Ye Old 7 Habits

Yesterday, I posted about Habit #2: Begin with the end in mind, of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  Today, I thought I’d  look at the rest of the list:

Habit #1: Be proactive – Your life doesn’t just “happen.” Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours… (more)

Habit #2: Begin with the end in mind – Envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes… (more)

Habit #3: Put first things first – To live a more balanced existence, you have to recognize that not doing everything that comes along is okay… (more)

Habit #4: Think win-win – sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions… (more)

Habit #5: Think first to understand, then be understood – Communication is the most important skill in life. You spend years learning how to read and write, and years learning how to speak. But what about listening? (more)

Habit #6: Synergize – “two heads are better than one.” Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. (more)

Habit #7: Sharpen the saw – having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual… (more)

There is a lot of gold in here. (Certainly, there has been for Dr. Covey!) Over the coming weeks, I will delve into each Habit in turn, and talk about how each works in today’s economy and marketplace.

If you have a comment about any one of these Habits, please leave them here. Let’s discuss each Habit in detail.

Begin With the End in Mind

Humans are limited creatures. We are on the whole very short sighted, greedy, and rather lazy. We look for a comfort zone in all we do, and once we find it we vigorously protect it. What is known is safe. Uncertainty is dangerous…

And yet we dream. We dream of a better life, of how things “should” be. We see the world around us, and envision how it could be better.  But… making it better involves change. And change involves work, and uncertainty. And uncertainty is dangerous…

Whether starting a business, or getting back on your feet, or improving a relationship, we all can identify things in our lives that we’d like to make better. The question is, how do you take the edge off that uncertainty? How do we make it easier – and more advantageous – even in the short term – to take that risk and challenging the status quo?

Beginning with the end in mind is Habit #2 in Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and is generally a good strategy for almost everything we do. According to Dr. Covey, this strategy (or Habit) “is based on imagination–the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint.”

Think of it this way: if you are climbing into your car for a cross-country adventure, you will be wise to have with you a map.  Wiser still will be to have studied the map, chosen a destination, and made plans and decisions based on the knowledge you have right there in your hand. Any time you take a journey, or set out to build something of any substance, you should first consider where exactly you want to go; what exactly you want to end up with.

This holds true for just about every human endeavor. (I challenge you to name one where it falls short.) In the event you are starting a business, running or managing a business, or dreaming to someday doing so, the principle of “beginning with the end in mind” is of crucial importance.  How will it end? What will happen when it is time for you to move on? What’s your exit strategy?

In his article from About.com:Entrepreneurs, Mitchell York discusses what you really need to be doing now if you intend to sell your business sometime in the future. York points to an expert on the subject: John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell.  On his blog, Warrillow suggests 7 things you should start doing in 2010 to begin making your business more sellable down the road when you want to retire.

…And yet we dream. Well, dreaming is easy. Delivery is hard. But if you know where you are going, you are more likely to get there, no matter how difficult the road.

Self-Reliant Leadership

I met a fascinating individual by the name of Jan Rutherford today. He coined the term “self-reliant leadership,” which he defines as the ongoing struggle of knowing which questions to ask yourself, having the courage to answer those questions honestly, and being willing to act according to your answers. Brilliant! (are you able to do all three of these things all of the time? me neither!)

Among other things, Jan teaches business and leadership classes at many prestigious universities along the Front Range. In a recent blog post, Jan shares a long list of phrases and quotes one student had collected over the term of one of his courses – over 50 “little nuggets.” Most of them are fantastic. Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Face your own hypocrisy.
• Your present life is the result of the choices you have made in the past. The same will be true of your future. – Michael LeBoeuf
• The way to demonstrate your values is where you spend your time.
• Empowering people means giving up some power.
• Put yourself in places where you are in over your head.
• Try to learn something big every day.
• Develop a distinguishing personal art-form of service.
• Leadership is a process, not a position.
• Behaving as and becoming a leader is a secondary by-product of an intense commitment to a purpose.
• Ready, Fire, Aim, Fire, Aim, Fire, Aim…

Look forward to more references to Jan in the future.  It was a real pleasure to meet him!

Ten Essential Items for Starting a Business

If you’re thinking of starting a business, you’ll want to keep the following ten things in mind at all times. Each item is a difficult and complicated undertaking in it’s own right. And you will be responsible for all of them – and many more besides.

Note well, #10 on the list: Get a Coach. Getting a coach will help you overcome individual obstacles and provide much needed structure and accountability as your project grows and matures. A coach is a personal adviser who will help you maintain clarity, focus, and productivity – all essential to successfully executing the list below.

The list below is a simplified version from the larger article. Read the whole article (link below) for the author’s further insights into each item.

1. Offer what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell.

2. Get cash flowing ASAP.

3. Always find new ways to keep costs low.

4. When planning, always overestimate expenses and underestimate revenues.

5. Focus on sales and marketing manically.

6. Find ways to exponentially increase profits. In business, there are five drivers that impact profits.

7. Test and measure everything.

8. Accept that learning more equals earning more.

9. Don’t discount, add value.

10. Get a coach.

Can you think of any others?  If you think of something that is missing, please comment on this post.

This list was put together by Brad Sugars, founder and chairman of ActionCOACH, and originally published on Entrepreneur.com. Read the whole article by clicking here.

Start Right Now

There is an old saying I am sure you have heard: Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

For many, this seems easier said than done. A pipe-dream of convenience, not to be taken literally – here in the real world. There are bills to pay and I’m just lucky to have a job. Indeed… There are bills to pay and present commitments to uphold.

