questions like will they sleep ok? Will they eat the food? Will they cry the whole time? Will they...pop through your head. 

My wife and I used to ask so much more "what ifs" but now have built up a knowledge base to problems we have encountered and discussed what to do if other things were to occur. Then we just trust the process, knowing we do not exactly what will happen, but we will adapt and figure it out. 

Now will there be turbulence? Yes.

Will things happen which you did not expect? Yes

Will you struggle through the process? Yes

Yet, will you make it? Yes

It would be crazy for me to tell the pilot to stop the plane 3 hours into our 13 hour journey and say "can you turn this plan around and take us back as I was not sure if I was going to make it?" because my son or daughter is crying due to turbulence. 

Absolutely not,

Yet, this is exactly similar to what you do on the path to achieving a worthwhile goal or success. You ask the "pilot to turn around" as it gets a little tough.

Usually, you find a proven path which works. ( If you have not done this, then this is priority number 1!)

Next, you get into the work.

Then, it gets tough, you struggle...

Afterwards you doubt yourself, you doubt the process...

Which can either make you question what you are doing, or even worse make you quit altogether. 

Now here is the thing. If you want to achieve higher levels of success and performance, you need to one, find a proven process (vet your choices), but two, you must trust it entirely.

Which means knowing in advance you will struggle, their will be hard times, but focusing on the work and completing the work to get you to your destination.

Simple as that. 

Just like my international flight, I did not know everything which would occur and did not know exactly every step I would take in order to reach our destination.

However, I knew there would be difficult times, things might happen which I did not expect, but most importantly I trusted the process of my wife and I adapting to whatever happened to get to our destination.

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Sticking to RULES. No results = not sticking to your rules.

2. NMR - ending and starting everyday with clarity on who we choose to be.

3. Being grateful for the little things.

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

Trust the process. Know you will struggle, know there will be challenges, but be disciplined, be committed, and trust the process to arrive at your destination.

A mentor once said "being 100% committed is easy, being 99% committed is a b$&#(!

What are you grateful for?

Being able to travel internationally and provide this experience for my wife and children. 

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST