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Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
 We’ve all heard the adage “Your attitude determines your altitude.” While I’m in the camp that says a positive mental attitude (PMA) is an important success factor, I’m too much of a pragmatist to say it’s the most important factor. PMA will take you a long way, but without other success attitudes, it simply won’t get the job done.
So, what success attitudes does one need to put together a package for sustained growth and achievement? Here’s a short list of attitudes that, when converted to habits, will create a success synergy that’s pretty tough to stop.
# 1 Desire
You can’t wish your way to success. Everyone wants some level of success in his or her life but just wanting it won’t get you there. Desire is “wanting” on steroids. Desire is what forces us to roll up our sleeves and do what needs to be done.
Napoleon Hill, in his landmark book, “Think and Grow Rich,” said: “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small amount of fire brings a small amount of heat.”
#2 Personal Initiative
Here’s a cold, hard fact; no one else is responsible for your personal growth, your personal success, or for seeing to it that you accomplish whatever you say you want to accomplish. That responsibility belongs to you, and you alone.
Gilbert Orland said: “When an archer misses the mark he looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bull’s eye is never the fault of the target. To improve your aim – improve yourself.”
#3 A Process for Improving Performance
W. Edwards Deming, one of the great management thinkers of the last century, said: “If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Without a process for improving performance and productivity, we’re leaving the possibility for success and achievement to chance. Great organizations and high performing individuals have one thing in common – they actively manage their futures by implementing some type of process for ensuring success.
#4 Commitment
Commitment to what? Commitment to personal improvement and commitment to a process, making sure you achieve what you want to achieve.
Jim Rohn, billed as America’s foremost business philosopher, talked about the reasons for failure and for success. He said failure is the result of a few errors in judgment repeated every day, and success is the result of a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
Just trying something for a day or two, or for a week, won’t create the habits for success and achievement you’ll need to create. Commitment to getting better is essential because some days are better than others, some things don’t work the way we want them to, and people will sometimes let us down. Sticking with a process – on a daily basis – is what gets results.
#5 Accountability
This is the heart of every personal or professional coaching plan in existence today. Why? Because we all need a little help staying focused and motivated.
It’s just too easy to get caught up in the grind, or to start majoring on those minor things that rob us of real achievement. We’ve all experienced the benefit of having someone support and encourage our most important activities.
Accountability starts by holding our own feet to the fire for doing the things we need to do to accomplish what we want to accomplish. But having a spouse, friend or colleague hold us accountable is important as well.
Positive attitude is a great thing to have, but a PMA without desire, personal initiative, a process, commitment to that process and accountability will just not carry the day.
Tags: accountability, achievement, attitude, coaching, commitment, desire, initiative, performance, positive, success
Posted in 2011 | No Comments »
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Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
 People at the top of every profession and those in important management positions in any organization have at least one thing in common – they’ve developed the ability to get things done early and often.
This ability is actually a highly developed habit that has little to do with brilliance, having tons of talent or being connected. It has everything to do with a highly developed habit for getting results.
Here’s the definition of habit: a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition. This is the perfect descriptor of the men or women who’ve developed the ability to get things done. It’s a behavior they engage in frequently.
Here are seven ways to ramp up your performance and productivity, and seven good habits to formulate or nurture that will guarantee a more productive day
1. Abandon Perfectionism
Waiting for the perfect time to start a project almost always results in delays. In the real world, there’s no perfect time, no perfect condition, no perfect person. Start now, regardless of the circumstance.
2. Don’t be a thinker, be a doer.
Here’s a fact of life: the longer you think about doing something, the greater the chance it won’t get done. Break the habit of thinking something to death. Do it!
3. Trump fear with action
It’s widely known that the greatest fear for most people is being asked to speak in public. Oddly, my greatest fear is that I won’t be asked to speak in public, but I digress. Action is the best cure for fear. Do whatever you’re afraid of doing, and do it now! Action builds confidence and confidence conquers fear
4. Live in the now
Don’t worry about what you should have done, or what could have been; just focus on what you can do now. Yesterday is history and tomorrow has yet to come. What you do have is today, this moment, this opportunity, so take advantage and do what you can do today.