But that does not change one fundamental reality: if what you are doing on a daily basis is not personally fulfilling – if it does not fill your soul up with joy and energy – it will eventually prove to be unsustainable. Eventually, something in your life will have to give. So what’s it gonna be in your life? Career? Relationship? Health?

Let’s say none of the above. I have a proposition for you. I started my coaching practice to help people like you get over the walls separating you from your ideal life. I have set a goal for myself to coach over 100 new clients by the end of next year. I want you to be one of those clients.  I am offering a free hour-long one-on-one coaching session to anyone who is interested in exploring the opportunity to develop a better, more balanced life.

If you want to change course in your life, you have to grab the reins and begin to steer. This does not mean quitting your job today and opening that taco stand you’ve always dreamed of owning tomorrow. What it means is, if you ever want to own that taco stand in the future, you must start laying the ground work today. You must begin actively working to make it happen – Right now.  Change does not occur overnight.  The sooner you begin the journey, the sooner you will reach its conclusion.

If you are even just a little curious, contact me and we’ll discuss your options. The first hour is free and I guarantee you will take something f value away from the conversation.  Even if you’re not interested, leave a comment on why that is so.  Thanks and good luck!

Everything you really need to know, You learned in Kindergarten

The following list is a guide to Global Leadership, and a guide to raising your kids to be decent human beings. It is the brain child of Robert Fulghum, who has published eight best-selling books:  All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, Uh-Oh, Maybe (Maybe Not) , From Beginning To End – The Rituals of Our Lives, True Love, Words I Wish I Wrote and What On Earth Have I Done? 

It is uncanny how these nuggets of wisdom apply to so many different situations. It also has special poignancy for me, as I have a son in Kindergarten. We work on each of these principles just about nightly. It is amazing that life really is just this easy to understand, and yet so few seem to grasp it. Copy this list and paste it in a word document for your later reference. It remains helpful throughout your life, in most every situation.

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don’t hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
• Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Be Well!

Presidential Quotes

A few gems are below – click on the link for more quotes by that author. For access to all kinds of quotes, click here.

Abraham Lincoln – “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Andrew Jackson – “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”

Calvin Coolidge – “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”

FDR – “Be sincere; be brief; be seated.”

Looking for Presidential information? Here is a great website on all things POTUS – Happy President’s Day.

Denial ain’t just a River in Egypt

What is denial? What is it’s function? Is it a coping mechanism? A survival instinct? Whatever it is, it can delude you, cripple you, and devastate you and all you’ve worked for – it can even destroy partnerships and more importantly, friendships.

Whether your friends are telling you “He’s just not that into you,” or your friends are looking at you with pity, wondering when you are going to finally come to terms and cut your losses in a dying company, denial can cloud your vision, making it difficult (near impossible) to see what’s really happening around you. And this is a phenomenon that can affect us in our business and in our personal lives.

James J Messina, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with more than 35 years of experience counseling individuals and families. Messina recently wrote a contributing article to the Livestrong blog titled Dealing with Denial.

Messina helps us define denial, what it feels like, what it looks like to others, and how to deal with it. “If a person close to you is using a chronic behavior pattern of denial injurious to his mental health,” Messina states, “then the following (three step) intervention model may be useful in helping him break through this debilitating denial. Step 1. Prepare a written script of incidents…” Read the whole article.

Do you like a good key-note address?

I love good speeches.  From historic orations to more humble key note addresses, a good speech can inform and inspire, calm a seething crowd, or stir up volunteerism. If you like speeches as much as I, or like access to expert perspectives on nearly any (every) topic, there is one place on the web you should know about: TED.

This site has expert content – in the form of speeches and links – from just about every conceivable subject area. Themes like The Rise of Collaboration, Medicine Without Borders, Numbers at Play, The Power of Cities, Evolution’s Genius, and many others offer a portal to the best speeches on important subjects, given by very smart people – truly illustrative of the power of the internet.

From their about page: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year’s TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.”

Jamie Oliver is this year’s recipient of the annual TED prize, for his efforts to fight obesity by setting out to teach every child and every family how to cook healthily at home.

So, make some time to check out TED.com.  You’ll be glad you did!

A Loss Can Be Your Best Motivator

“Winning is great, but sometimes it takes a loss to get you motivated again. It humbles you down to reality.”  This is a quote from a high school athlete, from an interview by the author of today’s article of inspiration: Why Winning Streaks End. (I promise I will soon use other publications for my inspiration – there are just so many gems from HBS!)

Sometimes kids say the darnedest things – and this particular youth shows an uncanny handle of the truest of truths: that complacency generally leads to catastrophe.  In her article, Kanter discusses various examples of fallen idols. Once great pillars of success whose actions (or inactions) have led to their tumbling demise, including Toyota, Detroit in general, and the meteoric fall from dominance of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

“All too often,” the author ponticifactes, “long periods of continued success are undermined not by the competition but by self-inflicted wounds.” The author identifies common patterns in business, sports, leadership, and life; and suggests these to do’s to make sure you and I do not fall prey to the lesser virtues of our human nature. Always remember to:

Keep up the essential disciplines every single day, not skipping a single one.

Keep checking everything carefully.

Repair, renew, relearn, and reinvest regularly.

Don’t rejoice in others’ misery, because you could be next.

Thank anyone who points out flaws. Listen to disgruntled customers or disaffected constituencies.

Treat even small setbacks as occasions for redoubled efforts.

Enjoy the day!