Uncategorized

Success by a Thousand Small Victories

/ Scott / Leave a comment

We’ve all heard the term “Death by 1000 cuts”.  I recently heard that phrase and began thinking about it in terms of success and recalled how success doesn’t occur all in one day.  Instead, success is the result of several (maybe 1000) small victories achieved over time.  That thought re-energized me in my current pursuits.  That encourages me to daily focus on providing consistent effort.  Doing so will ensure success through 1000 tiny victories.

Be encouraged to provide daily effort toward your goals and for small success every day.  Significant results will come if we simply take care to make progress every day.  We will achieve success through a thousand small victories.

Looking for Things That Are Red

/ Scott / Leave a comment

Before you begin reading this post, take 10 seconds, look around your current environment, and see how many things you can identify that are red.

(C’mon now, really do this.  You’ll enjoy the rest of the post more if you do.)

Ready?  GO!!

<10 seconds later>

Time’s up!

How’d you do?  What items did you identify that were red?  How many were you able to observe in 10 seconds?  Were you surprised at the number of red things you were able to locate?  I was!

Here’s another question, why do you think you were able to locate so many red items in the exercise above?  Perhaps you’re thinking, “Because you told me to, Scott”.  While that’s true, I believe the real answer is… because you were looking for things that were red.

It makes sense, right?  We tend to find what we’re looking for.  Since you were specifically looking for red items, your radar was up and you were on the lookout for things that were red.  After you spotted the first couple of red items, it probably got easier to find other things that were red.  It felt like that for me.  Before I knew it, I had located about a dozen red things.

I think a similar scenario can occur in our daily lives regarding how we view the world and the people we interact with.  For example, have you ever thought that the world was going downhill, and then had that thought reinforced by a news headline or an on line article?  Suppose we hold a particular belief about an organization.  This organization could be a group like Congress, a corporation, or a specific demographic of the population. The list is endless.  Without consciously intending to do so, we will be looking for evidence like a story on the news, or an article on line, or even in the behavior we may witness from this demographic that supports our belief.  With every piece of evidence we find that supports our belief, the stronger our belief becomes.  The stronger that belief becomes, the easier it is to spot the evidence for the belief.  The easier it becomes to look for things that are red.

Let’s dig a little deeper and apply this concept to our relationships with others.  Have you ever been annoyed by a person close to you, and harbored thoughts like, “She’s so (fill in the blank with their personality trait that annoys you)…!” or “He is always (insert their behavior that drives you up the wall)…!”   This person could be a spouse, significant other, boss, co-worker, child, friend, relative, or any other person you interact with on a regular basis.  The more we think these negative thoughts, the easier it is to spot the evidence that supports our thoughts about this individual.  We can spot the evidence without even trying.  In fact, it is usually the first thing we notice about this person, regardless of the other great traits and attributes they may have.  Their positive traits get over looked because they are not what we’re looking for.  We’re too busy looking for red in this person.  And since we’re looking for red, red is what we’ll find.

How damaging that can be to a relationship.  Looking only for red can be so insidious, starting out as a small observation and over time ballooning into an unshakable negative belief.

Let’s be mindful of what we’re looking for in others and in the world around us and how it affects our outlook.  No longer will we look for red in others, and miss the myriad colors that represent their positive attributes.  Since we find what we’re looking for, let’s cause something to happen by looking for something good or positive in others and in the world around us.

There are so many beautiful colors to be seen.  Let’s not focus solely on red.

 

The New Normal

/ Scott / 1 Comment

I like change.  Change can bring opportunity, new experiences, and adventures that shake up our daily routine.  Although, I think my thoughts on change are probably like that of most people, as expressed in the following quote:

“We all like change, to the extent that it makes what we’re already doing even better.”

I certainly like change when it benefits me, or improves what I’m already doing.  However, sometimes events occur that change our lives in a way that we do not desire or that we would not have chosen for ourselves.  These could be things like a severed relationship, the loss of a loved one, an unexpected illness, or a host of other events.  As a result, our lives can be changed forever.  The way we once knew things, will never be again, and the future implications are yet to be determined.  One thing we do know is that the future will look very different from our recent past.  This difference is what will become our “new normal”.

Here’s the good news about the new normal:  we have the opportunity to largely determine what that new normal will look like.  We can shape it by deciding what we want it to consist of, and taking steps to bring about that future we envision, thus creating our new normal.

Sure, the situation that caused this change is still present, but that doesn’t mean it has to be what defines our future.  We can spend all of our energy bemoaning our misfortune and focusing on the event that caused this new normal.  We can also squander our ability to define what normal will be and leave it up to others or circumstance to define for us.  But I don’t believe any of those options will yield the results we’re looking for.

