HUNGER! The tie that binds us ...

I have a friend who's son is nothing short of the 8th wonder of the world. When he wakes up his first thought is food – his first thought is hunger. On many occasions he will start his day by telling his Mom to meet him in the kitchen! I recently learned that African cultures recognize two hungers: the lesser hunger -- for the goods and services that sustain us and the means to pay for them, and the greater hunger, which has to do with understanding what life is all about. Yes ... that’s right I've been reading again.

The regular hunger seems to be even greater, for workers and executives. I am witness to both hungers every time I give a speech. And I worry that the only hunger people try to satisfy is the lesser hunger. Money is quite accurately called compensation -- if you can't find a major purpose in life, you compensate for it by making money. What we have today is a bizarre phenomenon: Economies everywhere are growing, but once they've hit a certain level the amount of happiness or contentment in a society doesn't increase. So the lesser hunger simply doesn't satisfy the greater hunger.

There is hope however, and it is not expensive. When I mentioned that I had been reading... turns out that reading is our most economical path for continued learning. So how's your education coming along? I know you are probably out of school, but I hope you haven't stopped learning. When I think about the people I've known, who are most fully alive, invariably, it is those who have never stopped learning who come to mind. It is also those who have developed creative strategies to keep themselves from becoming stuck in a rut, no matter how comfortable that rut may seem.

For example, I asked the participants in my last session to “read” and consider the following questions:

1.) Do I limit myself with my own thoughts? Do I need to think outside of my self-imposed limitations?

2.) What levels of my personal and business expectations are examined and raised?

3.) Are negative attitudes about the objectives identified and properly changed? 

4.) Is the self-talk of each person in my group identified and improved? 

These questions are helping us to form a learning organization. Our goal is to help you and the employees grow toward full utilization of their personal and group potential. And it starts with reading, moves on to thinking, and ends with doing. Here are some definitions for some of the vocabulary used above:

EXPECTATION - The prospect of a future embodiment of an abstract idea; an anticipation.

ATTITUDE (S) - A consciously held belief or opinion; easiest to visualize if we picture ourselves leaning toward those things we like (positive) and away from those things we dislike (negative)

SELF-TALK - An act whereby one evaluates or assesses one’s behavior; how one talks or reaffirms to oneself when one reacts to one’s own evaluation, or others evaluation of one’s performance. Self-talk may have an affirming influence in establishing self-image.

JUST PUBLISHED!

Hi Everyone,

I was just published in Hospitals and Healthcare Networks:
http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag/HHNDaily/HHNDailyDisplay.dhtml?id=1310008685

MIND BLOWING SUCCESS

Just left one of the best groups that I have ever spoken to!

Picture this ... a great hotel, great weather, great company leaders and a group of voracious learners.  As we talked the conversation turned to personal improvement and reaching more of their potential.

It occurred to me that the entire group had begun the process of Self Examination.  Which is always the first step in creating change.  Self examination allows us insight into the discovery of that part of us we are trying to bring out of our potential.  In many cases this group had to release the tendency to help others before they would help themselves.

One by one they began to change their expectations of how they could grow and how they would growth.  We moved from the thought of growth to using their thoughts to envision that growth.  Even more, we discussed what that growth would look like and feel like.

I hope you picked up on something here.  Reflective time or self examination is the singularly most important personal time we can give ourselves.  Act out your dreams in your mind as if it's your life right before you live it.  The "live it" part has a higher probability of realization when we affirm what we want in life rather than just letting life happen to us.

NEW YEARS BONUS....

This week I spoke the very energetic sales group in San Diego, CA.  However, this blog is not about the speaking event – it’s really about questions the event created.  During the speech I discussed many concepts on Personal Development.  Among those:

• The four areas most responsible for success over the last 200 years
• How to develop a Vision for your future
• Imagination
• Powerful Journaling, and
• Creating 20-20 business sight

At the end of my speech a gentleman in the audience asked the best question of the day.  “How do I take my notes and implement,” he asked with a non-blinking, reptilian-like stare.  My answer was short and to the point.  Pick one concept, use repletion and become an expert at using that one idea.  Then gradually move to the next and the next and so on.

