FRIDAY REVIEW: PLANNING
Are you a planner? How often do you plan out your day or week? Here are a few planning-related posts you may have missed.
“It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”
Tag Archives: Barry Demp Coaching
“Decide to DIY your education.”
“Decide to DIY your education.”
—Chip Conley, American hotelier, author, and speaker
Image from Unsplash by Jo Szczepanska
I recently learned about Chip Conley through Seth Godin. They first met when attending Stanford and were part of a think tank or mastermind group supporting their entrepreneurial spirits.
Without question, Stanford is one of the finest academic institutions in the world, yet Chip and Seth saw it as limiting in some way. They decided to attract other great and creative thinkers, and take responsibility for their own extracurricular education.
Follow these links to learn about Chip and Seth, and how their continuing education is turning out.
EXERCISE:
How and in what ways can and will you create a DIY education plan for yourself? Who will you choose as your professors or partners on your journey?
Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only
“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”
—Sir Francis Bacon, 16th Century Lord Chancellor of England
Image from Unsplash by Thought Catalog
I have a math problem for you on the subject of books. According to Google’s advanced algorithms, about 130 million books have been published in all of modern history.
Consider multiplying 130 million by the number of hours it takes you to read an average book, giving your reading speed. To keep it simple, let’s assume it takes you ten hours. Multiply 130 million by ten and you see that it would take you one billion, three hundred thousand hours to read all the books published in modern history.
Now let’s pretend you began reading at birth, and that, given advanced medical breakthroughs, you live to be 100.
If my math is correct, it would take 876,000 lifetimes to read them all – far more if you took time to sleep, work, eat, or do anything other than read.
EXERCISE:
As you examine your book tasting efforts, which new books, or perhaps a few oldies but goodies, are worth your valuable time in the years ahead?
“The best way to ride a horse is in the direction in which it is going.”
“The best way to ride a horse is in the direction in which it is going.”
—Author Unknown
Image from Unsplash by Annika Treial
A fair percentage of the coaching engagements I’ve been involved in over the years have related to career transitions. Two common terms for such assignments are on-boarding and assimilation coaching.
One of the more challenging and often stressful assignments is when a new leader or team is brought in to “turn around” an organization. In such situations the company/horse and the vast number of employees/riders are headed in different directions.
These assignments almost always involve casting a more inspiring vision and enrolling others in changing direction toward a better future.
EXERCISE:
Assuming you are proactively taking steps to lead and manage your own career trajectory, what strategies and tactics can and will you take to lasso those horses and get in the saddle of those headed in a direction you would like to travel?
“Stop watering things that were never meant to grow in your life. Water what works, what’s good, what’s right.”
“Stop watering things that were never meant to grow in your life. Water what works, what’s good, what’s right.”
—T.D. Jakes, American pastor, author and filmmaker
Image from Unsplash by Markus Spiske
Fast forward about two months to early spring. Go outside and take a look at your lawn and your flower beds. You are just about to turn on the automatic sprinklers and all outside hoses are ready to water the hard-to-reach areas.
But wait!
You take a closer look at the state of these areas and see that the most robust growth seems to be mostly weeds. What do you do before flipping the switch?
EXERCISE:
Where are you currently watering the weeds in your life?
What gardening efforts are called for so that you have more of what works, what is good, and what is right growing and blossoming in your life?
Friday Review: Balance
FRIDAY REVIEW: BALANCE
What can and will you do to find and maintain balance in your life? Here are a few balance-related posts you may have missed.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
“He who will not economize will have to agonize.”
“Tweak the balance between your dance and your march.”
“Although he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers.”
“Although he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers.”
—Nicholas Eberstadt, American political economist
Image from Unsplash by Stephen Dawson
What time is it? What did you weigh when you stood on the bathroom scale this morning?
How fast or slow is traffic moving on your commute to work? How much money do you earn and how much have you saved?
What are some other ways you measure your life and whether you are successful?
To what degree do you feel the bondage and tyranny of our world of metrics, milestones, and the quantification of everything?
Where in your life do you experience the freedom and simple pleasures of the subjective, qualitative, and more soulful aspects of life?
EXERCISE:
Consider discussing these questions with friends and family. What are the most appropriate and useful ways for you to measure your life?
“On this shrunken globe, men can no longer live as strangers.”
“On this shrunken globe, men can no longer live as strangers.”
—Adlai Stevenson, 20th Century American lawyer, politician, & diplomat
Image from PBS.org
The Violence Paradox is one of the recent PBS episodes on the Emmy-award winning series, Nova. Although the title doesn’t indicate light TV viewing, I felt compelled to allocate two hours to consider its message.
Over the past few years, I’ve seen far too many examples of violence on local and national media outlets. The phrase If it Bleeds, it Leads, is more true than ever, given the hyper-competitive efforts to get and hold our attention.
Surprisingly, I learned in watching the Nova episode that in many ways our world is far safer and less violent than at any time in human history. This is based on actual data and not simply our perception of danger around every corner.
EXERCISE:
Invest some time to evaluate The Violence Paradox for yourself, and see the methods that are being employed to reduce our “stranger danger” perspective of our shrinking world.
What personal efforts can and will you take to bring greater peace to your personal and professional communities?
“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.”
“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.”
—Roy L. Smith, 20th Century American Clergyman
Image from Unsplash by Samuel Giacomelli
Heat treatment is the process of heating and cooling metals to change their micro-structure and to bring out the physical and mechanical characteristics that make them more desirable.
Before modern metalworking techniques were invented, blacksmiths used heat to make metal more workable in forming them into the shapes they desired and in making them stronger.
EXERCISE:
Where can and will you apply the fires of greater personal and professional discipline to expand your talents into more masterful abilities?
“We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs.”
“We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs.”
—Robert Brault, American freelance writer
Image from Unsplash by SEP
One of the very first personal development programs I attended in my early twenties was Dr. Wayne Dyer’s How to Be A No-Limit Person.
I had recently graduated from college, was just married and entering the working world with great anticipation and excitement. Dyer’s message of being a no-limit person was just the boost I needed to bring my full energy, enthusiasm, and drive to my efforts.
Along the way, I ran into numerous professional and personal speed bumps.
Doubts and discouragement definitely caused me to not shoot as often or as high as before.
Unfortunately, I also began listening to others who put a few more mental barriers in my way, based on their own self-imposed limitations and biases.
EXERCISE:
Where and on what personal or professional matter are you being limited by your own views or the views of others?
What bold and courageous actions can and will you take to be the no-limit person you want to be?