If you find yourself facing an event that includes the promise of a new normal, and after you’ve had sufficient time to grieve, get angry, mourn, etc, begin to envision what you want your new normal to look like.  Think about all the things you’d like it to consist of.  Then, when you’re ready, cause something to happen by taking action to turn your vision into the reality of your new normal.

Your future-self will thank you.

Let’s Get Disruptive

/ Scott / 1 Comment

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word “Disruptive”?  I tend to think of a noisy child in a classroom (probably because I’ve had experience as this child in school) or of someone who is going against the established order or protocol of a community.  Usually, what comes to mind is someone who is disturbing several other people.  But have you ever thought of being disruptive as disturbing yourself?  More specifically, disrupting your thoughts, or engaging in disruptive thinking?  What is disruptive thinking, and why should we even bet interested in it?  Let’s find out…

We all have established beliefs that influence how we view ourselves, others, and the world around us.  They form our ideals about how the world works according to “insert your name”.  These beliefs influence our decision making and self-talk, affect our attitude, and shape our outlook on life on a daily basis.  Being disruptive challenges our long held beliefs and causes us to ask ourselves questions like:

  • Is this belief still accurate, valid, or relevant today?
  • Is there a better way to do what I’m currently doing?
  • Is there evidence that supports or disproves this belief?
  • Are there other possibilities I should be exploring and considering?

In short, being disruptive is about challenging the status quo of our own thinking.  To me, this concept is extremely important, because if we want to change any aspect of our lives, it is going to require changing what we’ve been doing on a daily basis, which usually requires a change to our current thinking and how we view the world around us.  Changing our thinking will often cause us to be confronted with one or more of our strongly held beliefs.

So what does it look like to be disruptive in our thinking?  Here are a few examples of how a disruptive thought can challenge a long held belief in order to change your thinking:

Long held belief:  An artist might have always been told, “Artists don’t make money.  Being an artist and being an entrepreneur are mutually exclusive.”

Disruptive thought:  The artist could shake up that long held belief with the disruptive thought, “Why can’t artists run a successful business that showcases their art?   What if I were to … (insert disruptive thinking idea)?”

Long held belief:  A would-be business owner might have been taught to believe, “It costs too much money to start a business.  Doing so requires going tens of thousands of dollars, or more, into debt. “

Disruptive thought:  The budding entrepreneur could challenge that long held belief with the disruptive thought, “Who says I have to go into debt to start a business?  Why can’t I leverage my skills, talents, and experience and technology to start an on-line business for less than $1,000?  I’ve got valuable skills the marketplace needs and would willingly pay for”

Long held belief:  A young person in high school may have been taught to believe that, “The only way you can be guaranteed a bright future is by getting stellar grades in high school, scoring high on the SAT, and graduating from a top tier college.”

Disruptive thought:  What if this student were to challenge that long held belief with the disruptive thoughts, “Why do I have to go to college for 4+ years, and spend all that money on tuition to be successful?  What if instead I gained some experience in my chosen field now and started learning from people who are currently doing what I want to do?  Is a degree really required for what I want to do?  Could those 4 years at college be better spent gaining real experience to help me become successful?  Is there another path to success that I haven’t considering yet?”

Are you getting the idea of what disruptive thinking looks like?  Can you see how it can challenge your current way of thinking and cause you to consider other possibilities that you may not have been able to consider before, due to the interference of a long held belief?

I’m not saying that we should abandon all our long held beliefs, but we should be willing to examine them and determine if any could be keeping us from achieving better results in our lives.  As mentioned before, if you want to cause something to happen that is different from what you’ve been doing, a new way of thinking will most likely be required.  Be mindful about disrupting your thinking on a regular cadence to see if you have any long held beliefs that are acting as logjams to the advancement of your goals.  The faster track to your success might just be a disruptive thought away!

What’s Essential?

/ Scott / Leave a comment

Why is it so easy to get distracted from pursuing our goals?  Even more so, why does it often seem like our progress is moving at glacier-like speed, leaving us feeling like we’ll never get where we’re trying to go in life?  I think it’s possible that we’re concentrating our efforts on tasks that won’t yield the high level of results we’re looking for.

I was reading Pamela Slim’s book “Escape from Cubicle Nation” recently (yes, I’m planning an escape!) about a person who was gaining control over their finances.  When asked what the most important thing they did to gain control over their finances was, they responded with, “Simplify to identify what’s essential, and then eliminate as much as possible everything that isn’t essential.”

