Archive for Life Lessons
Success cues from Crickets
Posted by: | CommentsEvery year a group of Crickets gather under my
office window to “sing their song.”
If you’ve ever had the “pleasure” of listening to the
prolonged chirp…chirp…chirp… of a Cricket you
will undoubtedly question you sanity.
Especially if you can’t seem to find the source of
the noise – only hear it.
Today I have a full plate of coaching calls, things-to-do
and goals to meet so when the familiar sound started
first slowly and then reached it’s fever pitch I was
annoyed.
Then I paused myself and asked a different question,
what if there was something to learn from these creatures…
Watch this quick video and see what we can all learn from
the 3 core characteristics of a Cricket…
May you continue be be like the Cricket as you strive to be:
C – CONSISTENT
R – RELENTLESS
I – INSISTENT
Finish strong!
Plan Now So You Don’t Panic Later
Posted by: | CommentsMy morning was spent at New Broadcast Network in NY where
I completed 7 radio interviews in 3 hours to bring awareness to
consumers about the new Sears and K’Mart “Christmas Club Card.”
One of the radio hosts asked me why would anyone be thinking
about holiday shopping so soon, I said, “…you’ve got to plan now
so you don’t panic later.”
It was one of those great “in the moment” kind of comments, but
later as I thought about it. I realized that planning for major
milestones in your life, your business and your finances can mean
the difference in being a success or feeling like a failure.
The reality is, if you haven’t planned for IT (whatever that IT is)
you’re probably going to panic and that’s never a good thing.
That got me thinking about the importance of planning (even if
it’s something that most of us – including me – procrastinate about)
and how to do it efficiently, effectively (aka EASILY).
Watch this quick video for some of my insights and some good
information you can use to plan for what you want – right now.
When you “begin with the end in mind,” like Stephen Covey suggests you
have a much better chance of reaching your goals and desired destinations.
Michael Hyatt’s blog post on “Creating a Life Plan” that I mentioned by in
the video can me found here:
http://budurl.com/scblifeplan
You can also follow him on Twitter @michaelhyatt
Danger of disempowering questions
Posted by: | CommentsQuestions are the food that the mind chews on and just as certain
foods are good for us adding nourishment to our bodies and providing
us energy and stamina.
There’s also “junk food” that has the total opposite effect, it generally
makes up sluggish and bloated and feel yucky.
The same is true with the questions we ask. Watch this video to
find out why and what types of questions you should be “feeding”
your mind instead.
Unconscious or not your thoughts are simply a series of questions
that you ask when you are seeking to find solutions, answers, clarity
and direction in any area of your life.
The questions you must be mindful about are those that are disempowering,
they are the questions like:
* “Why does this always happen to me?”
* “Why can’t I seem to ever get things right?”
* “Am I really that dumb?”
* “When is this ever going to turn around?”
* “What’s wrong with me?”
* “Why does so-and-so seem to have a better business
than mine…I’m better at ____ than they are…”
You get where I’m going here right?
Well the truth is that asking yourself these questions will actually ensure
that you’re going nowhere.
Not only will your mind seek to find answers to them, but it’ll actually
give you reasons why all these things are “wrong” in your world.
These questions are the equivalent of mental “junk food”and they’re
keeping you from reaching your full potential, from moving to the
next level of your life.
The best way to get out out the continuous loop of negativity,
sluggishness, bogged-down-by-life feeling is to ask better questions!
Empowering questions like:
* “How can I add more value to the people I serve and support?”
* “What is the lesson that I can learn from this experience to grow
my business and improve myself?”
* “Who do I know that has had success in this area that I can model?”
* “What must happen in order for me to make this goal reality?”
* “What must I do to improve this situation?”
* “How can I be a better me today”
WOW…can you see the difference?
Your mind will start to find the answers you need to take the steps
necessary to have the things that are important to you.
And better yet, asking empowering questions will provide the
answers you need to move forward with focus, clarity and
momentum towards the life you want.
Ask a better quality question, get a better quality answer, LIVE
a higher quality life!
A lesson in seasons
Posted by: | CommentsHave you ever gotten “stuck” in the “stinking thinking” mindset that where you are right now is where we’ll always be?
I have…
And the truth is…it’s not true!
Using extremes like, “I’ll never get out of this mess…” or asking dis-empowering questions like, “will this ever end?…” aren’t going move you to the place you really want to be.
Instead, take a lesson from the seasons. When you stop to notice that after winter must come spring, you realize that no matter what “season” your business or life is in right now, a new season is coming….welcome it – wait for it!
Turning My Mess Into My Message
Posted by: | CommentsYou may have heard the expression, “turn lemons into lemonade” a few times on your journey through life, well that’s exactly the thought behind the phrase “turning my mess into my message,” which a mentor of mine suggested to me years ago.
I’ve made my share of mistakes in business and in life, and when I’m open to it, each one has the potential to be an opportunity for growth and advancement.
My interview with Jonathan Gunson of TrafficCafe.TV reminded me of that, watch and enjoy, there are lots of “nuggets” inside!
Clutching Crutches:
A Lesson in “How-Not-To” Grow
Posted by:
| Comments
At first glance they are useful, necessary, and even temporary – but crutches can be obstacles to your success.
Crutches can be obstacles to your success
Little by little they rob you, deplete you, and leave you for dead. Ok, that last one might be a bit of an exaggeration. What’s true is that crutches can become an enemy of growth by blocking us from moving forward with any type of momentum or consistency.
