Tag Archives: Barry Demp

schedule your priorities

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“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”

– Stephen Covey, American self-help author

Image from Flickr by photosteve101.

Image from Flickr by photosteve101.

Stephen Covey is one of the best known pioneers in the field of personal development. His Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is one of the most popular personal growth programs of all time. Four of his habits directly deal with time management, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Please explore for yourself how the following habits relate to the issue of prioritization:

Habit 1: Be Proactive:  Suggests we need to take initiative and responsibility for the choices we make and the order in which we make them.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Encourages us to prioritize and schedule what’s important and not simply schedule and prioritize what’s urgent.

Habit 3: Put First Things First: Pretty much says it all!!

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Encourages us to make ourselves a key priority that will allow all other priorities to benefit.

Exercise:

Evaluate your calendar and any to-do lists you may be using to manage your day. How can you schedule your most important priorities and do less of what’s “on your schedule”?

You’re welcome to download a free copy of my time management workbook at:

www.dempcoaching.com/download-your-free-workbooks

Enter the password barrydemp (all lower case) to access the page.

Of course, I also recommend you read or reread The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. If you want a quick refresher, you can find a brief explanation of each habit here.

 

When no one is watching

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“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”

– John Wooden, American basketball coach

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mage from Flickr by Arlington County

I was enterprising as a young boy. At age 11, I mowed lawns during summer and shoveled snow during winter to earn money to purchase things I wanted. One winter day, I was headed out to shovel snow in our neighborhood, and my dad asked me to shovel our elderly next door neighbor’s sidewalk and not charge for the effort.

I must admit I hemmed and hawed, thinking this request unfair, and I remember my dad’s words, “It will build your character.” To this day, I can’t lift a shovel of snow without those words running through my mind.

Exercise:

What are the things you do or could do, without anyone knowing, that contribute to your character?

If you happen to be a coach, mentor, parent, teacher, or other service-oriented individual, how can you share today’s nugget of wisdom with the coach-able people in your life?

“Energy is contagious: either you affect people or you infect people.”

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“Energy is contagious: either you affect people or you infect people.”

—T. Harv Eker, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Image from Flickr by Tree Leaf Clover

When was the last time you had a cold? I bet there was a good chance you know who passed it on to you. The energy generated by those around us can have a similar impact on our health, well-being, and overall disposition.

Which people in your life give you that pick-me-up feeling? Which ones seem to suck the life out of you and make you feel ill, due to their negativity?

Exercise:

Create a list of people in your personal and professional life that you would place on either the positive or negative ends of the energy spectrum. Make an effort to only allow yourself to be “zapped” and not “sapped” as you adjust whom you spend your time with.

Extra credit: A quick and easily read book on the subject, particularly in a business context, is Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment. Reading it will also help you become more of a “zapper” and less of a “sapper” in the lives of others.

light where there is none

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“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?”

– René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (attrib.)

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Image from Flickr by spcbrass

One of my favorite books that supports effective interpersonal and group communications is Six Thinking Hats, by Edward de Bono.

In his model, a “yellow hat” represents the optimistic individual who sees the light of possibility in things. The pessimist or “black hat” represents the negative perception on matters that often stops progress.

Of course there are four more hats to explore in our journey to more effective individual and group thinking, and I encourage you to pursue these as part of the following exercise.

Exercise:

What percentage of the time do you wear the yellow and black hats in your professional and personal interactions?

How can you increase your emphasis on the sunny side of things and diminish or remove that dark cloud that extinguishes the light of possibility?

You can find a one-page pdf summary about the six hats here, and you may wish to explore “putting on” one or more of the others: www.foodsec.org/DL/course/shortcourseFK/en/pdf/trainerresources/PG_SixThinkingHats.pdf

Our Truest Life

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“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.”

– Henry David Thoreau, American author, philosopher, and transcendentalist

568Image from Flickr by martinak15.

What does it mean to live your dreams? Where would you live? How would you spend your days? Who would be with you on this journey? What purpose would you fulfill? What memories would you make?

Exercise:

Answer at least one of the questions above and take at least one committed action toward living your truest life today.

Feel free to come up with your own questions on this subject, and keep selecting daily actions to live the life you once only dreamed about.

“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise. It makes you stretch.”

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“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise. It makes you stretch.”

– Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

image of young girls stretching in ballet outfits

Image from Flickr by tom@hk

Just as a personal trainer helps stretch their clients physically to support their fitness goals, coaches stretch people beyond their comfort zones to achieve their professional and personal desires.

In both cases, the stretching beyond our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual limits provides a catalytic stimulus to support new growth and the development of capacities previously not available.

Exercise:

Where do you want or need to stretch beyond your current abilities to pursue and achieve even more than you previously thought possible?

“All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a twin.”

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“All who joy would win must share it. Happiness was born a twin.”

– Lord Byron, English poet566Image from Flickr by Freddycat1.

Take a trip down memory lane with the following list of famous pairs:

  • The Lone Ranger and Tonto
  • Batman and Robin
  • Lucy and Desi
  • Barbie and Ken
  • Sonny and Cher
  • Bert and Ernie
  • Holmes and Watson
  • Mork and Mindy
  • William and Kate
  • Bruce Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  • Mickey and Minnie
  • Abbot and Costello
  • Adam and Eve
  • Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
  • Charlie Brown and Snoopy
  • Jack and Jill
  • Kermit and Miss Piggy
  • Lennon and McCartney
  • Tarzan and Jane
  • Tom and Jerry

Exercise:

Consider those people who you pair up nicely with, to more fully experience happiness and joy in your professional and personal life.

“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

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“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

Image of hands planting a small tree

Image from Flickr by alexindigo

It is early summer in Michigan and this past weekend, I noticed a large number of my neighbors working on their lawns and landscaping. Many were also preparing the soil and planting flowers in their gardens.

Their driveways were piled with soil, mulch, grass-seed, and lots of other preparatory resources, to help the flowers and greenery grow.

Exercise:

What preparatory activities can you engage in today, and all year long, to increase your professional and personal chances of success?

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

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“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

—Confucius, Chinese philosopher

(Hanoi)

Image from Flickr by dalbera=

When I first read this quote, it immediately made me think of the Level 5 leader described in Jim Collins’ best-selling business book Good to Great.

Collins describes a Level 5 leader, who is often associated with good companies becoming great companies, as someone possessing the following primary qualities:

  • Extreme personal humility
  • Intense professional will

Perhaps some of these Level 5 leaders were students of Confucius, who guided them to their compelling modesty and unwavering results.

Exercise:

How can you take the coaching of Confucius and Collins by letting your actions, today and every day, speak louder than words?

“Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.”

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“Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.”

– Norman Vincent Peale, minister and author

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Image from Flickr by Marco Gomes

In the personal development world, the phrase “breakthrough results” has become a cliché. It reminds me of one of those late-night infomercials for some special non-stick cookware or a Ginsu knife that can cut through a pop can without getting dull.

A key to these claims, as well as the claim of professional and personal breakthroughs, is that the product, system, or method must have the inherent ability or capacity to achieve a result not previously possible by other means.

Peale is suggesting that when our heartfelt commitments are involved, they will inspire and motivate us to scale the highest life fences to realize our sincerest goals.

Exercise:

Select at least one heartfelt professional and/or personal fence you wish to scale, and share this intention with others who are committed to your success.

With their commitment and support, you will find yourself on the other side sooner than you ever imagined.