Personal Development | GROW GREAT

232 Free Form Friday, July 25, 2014 (and part 2 of the big bang podcast rebranding, too)

Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Development, Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

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July 25, 2014 Free Form Friday

Oh, the serious issues of the day are indeed becoming less troublesome. Or I’m just losing interest.

Today is the last Friday of the month. That means it’s Free Form Friday. Well, actually many days are free form days ’cause that’s how I roll. Somebody sent me to a website that gives you a personality test, iPersonic Personality Test. I promptly went over there, took the test and broke it I think. It’s actually a pretty good sales ploy because if you want to see the career advice based on your test, it’ll cost you $19. Not bad if you need a new career and you’ve got $19. But if you’re unemployed and don’t have $19…maybe not.

Podcast Re-Branding

I’m making progress in the rebranding effort of the podcast. No, I still haven’t settled on a name, but the topic or niche is pretty well sealed I think. Mainly because I want the podcast here to be congruent with my work. So it’s about the stuff I do every single day.

Higher human performance is about diving in, doing the work and sticking with it.

And that’s what the podcast will be about. So, now I need a great, super-terrific name for the podcast. Do you want to help? I’d love it. Just use the Contact page to send me your suggestions.

I know I’m going to stick with a weekly schedule, but I’m still uncertain about length or release days. A few people – VERY few really – have suggested I go back to some video stuff, too – namely, my Word-Of-The-Day stuff. Here’s where I did the word, chase. If you want to help me include any suggestions about day of the week, how often to release an episode and how long to make the episodes (QuickSprout.com proves long form content can work) when you throw name suggestions out to me.

Helping People See Some Of What A Leader Sees

I’m always looking for ways to help people see and appreciate a bit more what their leaders see. So many of us have our head down, looking at only our perspective. We can go about our business unaware of the bigger picture.

The photo below went viral a long time ago, but it illustrates the point. Can you see the words in the picture? Until you see what it says, it’s hard. But the moment you see what it says, you can’t un-see it. It’s plain as day once you’re able to see it.

sleep

I’m wondering if I can figure out a way to help direct reports see more clearly the influences exerted on their leader. I may be chasing something that’s impossible, but I’ve been able to do it with some frequency. I just haven’t gone to the trouble to systematize it.

Yes, I Often Miss Being Part Of An Organization

Consulting and coaching can sometimes be lonely work. When the day ends, I get in my car and go home mostly leaving the work for others to do. My work at Bula Network, LLC has morphed a bit over time. Increasingly, executive coaching has been front and center. That suits me fine.

There are days where I long to be part of something bigger. Helping grow a business or organization has been my lifelong drive. I have fueled that drive by mostly running another man’s business. I’ve spent most of my career in the proverbial corner office making the day-to-day decisions to run and operate a business.

Everything is not on the Internet. Some people are steeped in careers doing things in the “real world.” They don’t know who the Internet rock stars are. They’ve never heard of all the people you may follow in social media. We can sometimes get so deep into the online world that we think that’s where all of life happens. It’s not.

Happy Friday!

Brace yourself, kids. August is almost here. Before you know it the kids will be back in school (I can hear moms all over America cheering), the trees will be turning (hopefully a color other than brown due to the draught) and the weather will be cooler (hooray!).

Now, hit that Contact tab at the top and send me an email to help me with this re-branding effort. Talk to you later.

Randy

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232 Free Form Friday, July 25, 2014 (and part 2 of the big bang podcast rebranding, too) Read More »

Success Is Determined By Your Whack Quotient

Entrepreneurship, Personal Development / By Randy Cantrell

Winston Churchill once said, “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.”

Don’t give up too soon.

Read Seth Godin’s book, The Dip, and you’ll better understand this idea. For those of us who are getting long in the tooth, we’ve known this for quite some time. Until we hear “NO!” we need to keep pushing. Sometimes a “NO!” really doesn’t mean “NO!” We have to understand that. Most importantly, we have to trudge full steam ahead and be persistent until we can’t go any more, or until all hope of success seems to vanish. But make sure you never quit too soon because success might just be lurking right around the corner.

You owe it to yourself – and those you’d like to serve – to give it the whack demanded by success!

Your whack quotient is the key to success. It’s the single biggest barrier to success. Those who fail are often guilty of thinking they’ve whacked enough, success should have already happened. They’re misguided. They’ve underestimated what’s required. Success goes to those who have the highest whack quotient.