I also told him that I would review my speech and add to the program by sending them my perspective on the information.  So for all of you loyal readers who were not at the event … here’s my version of what I taught to start the New Year:

 “ Be unconventional. Be bold. You cannot have a unique value proposition if you are not unique. “The meek shall inherit the earth” is a fallacy created to give hope to those that “don’t do”.



1.) Create your own destiny. You can live in a world shaped by others, or you can shape the world to your liking, the choice is yours.





2.) Continuous improvement. The moment you stop improving the value you provide is the moment your business loses ground to the competition.



3.) Focus. If you don’t have focus, it doesn’t matter how fast you run if you’re not going in the direction you want. Focus on the goal, if a task doesn’t relate to your goal, don’t do it.



4.) Execute! Businesses don’t grow from good ideas, they grow from action on good ideas, heck, some businesses even grow from action on bad ideas.  People made money by selling a talking Bass wall mount!

5.) Observe. Learn to always scan the environment. Threats to your business will never be recognized by keeping your focus strictly on your product. Any animal knows the secret to survival is to always keep a lookout for threats then work to counter or mitigate them.



6.) Systems Thinking. The best lever is not always where you think it will be, in any system, there is one point that if it changed, will have a greater effect on the system than any other point. Find it.



7.) Mistakes. Make ‘em…quickly and remember them so you don’t repeat. Mistakes makes experience. Making a lot of mistakes gives you an incredible amount of experience.

8.) Persistence. There are a lot of ordinary people who have successful businesses because of persistence. It will take dogged determination to make a business succeed, if it was easy, everyone else would have done it.



9.) Integrity. Lack of integrity leads to a short term business and destructive relationships with no chance of a redo.



10.) Time Management.  Learn time management in turn of your capacity. Most people can only hold intense focus for about 45 minutes.  So focus on one item at a time for the full 45 minutes then take a walk, get some water etc.  Then come back for another 45 minute burst of productivity.  Your time is finite, value it – increase your capacity, time will take it from there.

11.) Ethics. It’s not about just growing a business; it’s about growing an ethical business. You do not exploit your suppliers, your employees, your family, yourself or the environment.


12.) Quality. If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Work with quality people, quality processes, quality suppliers. If in doubt, sell quality. It is always easier to work with quality than to rework poor quality. Poor quality people will pull you down, don’t bother with them.



13.) Big number thinking. A little profit on a large number of items is a large profit…maximize the system, not the individual pieces.



14.) Sales by helping. It doesn’t matter what your idea is, without sales it is just an idea. Taylor your entire approach to using your product the “help” a client solve a problem within their business

15.) Continuous Improvement. Learn to work on the business and not in it. To be truly invaluable, learn to work on the business to improve it.



16.) The truth about buying.  Learn that it is all about perceived value, not actual value, to the person who pays you money. Value is in the eyes of the beholder, not you.



17.) Internal Dialogue. Your thought communicate more to you than anyone around you (an average of 50,000 thoughts per day).  Take out the negative talk, say nice things to yourself and your confidence will grow.

18.) Team.  Learn to work with a team. Gather people brighter than yourself around you. You will achieve greater heights by standing on the shoulders of others than standing by yourself (and it’s more fun). Mountains are not moved with a teaspoon in one hand.


19.) Attitude. Learn the proper Attitude. As they say attitude is everything. (as long as you incorporate everything above) Attitude is what motivates, it infects others to help. It is your source of energy when the going gets tough, and it will get tough. Start with a great attitude, end with a great attitude, give it your all and you’ll have no regrets.



And finally …

It’s never too late to be what you might have been.   – George Elliott