“The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.”

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“The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.”

– Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize winner

Albert Schweitzer was born in Germany in 1875. In his life of 90 years, he had many occupations, including philosopher, scholar, doctor, musician, missionary, preacher, theologian, and journalist. Some of his primary life objectives included the brotherhood of nations and helping solve the world’s problems.

In 1952, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of “Reverence for Life.”

Exercise:

Imagine you have just been honored with your own Nobel Prize for your contribution to your professional and personal worlds. What would you like your success legacy to include?

“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”

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“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”

– Bill Copeland, Australian athlete

Turtles and tortoises are interesting creatures. Below are a few facts:
1. They actually make a sound, even though they do not have vocal chords.
2. Tortoises orbited the moon before astronauts did, in the Soviet space probe Zond 5.
3. They don’t have ears – but can perceive low-pitched sounds.
4. They are nearly as old as the dinosaurs, with examples going back to over 200 million years ago.
5. They can see color and have a preference for red, orange, and yellow.

Exercise:

Take a few moments to look within yourself and discover the wonders of you, to be at ease in your own shell.

If this is a bit challenging, consider requesting such feedback from those close to you.

“Today is when everything that’s going to happen from now on begins.”

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“Today is when everything that’s going to happen from now on begins.”

– Harvey Firestone Jr., businessman

A considerable number of people who enter into a coaching relationship have a “governor” on their life and career engine that seems to be limiting them from moving forward at the speed they desire.

Their trips down memory lane regarding past accomplishments and setbacks often limit what they’re willing to do at this moment in time.

Exercise:

To minimize these journeys into the past, which may limit your orientation for forward movement, consider creating a number of Post-it notes with the following question. Place them throughout your personal and professional environments.

What is the most important thing I can do at this very moment?

Repeat this question often, to do what you can from where you are.

“At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you.”

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“At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you.”

– Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker

The gift of feedback from others, and the insights gained through self-reflection, are critical to coaching success. Without them, as Rohn notes, we are not sure if we are to celebrate our efforts or double-down to try something new on our next attempt.

Exercise:

Ask yourself the following questions at the end of your day, regarding your efforts in your personal and professional life:

1. What worked well that pleased you, and how can you build on that success tomorrow?
2. What did not work out today as you expected, and what new and different actions can you take tomorrow that would bring you the results you desire?

Consider asking these questions for a week and see if the habit of a daily playback improves your performance.

“If you can tell me who your heroes are, I can tell you how you’re going to turn out in life.”

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“If you can tell me who your heroes are, I can tell you how you’re going to turn out in life.”

– Warren Buffett, American businessman, investor and philanthropist

While doing a bit of research on Buffett’s interesting upbringing and career, I learned that he was highly influenced by a prominent investor of his time, named Ben Graham.

Ben is noted for creating the concept of intrinsic business value – which, at the time, was a fundamental alternative to the value of a company’s stock price.

As one of the world’s richest men, Buffett obviously was inspired by his hero to follow his teachings.

Exercise:

Who are your heroes? What values, behaviors, and wisdom do they possess that would cause you to model your own life after them?

Consider the idea that you are someone’s hero. How will you continue your own growth journey to be the kind of person worth following?

“A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books.”

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“A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books.”

– Chinese Proverb

Wisdom has been defined as a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events, or situations resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgments, and actions in keeping with this understanding.

Wisdom embraces fundamental human principles, including the capacity to reason, the use of knowledge, and the ability to determine one’s path forward. The coaching process often ventures deeply into the realm of wisdom – for both the students and the coaches.

Coaching, like the reading of great books (which as you know, I highly recommend) results in the enhanced creativity, insight and collaboration that happens when two minds focus together on a single matter.

Exercise:

Create a short list of wise men and women that currently support or could support your personal mastery journey.

Select at least one individual in your world who would benefit from the contribution of your wisdom.

“Your network is your net worth.”

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“Your network is your net worth.”

– Tim Sanders, author, public speaker, and former Yahoo! director

Over the past number of years, I’ve been amazed that a good number of large companies have paid billions of dollars to acquire various social media sites. A critical key to the valuable of these social media sites are their networks of millions of users and customers.

Someone once told me that if I was to square the number of people in my network, it would be highly correlated to my net worth. That’s right: if you have 1,000 people in your network, your net worth would be $1,000,000.

I know this sounds very simplistic; however, I continue to see much value in my own use of tools such as LinkedIn for business networking and ACT! as a customer relationship manager.

Exercise:

Do your own network assessment to see its current valuation. Should you wish to grow it further, consider downloading my workbook on Masterful Networking here. (Enter the password barrydemp to access the page.)

Also, consider reading some of Tim Sanders’ work, including Love is the Killer App and The Likeablity Factor.

be prepared for opportunity

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“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have one and not be prepared.”

– Whitney Young, Jr., American Civil Rights Leader

Image of Boy Scout Logo

When I was young, I was a Boy Scout – you know, that organization that teaches young folks to “be prepared.” Although I never achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, this motto has remained with me all these years.

People today may tease or ridicule us for being a Boy Scout – for the plans we make, the lists we create, and the forethought we give to projects and areas of importance. For me, being a bit of a Boy Scout has worked out pretty well.

Exercise:

Look at your own efforts to be prepared for those important opportunities you may know about – and perhaps others not currently on your radar.

Determine what additional or modified Boy Scout habits would help you make the most of the opportunities life presents.

“If we were to sit down together, three years from now, what would have to happen to make you feel happy, successful, and fulfilled?”

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“If we were to sit down together, three years from now, what would have to happen to make you feel happy, successful, and fulfilled?”

– Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach

The question above from Dan Sullivan, the founder and coaching pioneer of the Strategic Coach® program, is fundamental to the program’s considerable success.

Once you begin answering this question for yourself, you will discover the leverage it provides for a more expansive and rewarding life. Of course, you will need to continually break your existing behaviors and habits to pursue such a future.

Exercise:

Ask yourself this question, or better yet, have a coach or committed friend, colleague, or family member ask it of you.

Once you have provided your initial answer, follow it up by asking “what else?” three to five times, to dig even deeper.

Unfounded Worry

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“I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened.”

– Mark Twain, author and humorist

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Do you know someone who worries a lot? These individuals are often people who experience considerable fear throughout their life. Perhaps you are one of them.

Twain points to the fact that many of these fears and worries are unfounded – and yet they can limit our enjoyment of life.

Exercise:

When you or someone you know is experiencing worry or fear, ask these questions:

1. What is the likelihood that this thing I’m afraid of will actually happen?
2. What if I am successful?
3. Who can help me resolve this issue?
4. What one step can I take to improve the situation?
5. What, realistically and objectively, is the worst that could happen?
6. How would I cope with it if it did happen?
7. What can I do to minimize the danger of …?

Lastly, try breathing deeply. This technique has a magical way of lightening the load of worry.