Keep whacking away until you get what you’re after. Refuse to quit. Find a way to succeed. Keep doing it because complacency quickly shows up when success does. You’ve gotta keep coming back over and over again…with a more tremendous whack each time.

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230 Home, Habits & Happiness: Why It’s Time To Kill This Podcast

Personal Development, Podcast, Randy Cantrell / By Randy Cantrell

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Happy New Year 2014 - Ballard Street

Optimism. For some, it comes easy. For others, it’s anything but. However, when a new year arrives almost everybody has some sense of it. I don’t know why a calendar can have such a powerful impact. We’re 6 months into 2014 and by now, most of the folks I knew what were optimistic in early January, have tempered their enthusiasm. Some have abandoned it altogether.

Optimism is hard work. Not for the faint of heart. Almost 180 days into the new year grind takes on a toll on the stoutest among us I suppose. I’m certainly not immune to losing heart. When I do, I have to concentrate on three things: home, habits and happiness!

Home

Home represents family, closeness, the best relationships on earth and security. It should. I know that’s not true for everybody. I’m mindful of abused children, wives and other calamities that define dysfunctional homes. It makes me want to do more in my own home because I know in 2014 I can do more to express my love, care and concern for my tribe. My family is my tribe. I don’t believe in tribal business. I believe in tribal family.

Home isn’t always where the heart is, but it should be. Husbands should love their wives. Wives should love their husbands. Together they should love and train their children.

Home represents security, comfort, stability and support.

Habits

Habits, for me, begin with those involving faith. I’m unapologetic about that because I know I’m not nearly as “in control” as I might like to think. God is in control.

One of the most common ideas I encounter with people who claim to have faith is the notion that God is a magic genie. Nothing in scriptures teach that, so I’m not quite sure why people hold that idea, but almost every day I encounter people who honestly believe they can ask God for something because He’s poised and ready to grant them their wish.

If you love where you’re at in life, what did you do every day to get there? Have you stopped doing that? Lots of folks do. They get complacent. Or they feel like the climb is over. It’s never over. Well, okay, when you die it’s over. The climb that is, but not life. If you don’t believe in life after this one, well, why bother then? Just call it a day already.

Life is a knife fight that goes on. You can’t quit. Your daily habits determine the results. If you’re not happy about your lot in life, then what are you going to do about it? What daily habits are you going to incorporate to improve things?

Yes, it’s hard. Ridiculously hard. But what choice do we have? Do you really want to resign yourself to a life you hate? Or a dissatisfied life?

I confess that my daily habits are mostly to blame for my inadequacies. Too often I simply choose to not do the things I should, or I do things that don’t profit me. Smokers keep smoking. Fat people keep eating. Addicts keep shooting dope. Alcoholics keep drinking. Maybe our habits aren’t nearly as bad, but they can still be devastating to our success.

We mostly do what we want to do because what we do works for us at some level. That’s why interventions are sometimes necessary. Until or unless something drastic happens, we keep doing what we’ve always done.

What if you’re not pleased with the results? What if you want different results? Then change your habits. Do something different. Do things differently. Shake it up.

Happiness

I’m at an age where I don’t dwell much on this. Not like I did when I was younger. These days I prefer a different word: contentment. But I use them interchangeably really. Contentment is happiness.

I found this video interesting. Happiness, it turns out, has a lot to do with a person’s sense of gratitude. But I already knew that. Maybe it’s my faith. Maybe it’s knowing how blessed I am, even though I don’t always express it as I should.

What do you think makes you happy? I use the word “think” because so many people really don’t know what makes them happy. Many are left to wander about it. Some claim to never have experienced it. Others think if they can’t experience it 100% of the time then they haven’t yet found it. That’s why I so hate the whole pursue your passion conversation. It presupposes that you must experience constant passion.

Passion is an emotion, a feeling. Do you want your whole life to be defined by a single emotion? Not me. Sometimes I need to cry. Other times I need to laugh. You do, too. We all do. It’s the stuff of life.

It’s popular to deny that things are important, but actions speak louder than words. People are still chasing exotic cars, bigger houses, electronic toys and more. More. More. More.

On the other end of the spectrum are the minimalists. I rather admire them. Part of me would love to try it. Sadly, I’ve got too much clutter in my life. I’m not sure I’ll live long enough to declutter my life. Even so, I should try.