That makes perfect sense in the context of personal finance.  It also got me thinking about how this same principle could be applied to the pursuit of goals.  I find plenty of examples in my own life where my focus is on something that is non-essential to an objective I’m trying to achieve.  The result is usually wasted time and delayed results.

For example, I recently signed up and created a user profile on a social networking site for voice overs.  As part of creating my profile, there was an option to add a photo.  A photo wasn’t required, it was optional.  Stated another way, it was non-essential to creating my profile.  Would you believe I wasted close to an hour trying to decide on the right photo to use?  What’s wrong with me?!  I had plenty of other essential tasks to do, instead of wasting time on this non-essential task.  (In my own defense, I learned this concept AFTER the incident I just described)

It’s amazing how quickly an hour can be lost to a non-essential task.  Imagine doing several non-essential tasks over the course of a day, a week, or a month.  Carry that out a year, and it’s staggering to see the negative compounding effect of wasting time on things that aren’t essential.

If you really want to cause something to happen in your life, start identifying what’s essential and what’s not.  Strive to spend the large majority of your time on essential tasks, and seek to eliminate, or at least drastically reduce, the amount of time you spend on non-essential tasks.  You’ll notice a marked increase in the progress you make toward achieving your goals.

Gas Up Along the Way

/ Scott / 2 Comments

I love learning!  Like most people reading this blog, I consider myself a life-long learner and enjoy the process of learning new ideas and skills.  At the end of every year, I want to be able to look back and say that I know more now than I did last year at this time.  Life is more exciting and fulfilling when I’m continuously learning.  What’s not to love about learning?  Well…

Whenever we decide to embark on a new undertaking, one of the first things we do is learn as much as we can about our new adventure.  That makes sense, right?  Any time we pursue something new we need to gain knowledge to identify the path we need to take in order to get started.  At the very beginning, learning is a crucial step. The problem occurs when we have gained sufficient knowledge to get stated and instead opt to postpone action in order to pursue additional learning.

I look at learning like putting gas in a car before a cross country road trip.  Before hitting the road we drive to the gas station and fill the car with gas.  Once the tank is full, we’re ready to embark on our trip.  Do we have enough gas for the whole trip?  No.  Will we need to acquire more gas along the way?  Of course.  Do we have enough gas to begin our journey right now?  You bet!

Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to sit at the gas station after filling the car and think, “You know, I should get another gallon of gas and carry it in the trunk, just in case.”  Imagine doing that and then thinking, “I should probably fill up another couple of gas cans to have because I don’t know what I may encounter along the way.”  Suppose this train of thought played out multiple times.  At the very least, our trip would be significantly delayed.  At worst, we’d never embark on the journey we’d planned.

The answer:  Hang up the pump, put the car in Drive, and get moving!

Likewise, continual learning in place of action, when we already have the knowledge we need to get started, can thwart our efforts to move ahead.

So what keeps us from taking the knowledge we’ve acquired and putting it into action?  Why do we get stuck in the mode of, “Ready… Aim… Aim… Aim…” without ever getting to “FIRE!”?  There could be several reasons such as:

  • Fear of the unknown.
  • Getting outside our comfort zone.
  • Lack of commitment to our goal.
  • Self doubt or discouragement from our own negative self talk or from others.
  • The thought that learning is less threatening than taking action and risking failure.

When you  notice that you’re postponing action in favor of more learning, take a moment to ask “Why?”  Ask this question until you get to the root cause that’s keeping you from that first step.  Once you discover the “why”, acknowledge it, commit to taking the first step, and then do it.

I heard a great quote recently that says,

“Too much learning and not enough doing will turn you into an over-educated under-achiever.”

I don’t want to be like that.  I want to learn with the intent of putting that learning into action to make life better for myself and for others.  Yes, we need to be continuous learners, but not at the expense of taking action.   Once you’ve gained enough knowledge to take that initial step, get started!  Move ahead as far as you can.  When you get to the point where you need more knowledge, pull up to the “gas pump” of learning, “gas up” for the next leg of your journey, and then continue on.

Cause something to happen by putting your learning into action.  Put your dreams in Drive and get moving.  You’ll always be able to “gas up” along the way.

The Garden of Your Mind

/ Scott / 2 Comments

Have you ever thought of your mind as a garden?  I would argue that each of us carry the most fertile plot of land we will ever own, right between our ears. Our minds are capable of producing a harvest greater than that of the most fertile soil or the most efficiently run farm on the planet.  So how do we leverage this valuable real estate we’ve been given?  Are there some “gardening tips” we can apply to the garden of our minds?  I believe there are.