5. Commit to action – For everything!
Success and achievement are about doing, not about dreaming. Develop the habit of getting down to “it” right now. Not after the third cup of coffee, not after you read your email. Set busy work aside and get something important done. The coffee can wait and so can yesterday’s news.
6. Develop the habit of initiative
People at the top of every profession or at the top of their field have a rare quality called initiative. The good news is that initiative is a developed behavior (habit), not a natural talent. You too can develop the habit of getting things done, when they need to be done, by developing the habit of initiative.
7. Follow the advice of Larry the Cable Guy
“Get ‘er done!”
Tags: achievement, action, doer, doing, fear, habit, initiative, management, now, organization, perfectionism, performance, professional, results, success
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Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
 While reading Seth Godin’s book, “Poke The Box,” I came across an interesting piece of information I’d like to pass along. Godin relays the findings of a study conducted by Dr. Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.
It seems Dr. Souman studied what happens to us when we have no map, or compass, or landmarks to help us keep our bearings. His research on people lost in a jungle, a forest, or in the Sahara desert, with no means of determining a specific direction, showed that they ended up walking in circles. Try as they might to maintain a straight and steady course, they inevitably ended up back where they started.
At the conclusion of Dr. Souman’s research, he wrote: “Don’t trust your senses, because even though you might think you are walking in a straight line, you’re not.”
That little piece of research really got my attention. As a speaker, writer and consultant in the field of performance improvement, I was struck by the analogy of the outcome of people lost in a wilderness and the outcome of individuals and organizations lost in the wilderness of the status quo. They’re both walking in circles.
The Wilderness of the Status Quo
One of the most dangerous places I find my clients is in “the wilderness of the status quo.” They may think they’re moving forward and making progress but, in fact, they’re simply walking in circles. They want to improve performance and productivity but they’ve lost their compass and they have no guide. They’re walking in circles by doing the same things the same way, year after year – but expecting different results. They’re lost! But they’re making good time.
Sometimes the status quo can seem like a safe place to be, especially if it’s led to some degree of success in the past. The problem is what got you where you are won’t get you where you want to be. The old adage, ”Success breeds success,” isn’t true at all. More often than not, success breeds complacency. We reach a point where the success we’ve created causes us to put our business or career on cruise control. We’re not adjusting our course when needed, and we’re not cognizant of what’s going on around us. We’ve lost the horizon – we’re actually walking in circles.
Getting Out of the Wilderness
First and foremost, recognize the wilderness for what is truly is – a very dangerous place. It’s dangerous because when you’re walking in circles, you feel you’re making progress, but you’re really not. You’re simply walking. Walking in circles is analogous to just being busy but, as you well know, being busy and being productive are very different things. Think of being busy as being lost – but making really good time.
Exiting the status quo requires a good map (plan). Last year’s map won’t do. You’ll need a map of the current landscape. You’ll need to know exactly where you’re going and you’ll need to understand the terrain. Where’s the quicksand? Where are the obstacles you’ll need to face or avoid all together?
While having a good map is important, having a good guide may be even more important. Partnering with somebody who recognizes the status quo for what it is can help accelerate your exit. A good guide understands the dangers of the wilderness. He or she knows where the alligators are and can help you avoid them altogether.
Lastly, remember Dr Souman’s warning: “Don’t trust your senses, because even though you might think you are walking in a straight line, you’re not.”
The last thing you or your organization needs to be doing is walking in circles. When you find yourself right back where you started – on an all too frequent basis – maybe it’s time to get a good map and a good guide. There’s no success and no real achievement when you’re trapped in the wilderness of the status quo.
Tags: achievement, circles, complacency, forward, guide, map, performance improvement, productivity, progress, results, success
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Monday, March 21st, 2011
 Conventional wisdom says finishing is what really counts. But I have a different take. I’ve found the only way to finish is to just keep starting, over and over again.
My philosophy on starting comes from years of running. Back in the day (don’t you just love it when somebody says that?) when I was running more than 25 miles a week, I found I frequently had to keep starting in order to finish a long run.
Starting a run was exhilarating. I actually loved the idea of lacing up the running shoes and hitting the streets. Thirty minutes or so into the run, though, I found the excitement of starting had succumbed to the reality of the run itself. My legs were starting to tire and thoughts began to fill my head about my breathing, or the heat, or the dirty air. You get the idea; I was looking for a reason to quit.