People. Yes, there’s the rub for all of us. People. It’s people that really matter. It’s relationships that make us happy. Because it’s people to whom we’re most grateful, assuming the research cited in that video is correct.

Re-Branding The Podcast // Re-Launching The Podcast

I’ve been needing to do this for awhile. I’ve been wanting to do it almost from the beginning. I’m without excuse.

Lethargy. Habit. Complacency. Low energy. Lack of direction. It’s all in play.

But I can’t lay it at the feet of any of those things really. It’s mostly about one thing, desire. I’ve lost heart for the current iteration.

It’s about people, but it boils down to desire. What is my desire when it comes to people? You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? YOU. It’s about YOU. But it’s about me, too.

The question to be answered…

What do I want to do for YOU?

Maybe it’s the wrong approach, but it’s honest. I’m tired of people asking, “What can I do for you?” My answer is almost always going to be, “Nothing.” It just sound disingenuous. And it’s growing increasingly trite.

Yes, you are important. Here, you’re important in the context of what value I can offer you. The value proposition is a 2-way street. It’s like a tandem bike. It takes both of us to make it go. But one of us has to steer. That’s my role here. HERE. I don’t drive everywhere. I just drive here. But I can’t simply say, “This is where we’re going. You just sit back there pedal hard and be happy with where we’re headed.” You have a say in where we’re headed. I have to make the decision to take you where you want to go, provided I have the skill and desire to take you there.

If you want to go deeper into the world of soccer – yeah, I admit it…the 2014 World Cup is on the TV here inside The Yellow Studio as I write this – then I’m not going to take you there. One, I’m not qualified. Two, I’m terribly disinterested. There’s more flopping in futbol than live fish hauled into a bass boat. Drives me crazy.

There are tons of places you might want to go that would be unsuitable for me. You wouldn’t take a train to Boston if you wanted to go to Philly. This is about me deciding what I do best do to serve…and figuring out where I want to go. Then, it’s about finding others who want to come along with me. And lastly, it’s about making it compelling so I can take as many people possible with me.

What does that have to do with home, habits and happiness?

Everything.

These are the things of life. These are the things that determine the course of our life. That includes how we contribute to the world. How we show our gratitude.

That’s why today’s episode is the final episode for this version of the podcast. When I return, things will be different. Better. Brand new.

What will it look like? Sound like?

I don’t know. I’m still working on it. In the meantime, I’ll be podcasting over at Leaning Toward Wisdom.

Go here if you’d like to give me your feedback. Or, you can leave me a voicemail by clicking that “Send Voicemail” tab to the right.

I look forward to hearing from you. And I’m pretty excited about starting over!

Randy

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The Coach’s Halftime Speech

Entrepreneurship, Personal Development, Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

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It’s the end of June, the end of the first half of another year. Did you play well in the first half? Are you behind on the scoreboard, or ahead?

It’s time to jog into the locker room and prepare for the second half of 2014. Meanwhile, the band hits the field and the twirlers prance around to entertain the folks in the stands.

You and me, we get no entertainment ’cause we’re playing in the game. While others are grabbing hot dogs and soft drinks, we’re busy reviewing what worked and what didn’t work in the first half.

Into the locker room we go. We remove our shoes, grab a towel and a Gatorade bottle and take our seat. The coach will be in here shortly and let us know what the plan is for the rest of the game.

After spending time with the other coaches, the head coach enters the room, grabs a whiteboard marker and begins.

He starts off barking about the things he knows we know how to do…but failed to do in the first half. It’s our neglect. He’s blasting us and we hang our head ’cause we know he’s right. There were lots of things we didn’t do because of our neglect. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge, or even practice. We were just too lazy to give it the effort it deserved. And it cost us. Our opponent took advantage of us. They outworked us. The coach is right.

The coach is specific. He even calls us out by name. It’s not personal. It’s individual. We’re responsible and he’s holding us accountable. We’ve let the team down. Again, the coach is right.

We hang our head some more, but after a few seconds of feeling bad and getting mad…we make up our mind that the second half is going to be different. We’re going to fix the things that hurt us in the first half. The coach is right, “This second half is a brand new game. Forget the first half. It’s over. The only way to win this game is to win this second half.”

