Stay Focused

Unexpected things happen. Circumstances and situations may sometimes anger us. Staying focused is the key to achieving your success.

When we replay thoughts from past negative experiences or are preoccupied with finding evidence to support negativity we tend to find what we are looking for – negativity. In this scenario our view shifts from seeking the positive to discovering reinforcement for new negative experiences.

The good news is that you can control what you see through your lens. If you stay focused by looking for positive situations and outcomes you can find them. You can resist anger and irritation and replace any negative thoughts with positive thoughts that support forward motion on your path to achieving your goals.

Take control of your state of mind – stay focused. 

What do you see?

 

- DEG

Finger Licking Good? No BAD!

On a recent visit to the grocery store I noticed something terrible. It made me think about big mistakes we may be making that we don’t even realize we are doing.

While shopping I noticed a lady selecting raw packaged meat from the refrigerated section and placing the packaged meat into the sanitary bags that are provided in that section. My understanding is that those additional bags are to help prevent the spread of nasty germs (bacteria, virus) from raw meat. What’s the problem here?  She was touching the packages, grabbing the sanitary bags and separating them by first licking her fingers. Nice.

Rolling this into our lives or careers, we should ask for feedback on performance. Recognize that you may not always like what you hear but take a risk and get some feedback. Even hard working, good upstanding employees are sometimes oblivious to critical errors.

Don’t give a lick discover how to do the trick! 

- DEG

Create Opportunities

“The early bird gets the worm.”

Many of us have heard this and some of us have shared this as an analogy, but how many of us are looking for more opportunities? Many people are looking for more opportunities; opportunities for sales, financial freedom, or for new levels of personal or professional success.

Based on news reports and evidence based analysis many would likely agree that the world economy is shifting. This isn’t the bad news, it is the good news. A shifting economy creates change, change creates more opportunities.

Do you want more good news? Opportunities are created when we are persistent in our efforts and work both smart and hard. Simply put, being persistent and engaged in our pursuit of continued success creates more exposure for our desired outcomes. More exposure creates more opportunities.

Do you want more opportunities? Create them!

 

- DEG

Confidence Required

This may seem very apparent but have you ever noticed that successful people have higher levels of self-confidence? In many cases they may analyze choices, options, and strategy in a completely obsessive manner but regardless they still have confidence.

Is this a chicken and the egg scenario? Which comes first?

Self-confidence is typically considered to be made up of two primary factors, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Lower levels of one or both factors will result in a lower level of confidence. Here is the good news – both factors can be developed. You are not born with a fixed or predetermined level of self-confidence.

Do you want to improve your self-confidence? Here are two easy ways to get you on the right track:

1. Visualize your future, plan, prepare, be realistic and think about small wins on your way to your goal
2. Defeat negative self-talk, promise yourself you are committed to your success, surround yourself with positive people and thoughts

Successful people are confident. They have healthy amounts of both self-efficacy and self-esteem. They are balanced.

Do you have the confidence required?

Don’t think it - know it, get it, grow it!

 

- DEG

Growing from Stress

So much has already been written on the subject of how to reduce stress, have you considered what are the positive benefits (if any) of working through very stressful situations. I argue that there is a positive benefit, and the positive benefit is that you learn and grow from extreme stress.

 

Extreme stress allows you to discover what you are capable of, what really makes you tick, and how to better manage stress in the future. Here are a few examples of situations that may push you to achieve new growth:

1. College students, especially those maintaining both jobs and academic studies
2. Goal or quota expectations that are a stretch, but you find a way to make it happen
3. Unexpected change and adverse conditions that temporarily set you back
4. Managing work, life, and raising children, especially in single parent situations
5. Combinations of any of the items (1 - 4) listed above

Rather than being overcome by extreme stress, discover ways to push through it, learn from it and grow. Short term you may be out of balance with work and life commitments, but recognize that your decisions and choices can and will make a difference in the future.

Learn something about who you are, don’t eat crow – make a plan and GROW!

 

- DEG

Move Fast!

Our economy is shifting, like it or not things are changing. Arguments continue about the state of the economy in the United States but one factor that appears consistent is that successful businesses and people are changing.

 

I work with business that are doing great, and those who are not doing so great. My informal survey of this sample suggests that those who are doing great are moving fast. They are capitalizing on what works and abandoning what doesn’t. They are planning and calculated, not irresponsible. They are committed to not being satisfied with the status quo.

It seems that successful endeavors, and the people who manage, own, or otherwise operate them, are masters at analyzing the opportunity cost. As individuals we have that same opportunity. Our ability to assess our environment, recognize the opportunity cost, and make fast but calculated changes help us get on the path to success. Things are changing fast, too fast to hesitate.

If you want to improve from the past, be calculated but move fast!

 

- DEG

Take Chances

“I didn’t stand a chance!”

How often have you heard this phrase? How often have you said it? Most people would likely agree on the meaning of this phrase to be - given a particular opportunity there was absolutely no possible way to win or be successful.

