Personal Development

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I’m a sports fan. Maybe you’re not. But stay with me ’cause I guarantee you can relate.

Last week when the NFL regular season ended a number of coaches and general managers got a chance for a fresh start. They were fired on the Monday following the Sunday games. Seven head coaches. Five general managers.

The NFL is a small, somewhat closed community. A fraternity. Most, if not all of those fired, will be candidates for new jobs with different teams.

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.

The Kansas City Chiefs have made fired Andy Reid (Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach for the past 14 seasons) among the highest-paid head coaches in the league. It’s good to be wanted. And for Andy, it’s got to be a nice feeling to know you’re going to get a fresh start. A chance to do things differently…hopefully, better.

Andy lost a son this past year. He’s a man who has known his share of trouble. Some troubles – like the death of a child – are unalterable, but even so, I strongly suspect Andy is thankful for an opportunity to put the past behind him so he can focus on the prospect of a brighter Midwestern future. He will certainly find the fans in KC more…shall we say, polite. I’ve not heard of KC fans throwing batteries at opposing players.

That’s how it is with fresh starts. They are enormous opportunities, chances to do things drastically different.

The fresh start represents major change. Not just some slight shift in direction or in how we do things, but that dramatic change we may (or may not) be looking for. For people who get fired, it’s a forced quest for a fresh start. But, how many times have we read or heard stories of people who were fired only to report how thankful they were for it to have happened?

The person stuck in cubicle nation, afraid to step out and step away — is called into the corner office and told their position is being eliminated. The job they’ve hated for years is suddenly among the most prized possessions they can think of. Slammed with the reality that they’re now “out of work” they’re quickly paralyzed with fear. Like the opossum who faints with fear, once revived, they quickly scamper into action. Eventually they find their way. Some soar to success they never dreamed possible. All because they were forced to make a quantum leap and create a fresh start.

It’s among the many reasons why most of us don’t make the improvements we know we should make. It’s just easier to stick with what we’ve always done. Continuing to get what we’ve always got. One foot in front of the other, hoping that tomorrow things may be better. Just because we’d like them to be. Hardly ever happens.

Will Andy Reid be successful in Kansas City? I don’t know. Will he hire a different staff than the one he had in Philly? I’d venture to guess you’ll see some familiar faces, but I’m also betting there’ll be quite a few news ones. Even a seasoned pro like Andy is going to want to do some things very differently than the way he did them back in Philly.

They why didn’t he make the changes in Philly? Because he’s just like you and me. He got comfortable. He didn’t plan on becoming lethargic or complacent. But he’s human. It happens. Today’s show is all about…

The Power Of A Jolt

 

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“Come on down!” Game show announcer Johnny Olson made that line famous on The Price Is Right. Audience members sat in anticipation that their name might be called to “come on down.”

Here we sit, anticipating a hopeful beginning of a new year. Like all the potential contestants in the studio of The Price Is Right. Hoping, wishing, fingers crossed — that some announcement will sound out our name. Give us permission, as Seth Godin would say.

In 2012 too many people didn’t hear their name called. They sat and waited. And waited. Now that 2012 is over, for them it’s another “glad to see ya go” experience. And just like a year ago today, they sit hoping this new year will be different. Better.

Hope Is Not A Strategy

Even so, many people do it. Yes, we all need hope. No, hope is not a bad thing. It’s vital to our lives. Hopeless is not a good way to live.

We should all hold onto the notion that success will come our way.

We just can’t rely only on hope! That’s where we get it wrong.

Hope doesn’t cost anything. That’s partly why hope alone won’t earn you anything!

Hope should only be an ingredient – fuel – for the action you need to take. Success has a cost, a price. It’s up to you to make sure the price is right.

Get busy this year making your life what you want it to be. Embrace the adage, “If it is to be, it’s up to me!”

“Come on down! It’s time to play!”

Happy New Year! Be safe. Have fun. Be lovable. Make a difference.

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“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
-Mark Twain

“Be tough,” says every dad to every toddling son when they fall down.

I used to be far more stoic than I am today. Reserved. Keeping my cards close to my vest. Protective.

