“Life has no remote…”

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Barry

“Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.”

-Mark Cooper, author of Edelweiss Pirates, Operation Einstein

Image from Flickr by Keith Williamson

If you were to walk through your family room, den, entertainment area, basement, or home theater, collecting all your remote control devices, how many would you have?

In many ways, we have developed into a remote control society, frequently looking for the simplest and least effort necessary to change things for the better. It’s so easy to delete, fast forward, or hop over commercials to get to the sporting event, sitcom, or drama that interests us.

Our lives, however, usually play one show, entitled “Our Lives,” and we cannot click a button to change it easily.

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional life is it time to get out of your chair and make the necessary changes you desire?

“Inspiration exists, but it has to…”

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Barry

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”

—Pablo Picasso

Image from worldonafork.com

How often do you find yourself or others in your life waiting to be inspired by some outside source? During his 75-year career, Pablo Picasso created 13,500 paintings, 100,000 graphic prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 sculptures and ceramic pieces. He was also a stage designer, poet, and playwright.

To say he was a man of action is a massive understatement. He was definitely an individual who used his propensity for action and ever-present momentum to continually inspire creative expressions of his genius.

EXERCISE:

How can you find greater inspiration through the various personal or professional work projects underway? What additional work could more fully utilize your gifts, talents, and unique abilities to inspire even more of your own genius?

“A bad attitude is like…”

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Barry

“A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere until you change it.”

-Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Paul Chenoweth

Take a minute to list the people in your personal and professional worlds that have a bad attitude. If you need a bit of help, consider their level of negativity, pessimism, sarcasm, skepticism, and general resignation.

Have you captured your list of half-empty, no possibility, “what’s the use” folks? Now see how much you enjoy their company, or working with them. Where, if possible, have you already headed for the hills or done what you can to avoid these people?

What are the chances selected individuals in your world might be placing you on their list?

EXERCISE:

Although changing other people’s flat tires is tremendously difficult, you do have a far better fighting chance of changing your own. Consider the resources at www.lifehack.org to take a few simple steps to begin.

A bonus is that your own efforts will tend to inflate other people’s tires in the process!

“A good deed brightens…”

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Barry

“A good deed brightens a dark world.”

—Author Unknown

Image from fridaylight.org

Imagine you are standing in a pitch-black room in which you cannot see your hand in front of your face.

A person enters the room with a lit candle. You can now see your hand, and of course, the smiling face of your visitor. Soon a second, third, and fourth individual join you, each bringing their own candle to further illuminate your room.

Many times, when we look at our lives, the lives of others, and the world in general, things can appear dark and foreboding. We might not even see a light at the end of the tunnel.

EXERCISE:

Where and with whom can you offer your own good deeds to brighten up the world of those around you? Please note how often this process brightens your own world as well!
Imagine the brightness and illumination if everyone focused on doing this more, each and every day.

“In the game of life, it is wise…”

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Barry

“In the game of life, it is wise to refrain from keeping score.”

—Author Unknown

Image from empowerenlightenenvision.com

As a business coach, most clients engage my services to support them in achieving the objectives and results they desire.

On many occasions, as today’s quote recommends, I suggest that they refrain from keeping score.

Consider these few additional quotes related to marriage, friendships, and relationships:

“Marriage is not a contest. Never keep score. God has put the two of you together on the same team, to win.”

“A friend is someone who does things that count, but doesn’t stop to count them.”

“Relationships aren’t for getting things. They are for giving things. Never fall in love to make yourself happy. Fall in love to make the person you fall in love with happy.”

EXERCISE:

Where has the habit of keeping score limited or challenged your personal or professional relationships? Where and with whom is it wiser to be more generous, and refrain from keeping score?

“A great many people think…”

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Barry

“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”

—William James, 19th Century American philosopher

Image from sites.bu.edu

The term “prejudice” carries negative connotations for most people. We see numerous examples related to prejudice when we watch the local, national, and global news.

Few consider themselves prejudiced. “That label applies to the short-sighted individuals out there, not to me.”

Today’s quote points to the fact that our everyday thinking is actually a form of prejudice that helps us navigate our world, on the one hand, and which can limit us on the other hand.

EXERCISE:

How often do you find yourself exploring new ways of thinking, or trying on views other than those you have held for years?

What would be possible, and what value could you create, if you were to rearrange your prejudices?

“Our fingerprints don’t fade from…”

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Barry

“Our fingerprints don’t fade from the lives we’ve touched.”

—Will Fetters, American Screenwriter

Image from lynnemosher.com

I’ve been fortunate over the years to build a coaching practice in which I often see clients in person in my office. Sessions are held at a special round table covered with glass. By the end of the day, the glass is often covered with fingerprints, along with a few crumbs if we happen to meet over lunch.

Perhaps the most profound reason the profession of coaching has grown so significantly over the years is the stickiness and sustainability attributed to these special, collaborative relationships.

EXERCISE:

Where can you make an enduring and lasting impact in the lives of others? Who are the people who have made an enduring and lasting impact on your life? How can you continue to positively build on these “life fingerprints” and only bring out the “glass cleaner” to remove the smudges that sometimes come your way?

“Ignorance killed the cat…”

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Barry

“Ignorance killed the cat; curiosity was framed!”

—C.J. Cherryh, Speculative Fiction Writer

Image from Flickr by jinterwas

Two highly correlated factors to success are life-long learning and, of course, hard work.

Examine the levels of success of people who have dropped out of school, or never cracked a book after graduating from college or university. Formal education is not the only course to pursue success. There is a wide array of true stories in which people who lacked a formal education became extremely successful. These individuals possessed a curious nature, and a desire to learn and grow in support of their passion or purpose.

EXERCISE:

Where could greater curiosity and expanding your learning efforts bring you and those around you a more satisfying and rewarding life?

“The book that will most change…”

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Barry

“The book that will most change your life is the book you write.”

—Seth Godin, American author and entrepreneur

QC Book Cover

It has been just over a year since I published The Quotable Coach – Daily Nuggets of Practical Wisdom. The process, from my first blog post to published book, took over two-and-a-half years.

I have always loved quotes. I enjoy the inner journey as I look at my own life. The 30 months of developing the book were far different in that I found myself digging deeper, and wrestling more fully than ever before. It was, without question, the extra efforts that resulted in the most profound gains I’ve experienced, professionally and personally.

EXERCISE:

If you were to write a book that would result in substantial growth, what would be the topic? How can you begin this process today? Possible first steps could be a journal entry, a blog post, or a short story.

“If the world is cold, make it…”

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Barry

“If the world is cold, make it your business to build fires.”

—Horace Traubel, 20th Century American Essayist

Image from www.offthegridnews.com

The life blood of any business is satisfied customers who are attracted to you as well as your products or services.

The goal of business development or outreach efforts is to convert the unaware or “cold” prospect to a hot prospect, and to eventually consummate a win-win agreement. In our frenetic, over-communicative world, this is often easier said than done.

One strategy I found that will definitely warm things up for you is to create a discovery process that intentionally seeks to establish the fit and value of a future agreement.

EXERCISE:

Create an assessment that specifically identifies the best candidates for your product or service. Create another assessment that helps people determine the value and areas of impact of your product or service.

Feel free to examine the Assessment Section of my website to see how I help prospects determine the fit and value of working together. Consider adapting these resources to support your own efforts.