Many people lack the self-confidence to take risks. They view the risk associated with chance, as too risky. They see the opportunities in front of them as a disaster, a dead end, or something that they will never attain. If you try nothing new, take no risk, see opportunities through the lens of “I don’t stand a chance,” then guess what? You will never know the amount of success you could have achieved.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame has a motto, “Move fast and break things.” Apparently this motto was adopted as a core value in the organization. A core value which ultimately may have helped them achieve such high levels of success. They took chances, and so can you.

Risk isn’t for everyone, then again, neither is success. Are you taking chances?

 

- DEG

Take the Stairs

It’s sadly amazing the number of people that I talk with who tell me they want more, they want a better job and more success, yet they feel they are not worthy of achieving it. I hear every excuse about what “might happen” or “what if this happens” and I hear very little “I’m going to make it happen.”

Here is the good news, these are normal thoughts for many people and success is just a few steps away. If you can dream it, if you can see it, you can start on the path to getting there. Here are five simple steps to help you get there:

1. discover your dream
2. plan the steps to get there
3. start taking steps, reasonable risks 
4. constantly exceed your expectations
5. reflect on accomplishments and push for more

Like a ladder or stairs, the steps should be reasonably separated allowing you to move from one step to the next without a big jump. In contrast to this analogy, life or your career may not always present opportunities in equal increments. Some steps may be more of a stretch then others. This is where risk and reflection will be important factors in your success.

I like taking the stairs – do you?

- DEG

The Grocery Store and Success

One of the chores I dislike the most is grocery shopping. A failure for planning what to buy and what meals to prepare leaves me open for a disastrous shopping experience. My dislike to for the experience positions me to want to move fast and make quick choices. My lack of planning often opens me up to be forgetful and leave the store without something I desperately needed. I know the solution to this problem. It is better planning and an appropriate pace, it is the discipline to want to overcome the negative outcomes and have a positive shopping experience.

Success in our personal or professional careers may be an analogy to the grocery store experience. The good news is that there is a solution to achieving success. It requires planning and an appropriate pace. Knowing the desired end result and creating a plan for a path to get there is important. Pursuing that path at an appropriate pace is also critical. Going too fast we may burn out early. Going too slow may limit our options, or we may find the doors closed as we approach a desired milestone.

Approaching your life and career unprepared and without a plan could limit your success.

What is your plan?

 

- DEG

Pleasing Everyone

Have you ever tried to please “everyone?” Trying to please everyone can be amazingly frustrating.

Have you ever felt like there are too many choices? Have you felt confused, not knowing which option to pick? Do you worry that the outcomes of a decision or choice you make will cause anger or hurt to another person?

At times, by our own desire, we may seek a wide variety of options. However, limiting our choices and narrowing options will be less confusing and make us more confident in our selection. In order to make a good choice there is always a balance between having the widest array of opinions and options and choosing a responsible path.

The good news is, recognition of too many opinions and not enough commitment to a choice or a path can be avoided. Don’t try to please everyone, don’t pursue every recommended option. Select your path, make your choice. Be committed to your choice. Start by thinking – “Yes, I can do this. I’ve got this one!”

Confusion is frustrating. Pick your own path!

Who Are You?

What is your elevator speech? You know that short paragraph or expressions that describes who you are and what you do. 

Do you know who you are? Sometimes your inability to define who you are is not only a matter of not being up-to-date on your elevator speech, but it is a matter of understanding yourself.

Right now, I am asking you, “Who are you?” In our personal or professional lives we sometimes feel forced to be the person that someone else wants us to be. Worse yet we sometimes allow ourselves to become “invisible.” We become so introverted (introversion is not necessarily bad) that we fail to be noticed by others. Fear, pressure, and obedience represent at least three of the factors that may drive us into this place.

The good news is this, if you are truly determined to become successful you can break out of the mold or frame that you or others have placed upon you. Have courage to take your own path, forget about the pressure that someone else has placed on you; and obedience, well quite honestly that only brings one thought to my mind. Training a four legged furry creature we know as man’s best friend.

It is unlikely that someone else will make you successful, so only you can make YOU successful.

So I’m asking. Who are YOU?

 

- DEG

Beware of the Masquerade

There is an old mantra, “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” Many of us have probably heard this or other similar rants regarding people and friendships. If you explore the discussion of friends in the workplace you will often come across people who are very willing to tell their story about a once beautiful friendship that has gone painfully wrong.

There may be many reasons for this, some of which include: misunderstandings, poorly communicated changes, and unfortunately -jealously. It is one thing to be aware of a problem or grievance with a person, but it is yet another type of situation when people are masquerading themselves as a very close friend, meanwhile they do not have your best interest in mind.

Friends matter, people matter, and relationships that you build matter, what doesn’t matter is trying to please those persons who will never share in your enthusiasm, energy, and success. There will always be someone who doubts you, there will always be someone who is jealous or envious, and there will be someone who pretends to be your friend who is not. Don’t get caught in the masquerade trap, free yourself and stay focused.

Here is the great part. You have the option to take a position, your position. Make the decision to pursue what you believe and you will feel alive, free, and focused. Accept advice, listen to friends, but beware of the masquerade.

It’s a party I’m not attending – are you?

- DEG