At that point, I’d choose to simply start again. Typically, I’d pick out a point on the horizon, say a mile away, and start to focus on just getting there. Once I finished that part of the run, I’d repeat the process, pick another point in the distance, and focus on reaching that goal. I know it sounds goofy, but it worked.
All those years of running taught me many valuable lessons, not the least of which was the value of persistence. The challenge of fighting through the pain or the fatigue always paid off with the feeling of accomplishment I had when I finished the run.
Today, I apply those same principles to my work and my career. As a speaker, writer and executive coach, I find lots of opportunity to start and start again before I finish an important project or task. Just like taking a long run, building a career or a successful life requires a lot of starting before you finish.
Let’s personalize this philosophy.
If finishing seems to be a problem for you, let me suggest focusing on the start. Any finished work, any great accomplishment, any worthwhile endeavor, will happen because of a decision to either keep going or starting again. Stopping doesn’t equate to failing, but quitting does.
Here’s my guarantee: show me a successful person, in any endeavor, and I’ll show you a person who chose to start and start again before becoming successful. Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden started his illustrious career with 10 losing seasons before winning one national championship after another. Do you think he figured out the value of starting again?
The next time you’re in the middle of an important challenge and you’re starting to tire or get frustrated, just pick a piece of the project and finish it. Here’s what you’ll find: just finishing that little piece of the project will stimulate the desire to continue. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, though; just pick out another point on the horizon, another little piece of the project, and get there. The feeling of pushing through the difficulty of a tough situation will create a real sense of achievement and the desire to finish what you’ve started.
Learn from the past but don’t linger there.
Looking back, I realize all those of years of running and all those miles I logged really prepared me for future success. Fighting through the fatigue and the hundred-degree heat, and choosing to start again and again until I finished, served to strengthen my character and resolve. Slowing down was an option, and occasionally I had to stop, but quitting was something I chose not to do.
Learn to be a finisher by making the choice to start and start again when necessary. Pick out the next spot on the horizon and commit to getting there. Then, just start again!
Tags: accomplishment, finish, persistence, start, success, task
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
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Friday, March 18th, 2011
 Ever hear of the 24-Hour Rule?
Neither had I, until I read Harvey Mackay’s recent newsletter, in which he shared a concept he learned from legendary NFL coach Don Shula. After 32 seasons in the National Football League, Shula holds the record for the most career wins (347). In 1972, he led the Miami Dolphins to a perfect season, 17 – 0! Nearly 40 years later, that record has yet to be broken. Oh yeah, throw in a couple of Super Bowl wins as well.
According to Mackay, one of the secrets to Shula’s incredible success in football was the “24-hour rule.” This rule stated that his team could only relish a win, or brood over a defeat, for 24 hours. After that, it was back to work preparing for the next game and the next series of challenges. During the 24 hours of reflection, Shula encouraged his team to deal honestly with the emotions conjured up by the win or the loss but, at the end of the allotted time period, it was back to work preparing for the next game.
So, what can we learn from the 24-hour rule?
Let’s start with failure. How easy is it to throw in the towel after we lose a big contract, a long-standing client, or maybe just dealing with the daily struggles caused by a rough economy? Too easy, right? I think it’s one of the primary reasons so many small businesses fail, and why so many dreams for a better future go unfulfilled. We allow ourselves to dwell too long on the things that didn’t work. Statistics show that most of us give up, just a few feet short of the finish line.
Every day offers new opportunities for success and personal improvement. If we’re focused on what didn’t work yesterday, instead of what could work today, we’re whipped before we start. Allowing ourselves 24 hours to sulk is more than enough time. Getting over it and getting on with it is a better way to go.
When all the feathers hit the floor, we’ll experience more success than failures in our lifetime. So let’s not let our pity parties last more than 24 hours.
To be successful, you have to believe you can change the conditions of your life. In fact, you have only got two choices: let someone else determine the outcomes in your life, or accept responsibility for doing it yourself. I’d opt for the latter. Shouldn’t you?
Guy Kawasaki, the former Chief Evangelist for Apple, says: “You’ll wait by a river a very long time before a roast duck will fly into your mouth.” We can choose to wait and blame or we can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and move on. Success is a choice.
The other side of the coin is how you handle those spectacular victories in your life. Closing the biggest account of your career, winning a sought after award or degree, or coming up with an idea that turned your company around.
