Motivational Results

You’re Not a High-Rise Window Washer

It’s safe to take several steps back from the glass every once in a while, and see the whole picture. It’s the only way you can see where you fit in. You can then focus on how to get there. I’m a great believer in visualization. I believe seeing what might happen in advance is possible if you concentrate when thinking things through. Knowledge is power, so it is indispensable that you know what you are talking about before opening your mouth. As Mom used to say, “You can keep your mouth shut and let people think you are stupid, or you can open your mouth and remove all doubt.” I’m pretty sure she loved me. Her message must have been hidden in the saying. The message was “be prepared”. Know the facts before beginning a discussion.

If time is money on the job, not having the facts in advance can create a dollar hemorrhage of biblical proportions, speaking metaphorically, of course. Considering the facts can be a challenge. Example: Where is my best opportunity?; Who is my target?; Who do I skip?; What do they need that I have?; How do I deliver what they need?; Do I really know what I’m talking about?; How do I approach the subject?; Why do I skip or target a subject?…. the list can go on and on.

To obtain the answers to meaningful questions that will save time and money, you must first have a view of the big picture. You can’t get that view if you are mired in minutia. You just waste a lot of valuable time by getting ahead of yourself. It’s like going to the hardware store to fill a doctor’s prescription. You are interested in feeling better, being well. Buying a box of nails isn’t going to help you feel better. From the overview or big picture you can see everything. You can zoom in to only those targets that can help you meet or exceed your goals. Start by taking a few steps back from the glass. Remember, if you fail to prepare, you are prepared to fail.

I Can’t Handle the STRESS!

We can all handle stress, no matter how enormous it is. The important part of the process is how we handle it. Recognizing the factors creating stress, and controlling them is as easy as changing your thoughts, and thereby changing your world. The first and most important step in learning to deal with stress positively is understanding what it is, and where it comes from. Stress manifests itself through our reaction to things that happen around us. Once you understand the causes of stress you have three ways to go.:

1. You can think your way through it and move on in a set course.
2. You can ignore it and move on hoping it will just go away. Or…
3. You can let it overwhelm you and destroy you from within.

All three are simply reactions that can be controlled with logic and discipline, or allowed to wreak havoc on your life. Making the right choice in a stressful situation is easy to say, but it can be extremely difficult to execute. The cards are physically stacked against you. Your body and mind are fighting you with chemical reactions going on within your body. Surely, while influenced by anxiety and stress you just don’t feel your best. Changing the chemical, electrical mix within you is a key to defeating stress. Get up and get out! Change your surroundings and mindset. Concentrating on negativity makes no sense at all. Exercising your body produces serotonin, which brings with it a feeling of calm. Being calm will allow you to change the channel, see things differently. Your life is not centered on one thing. Let day dreams of positive events have a few moments in the sun. You will see a positive effect immediately. The fog will lift. Solutions to problems will come into focus. You won’t notice it so much, but stress has just been pushed into the back seat. Put some duct tape over it’s mouth to prevent back seat driving and re-start your journey on a positive note.

Can You Fog the Mirror?

Knowing how well you are able to perform is strictly between you and the mirror. You can fool some of the people all of the time. You can fool all of the people some of the time. However, you can’t fool yourself, ever. In the mirror, honesty is the ONLY policy. Can you handle the truth? Facing reality is sometimes the hardest thing an individual has to do in life. Concentrating on abstract thoughts having to do with our behavior, effort or performance is almost impossible. Without adequate tools to assist us, we subconsciously set up mental blocks to prevent negative personal thoughts about our shortcomings.

It is unpleasant to admit we can’t do something, so we avoid it. The problem is there is very little we really can’t do. Our reaction is called subconscious avoidance. Mental blocks are hard to understand and even more challenging to overcome. Everyone builds mental blocks at some time in their life, and some a lot more frequently than others. Performance rankings are evidence of this. Fear of flying, fear of speaking publicly, or even simple tasks we are asked to perform just don’t get done. It is possible, ability may simply not be there. However, that is usually not the case. Admitting personal inability is extremely difficult, but can free you from the stress of under-performing only if it is true. This is where the mirror comes into play. If you look into your eyes in the mirror, and maintain eye contact as you ask yourself important questions, you will get the truth 100% of the time. Once you know the truth, the only barrier left between you and your goal is your motivation. Do you want to do it? If you do, you can.

What’s Up With Your Attitude?

It is a proven fact: Positive people perform at a measurably better rate. Negative people should be avoided at all costs. After all, they’re the ones who think that good health is nothing more than a slower way of dying. As dumb as that sounds it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Each negative thought drags them down a little bit farther, until living life becomes a burden. That would be sad enough if it was just about them. However, it never is. You’ve heard the saying, “misery loves company”. It’s natural for negative people to consciously or without thinking share their negativity. Some people assume everyone shares their negative thoughts therefore they openly complain about even the smallest matter. At work, where you are in a forced environment, unable to gain the proper distance to avoid the negative vibes, the negativity can become infectious. The most likely result is poor team performance.

We shouldn’t always blame ourselves, or others for our own negative behavior. Our senses are bombarded by millions of experiences every day that influence us and set off subtle, yet sometimes physical, changes in our bodies. Just like hives on prom night or bleeding ulcers, we can go through changes seemingly by remote control. As we go through these changes we send out signals others perceive as our attitude, either positive or negative. Recognizing causal factors and controlling situations can help us control our output signals/attitude, and become better teammates and happier people.

There is an “I” in Team

You go to work each day for yourself. Everybody does the same thing. Unfortunately, you only get a paycheck for hitting company targets, and you can’t do that by yourself. It makes more sense to be a contributing part of a team. Remember, it’s choice, not chance that determines your destiny.

Scoring points only for your self is not always the best choice. It’s entirely possible for you to score a lot of points and still end up losing. Smart players always strive to keep personal goals and corporate goals in unison. If you forget for one second that the common goal is the common good, you are putting the “golden goose” at risk. In that situation the risk steadily increases to the point that maybe, just maybe, everybody will lose. It is likely in a tough economy and competitive environment companies with teams that don’t row together will go off course or sink rapidly, especially if everyone is not pulling on an oar. I can assure you that the folks on the top deck of the Titanic were not hanging over the railing looking down at the lower decks thinking, those poor souls are in trouble. Success or survival, if you will, is based on the realization that we are all in this together. We all need each other.

To become a cohesive winning team the most important building block is trust. Trust that your other teammates are doing their fair share of the work. …… and of course, you are doing yours. Without teammates to share your success, can you imagine how silly you will look doing jumping high fives all by your self. Exchanging high fives is part of the joy of team play and achievement. The celebration of success makes the job seem more like fun than work. If you’re having fun, you’re going to feel better. It will become easier to do a better job. Finding the easy way is not really a science, as much as it is an art. The art of making friends.