Much like a conventional garden, which produces its crop based on the seeds the gardener sows, our minds also produce a harvest based on the seeds we plant in it.  However, seeds planted in the mind come in a different form than seeds that are planted in the ground.  Seeds for the mind include things like:

  • Books we read
  • People we hang around with
  • Podcasts, blogs, people, and websites we follow
  • Movies and TV programs we watch and the music we listen to
  • Groups we associate with

Anything we see, hear, or experience is a potential seed falling on the fertile soil of our mind.

So when these seeds are planted in our minds and take root, what do they produce?  They produce:

  • Mindsets and paradigms
  • Thoughts
  • Ideas
  • Attitudes
  • Beliefs and ideals

The bigger questions we should be asking ourselves are, “What kind of thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes is my mind producing?”  Are they positive, and taking me in the direction I want to go in life?  Do they encourage me and make me want to learn, grow, and stretch to become even better than I currently am?

What if they’re not good?  What if your thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes are negative, leaving you feeling defeated, discouraged, frustrated and fearful?  If this is the case, I’d suggest looking at the seeds you’re allowing to be sown, and take root, in your mind.

It is impossible for a gardener to plant seeds of corn and yield a crop of anything other than corn.  Since corn is what the gardener planted, a harvest of corn is what they’ll reap.  If the gardener wanted carrots instead, they should have sown carrot seeds rather than seed that produce corn.  The exact principle is at work within our minds.  If we fill our minds with seeds of positive input, we’ll get a harvest of positive thoughts and ideas in return.  On the contrary, fill your mind with seeds of negativity and defeat, your thoughts and ideas will be negative and defeating.

Just like a garden, our mind requires constant care to ensure that it’s getting proper seeding.  If seeds that we don’t want have taken root, they should be immediately uprooted and disposed of.  Isn’t it interesting (and frustrating) how easily weeds grow?  You don’t even have to plant them and they show up everywhere!  Think of negative thoughts as weeds in your mind.  If you’re being attentive to what you allow into your mind, weed producing seeds can creep in and take root.  Once a weed has been identified in your mind, remove it immediately and plant something positive in its place.  Left untended your mind, much like a garden, will become overrun with weeds.

Let’s be aware of the seeds we’re filling our minds with and the harvest they yield.  If we don’t like the harvest our mind is producing, we need only sow different seeds that will produce a harvest we desire.

What weeds do you need to remove from your mind?  What seeds do you need to begin sowing?  Cause something to happen today, by actively tending to the garden of your mind.

Get Beyond Irritated

/ Scott / Leave a comment

ARRRGH!!  Have you ever been so irritated that you just wanted to yell or scream?  (I hope I’m not the only one who’s ever felt like this!)  There are several things that can drive us to become irritated.  It could be a recurring behavior we keep engaging in.  Maybe we’re irritated by a bureaucratic process or organization that seems incapable of providing reasonable value.  Irritations also come from those we regularly interact with or it could even come from within ourselves due to a gap between our expectations and current reality.

It feels safe to say that at some point we’ve all been irritated.  So what should we do when this occurs?  Do we just brush it off and move on?  What’s the proper response to irritations we encounter?  I like the thought I heard on a recent podcast that suggests we get “beyond irritated”.  So what does that mean?

When we find ourselves irritated we have a few choices.  We can remain irritated, or we can use the irritation as a catalyst to spark an action that leads to a positive change or outcome.  This is the essence of getting beyond irritated.

When irritation strikes I’ve found it rather easy just to remain parked in an irritated state.  This seems to be the default reaction for most folks, as it requires zero effort or thought.  We just naturally seem to go there.  However, as noted above, we have a better choice.

This is where we get beyond just being irritated.  No, we’re not taking about taking our irritation to the next level, where we allow ourselves to go completely berserk.  That would be counterproductive.  Getting beyond irritated is a different way of thinking.  It’s using an irritation to spark action to improve the situation, to cause something to happen.  Think of irritation as the event that strikes the match of positive activity.

Looking back, I realize I’ve used this concept, in a small way, in my own life recently.  I use to get to the end of my workday and leave in a hurry in order to catch the bus on time.  It always felt like I was rushing out and leaving things undone, only to be dealt with the next morning.  I would arrive the next day to a messy desk and loose ends from the day before, irritated that I had, yet again, set myself up to have a chaotic morning.  Not only was it irritating, it was not how I wanted to begin each day.  A few months ago I decided to start blocking out the last 10 minutes of my day to assess what I was working on and schedule my tasks for the following day.  That way, I’d arrive the next morning to an orderly desk with a plan for the day ahead.  So far this plan has been working extremely well.  Since its implementation, I have not been irritated by a chaotic workspace.  That irritation has been removed.