Lots of people choose to live that way thinking they’re protecting themselves. Have that hard shell like a walnut and perhaps you can avoid pain.

It doesn’t work.

Life cracks us all. Sadly, during this holiday season too many people suffer despair and sadness. Too many of us have knees that are buckling under the strains of life, including this holiday. Not everybody celebrates the end of a year and the beginning of another because it’s just too painful.

I hope that’s not you, but if it is – listen. Let me be just one voice to encourage you that life is good. It can be. And you can affect a more positive outcome for yourself and those you love. You absolutely can.

Does this mean you can get rich? No.

Does it mean you can get the career of your dreams? Maybe not.

Does it mean your sickness – or the sickness of your loved ones – can be cured? No, maybe not.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
– Mark Twain

Then, what does it mean?

It means you can endure. It means you can practice mental toughness that will help you increase your resilience to the failures that life slings at all of us. All of us!

1. Count your blessings. Really focus on the things for which you are truly thankful. Do it without comparing yourself to anybody else. It’s easier to see new opportunities when you concentrate on your blessings instead of your hurdles.

“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one”
– Mark Twain

2. Understand that this is a moment and it will pass. Problems end. Struggles subside. In that moment of defeat it’s hard to realize, but just look back over the course of your life. It’s always happened. Time moves on and we move along with it. Embrace that knowledge in advance.

3. Craft a proper response to your struggle, defeat or failure. What will you do? Those wise counselors you sought out can help you figure this out, but remember – you are the President of your own life. You alone must decide how to respond to the arrow of life.

Do not go it alone. Seek wise counsel. Don’t be brave. Don’t be stoic. Share your pain with people who care deeply about you – people who can help you.

4. Get busy. Once you decide the proper response, get busy doing something. Take action. Know that your response may require adjustments along the way. That’s to be expected. So, expect that. But don’t sit around waiting for the world to change. Do what you can with what you’ve got.

BONUS 5. Do not try to learn from the failure too soon. Learning the lessons of defeat takes a perspective that only time will supply. This is learning that you can’t apply some Tim Ferris fast learning methodology to. Now is not the time. That’ll happen later. Let it. Go with the flow.

I wish you well. I hope the coming year brings with it the opportunities you seek. Prepare well.

Thank you for letting me play a small part in your life. Let me know if I can help you professionally.

P.S. Here are a few more pithy Mark Twain quotes for your inspiration.

“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.”

“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first.”

“What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself.”

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.”

“I’ve had thousands of problems in my life, most of which never actually happened.”

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Special Notice:

True confession. Today’s show was recorded as a video. Unfortunately, I realized that my recent audio sync issues have to do with Apple iMovie. It’s apparently a problem others are having, too. I opted out of posting the video with foreign martial arts film like audio issues. It’s funnier when people are performing spinning reverse kicks. I’m physically unable to perform such feats. So…this is a special audio episode. That should explain why I ask you to watch as I hit that button you see me pressing in the photograph. I was using my audio processing equipment to make a point. Fortunately, the big point was made in the audio…but it was made by simply hitting a single button. One tweak made an enormous difference.

The Show Notes

Are you a “quantum leap” kinda person? I am. Well, historically I have been, but I’m leaning toward smaller, more subtle change these days.

Many small business owners are searching for the one big thing they can do to make their enterprise more successful. The secret thing they just don’t yet know.

Most will never find it because it really doesn’t exist.

Life is made up of a few big goals and accomplishments, but most of life is composed of daily actions that move us closer to or further away from improvement. Mundane kind of stuff that we can too easily discount.

Small changes made over time result in major differences in the outcome. Maybe you need to change a thought, one habit or one tactic. Just one. Life isn’t all about go big or go home (even though I do often wear a T-shirt to the gym with that on the front). It’s about the wisdom to make subtle, small changes that can make all the difference in the world in your success!

Here are some links you may want to check out:

• President Kennedy’s speech before Congress, May 25, 1961
• The moon landing in 1969
• Peak Performers: The New Heroes of American Business by Charles Garfield
• The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
• History Channel’s Top Shot
• The story of Naaman

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