Think this is a good time to coast? I don’t. Celebrate the success or the accomplishment for about 24 hours and get back to work. You’re on a roll. Take advantage of the momentum. Success breeds success. After a short break to celebrate the victory, use what you learned, and what worked, to generate more of the same.
Winners don’t quit after one victory. They figure out how to stay motivated and make sure their success is repeatable.
The 24-hour rule means you get a brand new start every day. Remember, we can learn from the past, but we can’t linger there. As Mackay says: “Build on what you know so that you don’t repeat mistakes. Resolve to learn something new every day. Because every 24 hours, you have the opportunity to have the best day of your life.”
Tags: accomplishment, challenges, client, contract, dreams, economy, fail, failure, future, improvement, loss, opportunities, success, victory, win
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Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
 There’s a Japanese Proverb that says: “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” That wise saying underscores the importance of persistence in the world of performance improvement. In fact, many would argue that persistence is the single most important attribute in the success mindset.
Throughout history, we’ve been reminded of the value of sticking with something we’re passionate about until we achieve what we want to achieve. For example, there’s a Buddhist saying, “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”
In both the Old and New Testaments, there are numerous references to the value of persistence. James 1:4 (NLT) says, “…for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”
Psychologist Edward De Bono has noted that, in his vast experience in working with successful people, he finds to two major qualities: (1) they expected to do well and, (2) they’re persistent.
We know from our own experiences that frequently education and raw talent are often trumped by persistence. Those who succeed in any venue are often not the most intelligent or the most talented. They simply figure out a way to go over, under, around or through the obstacles thrown in front of them. Remember, the stream always finds its way around the rock.
Persistence is an intrinsic motivation. It comes from deep inside. The stronger the inner desire to succeed, the greater the chances of success. The fact is, we all face obstacles and challenges. Successful people accept that fact and simply figure out a way to deal with them.
Those who persist face the cold, hard facts. Life is tough, the economy sucks, work is hard, life’s not fair. So what? Success in life has always been difficult, work is always challenging, cheaters do prosper, and you won’t win the lottery. Shake it off and move on.
One of the keys to persistence is to make sure we know where we’re going and what we intend to achieve. A well thought out vision and clear, measurable goals help us focus on those things that really matter. Without vision and a serious commitment to achieving the goals we set, we’ll be like 95 percent of the population who reach the end of their working life wishing they had taken more risks and challenged the status quo.
Look, good enough seldom is. The organizations and individuals who really stand out in the world have always been, and will always be, those who strive for continuous improvement and never give up on their dreams. They don’t see change as a threat. They see change as simply a rock in the stream that has to be faced – and then they set about doing just that.
So, what’s your persistence quotient? It’s a question worth pondering. Do you hang in there and face life’s obstacles or do you all too quickly throw in the towel? I remember reading one time that most people who fail were just one more step away from succeeding – they just quit too soon.
The power to persist comes from within. It can’t be passed on to us by well-meaning parents and it’s not something we can go out and buy. The power to persist comes from an inner belief in ourselves and in our vision for what we want to accomplish.
Are you experiencing the power of persistence, or are you on the verge of quitting when you may be just one step away from making your dream a reality? Don’t quit. Never give up! Be like that persistent but gently flowing stream that faces its obstacles and finds a way around them.
Tags: achieve, endurance, goals, performance improvement, persistence, quitting, success, vision
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Thursday, February 10th, 2011
 It’s impossible to talk about success in any endeavor without understanding the power of goal setting. Brian Tracy says goals are the fuel for the furnace of achievement.
While I couldn’t agree more, I also alert my audiences and my coaching clients that, as important as goal setting is, goal achievement is really what counts. While it’s critical to set meaningful goals, it’s much more important to follow through and see the goal(s) completed.
So, the reason we set goals is because: without setting and achieving them, our futures will be left to chance. And herein lies another cold, hard fact: chance has a very poor track record as a means of achieving success.
For managers, goal setting is an essential function. It’s also the process by which we define the targets we want to achieve in order to move our organizations forward. Good managers understand that when they set goals, they also commit to the outcomes the goals will produce.
Goal setting allows us to focus our limited resources and the energies of our people on those things that matter most. It also clarifies for our team the direction we intend to take and what specifically we intend to accomplish. We’re not leaving our futures to chance.