What things constantly irritate you?  Is it being out of shape, stuck in an unfulfilling job, poor relationships with those closest to you?  Be mindful when you become irritated.  When you do, very quickly ask yourself, “What action can I take to get beyond this irritation?” and then take that action.

Never waste an irritation by failing to follow it up with a positive action.  If not, you could be leaving a potentially life changing opportunity on the table.

Paint a Picture

/ Scott / Leave a comment

I was reminded recently of the power of a picture when trying to convey a concept or a thought to other people.

I work at Xerox as a Business Systems Analyst and last week I was trying to explain to a team of 8 people how I thought some messaging should appear on one of our customer facing web pages. The idea of what I wanted was clear in my mind, but as I was explaining it to others, I could tell they weren’t “seeing” what I was describing.  Although I made repeated attempts to explain more clearly, I still wasn’t getting through.  After the meeting I put together a quick Power Point mockup of what my vision was and emailed it to the team.  As soon as each team member viewed the mockup, they instantly understood how I thought this web page should look.  Everyone had the same picture in their mind.  The picture I wanted them to see.

When we’re communicating with someone, we’re never sure what picture of the topic they hold in their mind.  We can’t really be sure if they are on the same page as us, or if they have a picture in their mind that is completely different from what we see.  It would be nice if we could see the picture someone has in their mind.  Sometimes I wish people had cartoon thought bubbles above their heads so I could see what picture they have and what they’re thinking.  Most times I’m glad our thought bubbles aren’t visible, because I’d probably get my feelings hurt a lot.  J

The best thing we can do to ensure that we are communicating clearly, and that people have the same picture in their mind as what we’re attempting to explain, is to paint that picture for them.  There are several ways this can be done, such as:

  • Create a detailed mockup
  • Write out a rough sketch, chart, or drawing
  • Make a comparison to something they’re familiar with
    • It’s as big as a football field
    • It’s the same color yellow as the McDonald’s arches
    • It’s the same shape as the state of Nevada

(Did you have a picture in your mind of each of those items as you read this?)

What are some other ways we can paint pictures for other people?  Where can you start to paint clear pictures for people you communicate with this week?

As we seek to cause greater things to happen, we’ll need to become skilled at sharing our ideas and visions with others.  Look for opportunities in your communication to paint a picture for your listeners to hold in their mind.  You’ll be thrilled with how effective your communication will be and how your influence will grow.

Give a Damn

/ Scott / Leave a comment

Give a Damn

“Whatever!”  Have you heard this phrase recently?  Have you said it in a conversation, or used it as a quick retort?  It can be fun to throw out when joking around with friends.  It can also be used to instantly communicate that your interest in the topic of discussion has been exhausted and you’re ready to move on.  However it’s used, the message it conveys is clear:  “I don’t give a damn.”

It’s become trendy not to care and to be cynical and apathetic as opposed to giving thought to a topic or perspective and actually caring.  Perhaps it’s easier to do so because people are busy or are mentally engaged elsewhere.

I was recently listening to another Entrepreneur on Fire podcast and was struck when the guest gave his favorite success quote.  It was simply, “Give a Damn”.  Something about this quoted really resonated with me.  It reminds me to actually care about the things I’m pursuing, the people I’m with, the effort I give, and the person I’m becoming.  This phrase reminds me to be engaged and committed to what I devote my efforts to.

There’s another thing I love about that quote.  No matter what I’m doing, I can add “Do I…” to the front of it and regularly ask myself, “Do I give a damn?”  That’s a powerful question!  No matter what I’m doing or what I’m engaged with, I can stop and ask this question of myself.   If my response to that question is “Yes” and my effort or engagement is sub-par, then I clearly need to step my game up and engage at a higher level.  If I answer, “Yes” and I am fully engaged, that confirms I’m right on track.

What if the answer to this question is, “No”?  Then what?  It seems like the next logical question might be, “Why don’t I give a damn?”  This question warrants an honest answer beyond simply, “because” or “I don’t know”.  It may be that a bad attitude is to blame.  That’s easy to correct, because we have complete control over that.  What if the attitude is good and the answer to the question of whether we give a damn is still, “No”?  This could be a strong indicator that we’re pursuing something that doesn’t align with our passions, strength, or values.  It could also mean the people we’re with, or activities we’re engaging in are not fulfilling or causing us to grow and be stretched.

Let’s be mindful of what we’re spending our time and effort doing.  Yes, there are some things in life that we need to do, which we may not care about.  However, the point here is not to voluntarily waste significant portions of our lives on things we don’t give a damn about.

Make sure that you give a damn in your efforts to cause something to happen.  Greatness never came from someone who didn’t care.