“Achievement lies in the honest endeavor to do your best under all circumstances.”

Posted on by

“Achievement lies in the honest endeavor to do your best under all circumstances.”

– Successories.com

546Image from Flickr by Eustace Dauger.

We live in a society that celebrates accomplishment. Just look around at the business world, sports, entertainment, reality TV, and virtually all aspects of life. We are a striving species that values meritocracy and excellence.

What has your professional and personal excellence journey looked like to this point in your life?

Exercise:

What would getting an “A”, a promotion, a gold medal, or a personal Nobel prize for being the best “you” look like, if you simply did your best every day in every way, under all circumstances?

Choice Not Chance

Posted on by

“It’s choice – not chance – that determines your destiny.”

– Jean Nidetch, co-founder of Weight Watchers

545

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Lisa Nichols speak at a coaching conference. Lisa first came to the attention of the personal development world when she was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, due to her involvement in the movie “The Secret” that focused on the Law of Attraction.

Her inspirational journey from poverty to running her own public company was a result of her many courageous choices along the way.

Please check out Lisa at her website www.motivatingthemasses.com. You can see her appearance on Oprah here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zuW_tEbz1Y

Exercise:

Where can you use your own power of choice, not chance, to help determine your professional and personal destiny?

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

Posted on by

“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”

– Maria Montessori, Italian physician and educator and founder of the Montessori educational method

544Image from Flickr by Dermot O’Halloran.

Have you ever supported a young child with any of the following tasks?

  • Walking
  • Getting dressed
  • Tying their shoelaces
  • Riding a bike
  • Swimming
  • Making a sandwich
  • Making their bed
  • Feeding themselves
  • Potty training
  • Completing a puzzle

What was the learning process like? How much or how little assistance was necessary?

Exercise:

How can you offer others in your professional and personal life (not just young children) only the support they truly require to accomplish their goals, in order to maximize their own experiential learning opportunities?

“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the result.”

Posted on by

“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the result.”

– James Dean, American actor

543

Image from Flickr by Terry Madeley

My son, Dan, is a very special person for many reasons. From the time he was a little boy, he was always fascinated by many forms of mechanical and computer related activities. Dan would literally lose himself in the process of building things with K’nex, Legos, and various other objects or building kits.

He even wrote, illustrated, and self-published his first animal book at age 5. In high school, Dan participated in the robotic club and in college, he was a member of the programming and video game design club, where he would sometimes work 48 hours straight over a weekend to help create a new game.

Today, Dan is a top computer programmer working for one of the most respected health care software development firms in the world.

His vocational and even some avocational software design and programming efforts bring Dan great gratification in the “doing.” This has been and continues to be his passion.

Exercise:

What vocational and avocational activities bring you the greatest gratification and satisfaction in the “doing”, not simply in the result?

How can you do even more of these activities to enhance your professional and personal life?

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learn to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

Posted on by

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learn to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

– Charles Darwin, author of On the Origin of Species

542Image from Flickr by hassanrafeek.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a show about animal intelligence on public television. Highlighted on one of those episodes was the bottle-nosed dolphin. Among their various demonstrations of intelligence was a unique form of innovative and collaborative fishing where one dolphin corrals the fish in a turbulent circle of mud and bubbles, causing the fish to jump into the waiting mouths of the other dolphins.

You can see the clip from the episode here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzfqPQm-ThU

Exercise:

How and where can you maximize your innovative and collaborative efforts to more effectively prevail and achieve your professional and personal goals?

Discuss this exercise with your friends, colleagues, family members, and coaches to take advantage of Darwin’s observation.

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”

Posted on by

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”

– Francis of Assisi, Italian Catholic friar and preacher

541Image from Flickr by Quasifly.

A few weekends ago, I saw the movie “Heaven is for Real”, based on a true story where a four-year-old boy experienced a visit to heaven related to a near death experience. His father is the local pastor of their community church. The community in which they live (and the pastor’s family in particular) were tested through considerable economic and medical challenges along the way.

Of particular note were the many small and not so small good deeds the pastor and members of the community exhibited on a daily basis as they lived and practiced their beliefs.

Exercise:

What deeds can and will you do today to demonstrate your highest held values, in order to contribute to others in your professional and personal life?

Pay particular attention to other people’s good deeds taking place in your community, to notice the daily sermons all around you.

“I get by with a little help from my friends.”

Posted on by

“I get by with a little help from my friends.”

– John Lennon, singer/songwriter and member of the Beatles

540Image from Flickr by betsyweber.

Over the past month, Wendy and I received more than a little help from our friends. I’m happy to say that with this help, she and my father are now safely back in Michigan to spend the spring, summer, and fall seasons.

We had various medical, personal, and logistical issues, and our friends sure came through to help us through some difficult times.

Exercise:

Take the time today to thank those close friends who have been there for you to provide that “little help” that is so often needed.

Make a point to both reciprocate these gestures of kindness whenever possible – and to watch out for others who need a hand, even if those individuals did not help you previously. Imagine how the world would look if we all followed Lennon’s coaching.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Posted on by

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

—Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

539

Image from Flickr by dustpuppy

One of the challenges facing some of my business and executive coaching clients is the issue of internal conflicts and the lack of alignment within their organizations’ leadership and management ranks.

You can imagine the energy drains and loss of momentum that result when these groups don’t focus their collective efforts on their customers, markets, and even their competition.

Exercise:

What efforts could you take to align and unify your organization, communities, and even your family, to stand together to fully realize your collective goals?

Through these efforts, you will not only become one, you may even experience synergy, when the results achieved are far greater than the sum of each part.

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

Posted on by

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

—The Buddha, spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism

538

Image from Flickr by Shan Sheehan

The other evening, I was watching a science program on television: “How the Universe Works.” The subject of this particular episode was how the Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago.

Surprisingly, I learned that in the early years, the Earth had no water at all. The constant bombardment of water-containing meteors and asteroids filled our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans drop by drop over billions of years.

Exercise:

What efforts are you adding, drop by drop, to your personal and professional “jugs” each day, to have a more fulfilling life?

“Every time you subtract negative from your life, you make room for more positive.”

Posted on by

“Every time you subtract negative from your life, you make room for more positive.”

– Unknown

537Image from Flickr by katerha.

One of my favorite coaching exercises is “More, Less, Start, Stop.” The objective is to rebalance our professional and personal worlds by imagining how our lives would be more fulfilling and happier if we could only start, or do more of, the activities that fit with our visions and values.

Of course, to make room for these efforts, we must do less of, or completely stop, those activities that are unfulfilling or negative.

Exercise:

Do your own “More, Less, Start, Stop” exercise with a close friend, colleague, family member, or coach, to help you make room for more of what you desire from life.

Consider reading Marcus Buckingham’s book The One Thing You Need to Know (www.amazon.com/One-Thing-You-Need-Know/dp/0743261658) to see how this idea relates to your professional and personal success.