Goal setting allows us to measure achievement. If we’re establishing a result metric as a part of our goal setting formula, we’re setting up a dashboard for measuring our success. Without this tracking system, we lose the motivation to move forward with goal achievement.
Goal Setting Starts with Strategy
Good goals emerge from our strategic plan. If the strategy is to become a market leader with a particular product or service, our goals must cascade from that strategy. Division or departmental goals will align with the strategy, as will section, team and/or individual goals. Developing strategy and setting goals that are aligned with the strategy work together to create tremendous synergy for the organization.
A recent study by FranklinCovey’s Center for Advanced Research shows that large numbers of organizations, in several sectors of the economy, don’t understand this fundamental rule for goal achievement. In one sector, Public Service (Govt.), 74 percent of employees surveyed could not name a single organizational goal. Without an organizational strategy, and subsequent goals being pushed down into the organization, there’s little hope for achieving organizational objectives.
Why set goals? Because goals fuel individual and organizational achievement. Good goal setting starts by developing an overarching achievement strategy. Once the strategy is laid out, goals are set that will move the individual or the organization toward achievement.
Remember, though, that while goal setting is critical to success, it’s goal achievement that really counts. When we establish a goal, it’s critical, at the same time, to establish some type of metric or tracking system that will allow us to measure our progress toward goal achievement. A goal unmeasured will translate into a goal not achieved. Measurement creates momentum.
Bottom line: Set goals aligned with an overall strategy – then relentlessly measure progress.
Tags: accomplish, achieve, achievement, essential, futures, goals, managers, strategy, success
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
 Last week, I reminded you of John Wooden’s admonition not to confuse activity with achievement. Good advice for sure. Being busy and being productive are separate issues. Strangely though, deep down inside, we like being busy because it gives us the false sense of being productive, but this is only an illusion. It doesn’t matter how many trivial activities we complete, they’re still trivial and don’t improve productivity or contribute to the bottom line.
Important but Not Urgent
Stephen Covey and others have made the compelling case that the most important things are seldom urgent. The sad fact, though, is that we can easily become addicted to urgencies. Often our badge of honor is having the reputation of being a firefighter – able to put out dozens of trivial little fires in a single day. Let’s refocus.
In the last article, I offered several suggestions on how to better manage your time, so you could be more productive. Those suggestions included: planning your day; writing down your goals; keeping a journal; and reviewing your progress on a regular basis.
Here are a few more suggestions on how to make your days, weeks and months more productive.
Coordinate Your To-Do List and Your Calendar
Before you write a single item on your to-do list, review your weekly calendar. Get a bird’s eye view of your week and when you’ll actually have time to work on those few important tasks or projects. Writing a to-do list is much like building a budget. A realistic budget is preceded by a well-thought-out strategic plan. A daily plan has a much greater chance of succeeding if it’s coordinated with your calendar.
One of the best ways I know of to find the time to work on high priority items is to schedule them in your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself to work on “A” priority items – every day or certainly every week.
If It’s To Be – It’s Up To Me
Personal responsibility. You knew this one was coming, didn’t you? Yep, you’re the only one responsible for achieving your personal goals and improving personal productivity. It’s not your Mama’s job, your boss’s job or your spouse’s job to make you more efficient, effective and productive. That’s your job.
Like it or not, you’re the one who’ll have to take control and do those things that must be done for personal or professional development. You’ll have to control your schedule, take the class, get the certification, or heal the relationship that’s keeping you where you are now, instead of where you want to be.
E + R = O
This little equation will do more for improving your performance and productivity than almost anything else I know of. It stands for Event + Response = Outcome. This equation suggests that it’s not the events we encounter that determine the outcome. It’s our response to those events that make the real differences.
We all face difficult events throughout our lives. Every day, we’re faced with events that have the potential to derail us from getting where we want to go. Our response to those events will determine our success or failure. Controlling how we choose to respond to events not of our making is what develops the character of a winner.
Staying at the top of the productivity game isn’t easy. It takes work and it takes being savvy. Doing a few simple things, like those mentioned in these last two posts, will go a long way in helping you keep your performance and productivity at a very high level. You really can get more done by doing less.