The coach starts focusing on the things we did well in the first half. He points out the success we had and why. He’s telling us to build on that. It’s evidence, he says, of the things we can do that our opponent can’t handle. He urges us to turn up the intensity in those areas.

He ends the halftime speech by telling us how we’re going to win this game. The strategy seems pretty clear. We’re going to do those things we’ve done in practice dozens of times. We know how to do them. He’s not telling us to rely on something brand new that we’ve never done – or some tactics we don’t know. Everything he’s telling us are things we know very well.

The coach diagrams a few things on the whiteboard to remind us of where to be, and when to be there. It’s all position and timing, things we’ve gone over and over again. It gives us visual evidence again of our responsibilities.

Our shoes are back on. We’re all ready to leave the locker room. It’s just about time to start the second half.

The coach has us huddle in close and he tells us in a loud, but calm tone…

Do what you know. Be responsible. Be accountable. Outwork your opponent. Refuse to lose!

He and the coaches leave the locker room. We’ve got seconds before heading out. Now all the players, still in the huddle are led by our captain who yells, “Refuse to lose on 3. One, two, three!” In unison, our team yells at the top our lungs, “Refuse to lose!”

It’s time to hit the field again. We’ve got another half to play!

Randy

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228 Free Form Friday, June 27, 2014

Entrepreneurship, Personal Development, Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

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When obstacles arise you change your direction to reach your goal;
you do not change your decision to get there.” -Zig Ziglar

Halfway through the year and it’s time to triage some things.

Do you triage your career? Your business? Your life?

What’s working? What’s not working?

Why isn’t it working? Why is it working?

What can I do differently? Better?

The focal points continue to be —

Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.

No, that’s not the same mission you see most people talk about. They’ll say, “Do more of what makes you happy.” Or, “Do more of what makes you awesome.” Or, “Do more of what you love.” Or this one, “Do less, not more.”

I don’t find those valuable…for lots of reasons. Happiness varies. Chasing happiness also is ridiculously selfish.

As for awesomeness, most of us aren’t awesome and I’m cool with that. Do we have to be awesome to be productive, helpful and serving? Can we have moments of awesomeness? Of course. It’s like all the talk about heroes. We’ve likely all got the ability to be heroic at times. That doesn’t make us heroes. I do lots of work in leadership. Acts of leadership can be done by anybody at any time. That doesn’t make them leaders.

I love my family. I love my faith. I’m going to always try to “do more” of those things. But again, the way most people talk about love, especially in the context of “do more of what you love” seems awfully selfish. Do more of what YOU love.

As for “do less, not more” — well, that’s just sheer laziness. Nope, I’m not attracted to the concept of doing less. I’m attracted to doing more. I just want to make sure I’m putting forth the effort I should in the areas that deserve or need my work.

I want to do more of what works. I want to increase activities that result in progress. And I want to reduce the stuff I do that has no, or limited, results. Some call it success. Or winning. However I choose to define it – and all depends on the context:

Business/Career – I want to do more of what creates customers, dazzles customers, increases lead generation, improves profits/income, etc.

Spiritual – I want to do more of what increases holiness and righteousness.

Health – I want to do more of what will improve and maintain fitness, energy, etc.

Family – I want to do more of what will improve my marriage, my effectiveness as a father/grandfather, etc.

Friends – I want to do more of what will make me a better friend.

Today’s show is about change, improvement, exploration, discovery and attempting to get out of the woods. Enjoy!

Mentioned in the show:

Soar With Your Strengths by Donald O. Clifton & Paula Nelson
The Element by Sir Ken Robinson
Help me rebrand this podcast
Andrew Warner is the host of my favorite podcast, Mixergy
Effort Over Ability
Grow Great
Go Find Customers
Zooming Out

Randy

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227 A Conversation With Author/Speaker Mary DeMuth

Entrepreneurship, Personal Development, Podcast / By Randy Cantrell

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Last September I connected with Mary DeMuth, a DFW-based author/speaker. Our conversation was originally recorded for an upcoming project, ChasingDFWCool.com (a project that has suffered delay).

Today, I’m releasing this episode because there are some terrific insights provided by Mary. We talk about writing, speaking, overcoming difficulties and connecting with people who can support us.

More business people should take a lesson (or two) from creative people. Our lot in life isn’t so different, but our approaches often are. I hope you’ll reach out and thank Mary for spending some time teaching us the things she’d learned along the way.

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