Tags: achievement, activities, calendar, failure, goals, journal, performance, plan, planning, priority, productive, response, responsibility, success, to-do, urgent
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
 John Wooden, the legendary coach at UCLA is quoted as saying: “Don’t mistake activity and achievement. He was also famous for believing in fundamentals. Coach Wooden understood that practicing a few important things on a consistent basis paid higher returns than leaving a game to chance. At every practice his focus was on practicing those few things that produced success. He understood the difference between practicing just to practice and working on plays that won games. John Wooden understood the power of planning to be productive.
It’s not about Being Busy
Being busy and being productive are two different things. Being busy isn’t often associated with accomplishing important goals.
Being productive on the other hand requires focus and implementation of time-tested techniques to become more productive. Here’s an example of a few things you can do to increase focus and better manage your time.
Plan your day
Successful organizations and high-performing individuals have this one thing in common; they actively manage their future. They plan for the long and short-term future they want to have. Don’t leave your success to chance. Plan for the life and career you want to have. This is easier than you may think and it makes life a whole lot more rewarding.
Write Down Your Goals
An unwritten goal is nothing more than a dream or wish and, herein lye’s the problem; no one ever wished his or her way to success. 95 percent of individuals don’t have written goals or a written plan for what they want to achieve. Is it any wonder why the 5 percent that do are a zillion times more successful?
Know When to Work
Different people have different “productivity zones.” Some of us are morning people; others have high energy and creativity levels in the evening or late at night. Do you know when you’re most productive? If not, find out. If you do know your productivity zones use them to your advantage and work on your high payoff activities during those times.
Keep Score
Yesterday is history and tomorrow is yet to come. All we have is today. Use the day to do those things that matter most. Keep track of what you do. Journaling is one of the best ways to measure progress. Writing down what worked and what didn’t, for future review helps us keep doing those positive practices that produce great results, as well as eliminating those things that moved us in the wrong direction.
Review the Game Tape
One of the things that make Peyton Manning a future hall of fame quarterback is his commitment to spending time each week reviewing game tape. We can learn a lot from understanding what worked but we often can learn more from seeing what didn’t work. Review your day once a day, your week once a week and your month once a month. You’ll put yourself ahead of the pack very quickly.
Next week we’ll look at a few more ways you can plan the future you want to have. Just remember, you have much more control over your time than you give yourself credit for. You can plan for your success and achievement. You can’t afford to leave something this important to chance.
Tags: achievement, activity, focus, goals, manage, plan, practice, produce, productive, productivity, review, success
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
 This is a favorite time of the year for me, not just because of the holidays, but because it’s a time for looking back and reflecting on the year about to close. As usual, there were wins and there were losses, that’s a given, but the real value in looking back is learning.
Reflecting on the ups and downs of the year just past gives us the opportunity to build on the positives and adjust to the negatives. We can learn a lot from the past; we just can’t linger there. 2010 is (almost) history and, like yesterday, it will be gone forever. What 2010 will leave behind, though, will be experiences.
Someone once said “good judgment comes from bad experiences.” True enough, but growth and development come from learning how to use good and bad experiences to our advantage.
So, find a quiet place, a hot cup of coffee or tea, and spend 15 or 20 minutes reflecting on the following ten questions about 2010:
What was your biggest success?
What was the best decision you made?
What was the most important lesson you learned?
What is your biggest piece of unfinished business from last year?
What were you most happy about completing last year?
What was the biggest risk you took?
What was the biggest surprise of the year?
Who were the three people who had the greatest impact on your life in 2010? Why?
What important relationship improved the most?
What one word best sums up and describes the year’s experience?
Think over your initial answers to this review of 2010. Next week, I’ll ask you to create a preview of coming attractions for 2011. Peter Drucker said: “The only way to get the future you want is to create it.” So, let’s put together a plan for success and achievement for the year ahead – starting next Tuesday.
Tags: achievement, decision, experiences, future, impact, lesson, negatives, positives, reflecting, reflection, relationship, risk, success, surprise, year, yearend
Posted in 2010, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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We’ve all heard the adage “Your attitude determines your altitude.” While I’m in the camp that says a positive mental attitude (PMA) is an important success factor, I’m too much of a pragmatist to say it’s the most important factor. PMA will take you a long way, but without other success attitudes, it simply won’t get the job done.