Technology has always been something I’ve convinced myself that I don’t particularly like learning about. Nor do I want to be bothered with the particulars of figuring it out. However I thoroughly enjoy the benefits of it and even like to use gadgets once they’re all set up for me.
I’m the person that the phrase “plug and play” was created for. Beyond pressing the “ON” button I don’t want to have to do anything else. If it is not blatantly obvious to me at first glance how to make something technical work, then my usual response would be to instantly wait for someone else to do it.
Now I am the first acknowledge the necessity of outsourcing, Virtual Assistants, and even having a person proficient in IT on your team – but what I’ve come to discover in business and in life is that; if you don’t have a basic understanding of the thing that you pass off to someone else to do for you, you create a “crutch” scenario and in some cases a hostage situation.
The concept of a crutch is a very useful one, the idea that you can lean on something (or in some cases someone) to support you in being mobile until you can fully function on your own is a comforting and often necessary reassurance.
But when the very thing that was supposed to be a temporary support on your way to self sufficiency becomes the thing that stunts your growth it is not a good thing. When the word crutch is used as an excuse not to engage in normal business building and life enhancing activities then it’s a problem that you’ll have to address if you ever want to grow.
Over the 5+ years that I’ve been a full time entrepreneur, I’ve had ample opportunities to slowly learn some of the basic things I need to know to be more knowledgeable regarding technology but instead I chose not to, shrugging it off as something that I’d do “later,” or figuring I’d just get someone on my team to help me the moment I needed it if I had a problem.
This mindset and behavior seemed to be working very well for me until the other day when I had an idea that I wanted to implement immediately, but I had no one to help me bring it to life. I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn’t know how to do it.
To make matters worse (or so I thought) I had been informed at the beginning of the year that all technical requests would take at least 24 hours to be reviewed or addressed – so much for immediate.
While I understood it practically, I hated these new restraints because they were inconvient to me and reminded me of my deficiency which made me hate even more the feeling of being helpless. How frustrating it was to “know” the thing I needed done was something basic that most savvy business owners knew how to do – just not me.
I called a friend who I admire for her ability to absorb technical things and got her help with what I wanted done. Still I was unsettled by the thought that if she were not available, I couldn’t move forward with my plan. So I asked her, “How is it that you learned and retained all of this tech stuff on top of all the other things you’ve got to juggle?”
She said, “It’s funny because most people think that I love technology. The truth is I’m more a pencil and paper kind of person. But what I love is the end result so I take the time to learn the most efficient way to get the results I want – even if I’m not always the one doing the thing that needs to be done.”
Being restricted from moving forward in this way made me realize that the crutch I’d been holding on to was no longer serving or supporting me, instead it had stunted my growth.
After this experience, I can assure you that I have no intention of becoming the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. But what I have committed to becoming is more knowledgeable of this aspect of my business. So, one of the things I did over the past weekend was to learn a few basic HTML codes that will empower me to make small changes to my website, create a squeeze page, or adjust the size of an opt-in box whenever I want.
This may not even be a big deal to someone who can read their newspaper in code, and yes someone else can do it for me. However what this situation taught me was the power that I unwillingly gave away by not having the basic knowledge for myself.
What's your crutch?
What’s your crutch?
Maybe technology is your “thing,” but accounting and bookkeeping are the things that get pushed off to someone else without you really understanding the basics of how they work.
You don’t have to change your likes or dislikes about a particular aspect of your business, but what must change – that is if it’s an area you want to grow in – is your understanding of it. We tend to shy away from the things we fear and that fear has a tremendous power to hold us hostage.
Right now, choose one aspect of your business that you know in your gut you need to better understand. Next define the best way to learn just a bit more than you currently know about it. Your goal may not be to master the topic, but rather to have more control over your rate of progress and success.
Go ahead, get rid of the crutches – it’s time for you to exercise your business building muscles!
Decide or Choose – Which do you use?
Posted by: | CommentsAs I strive to become a better me – as in “Sanyika 3.0″ or maybe it should be 3.6 to reflect my age – I am looking for answers to the questions that seem to be recurring and solutions to the challenges that seem to keep coming back no matter how many times I think I’ve settled them.
Lately I’ve been feeling overwhelmed as all the areas of my life and business seem to be demanding my attention – at the very same time. One of the areas that is particularly troublesome is figuring out the things that I absolutely must do daily to grow my business. Not the things that can be outsourced, but more specifically the things that only I can do.
As I grapple with this, logic says, “Sanyika, you have to decide on which things you’re going to focus on and take action – period.”
Nothing profound there…
In fact, I’d given myself that advice countless times before, so why didn’t it seem to stick?
Well, it could be because somewhere hidden in the part of my brain that had forgotten about the Latin class I took as a Freshman in High School the true origin of the word was unsettling to me.
It turns out that the “cide” in decide means to cut off possibility, to kill, or to stifle. The etymology is Middle English, from Latin decidere, literally, to cut off, from de- + caedere to cut. As in homicide or suicide.
Ouch! No wonder the idea of deciding to do something never set particularly well with me.
Eban Pagan, one of my virtual mentors, has this to say about it, “Decisions often mean that we have a limited number of options and have to figure out which one will be the most palatable from a overall unpalatable selection.”
On the other hand, to choose means having multiple options and opportunities. Pagan says, “Choice often means unlimited options which equals freedom and possibility.”
So which would you rather be faced with – a decision or a choice?
It might seem like nothing more than “word play,” but there is something empowering about the option to choose. When we feel as if we have a choice in the matter we can take action more freely.
Does one word seem to have a more lasting and positive outcome for you?
Eban suggests that “People who regularly are forced to decided feel as if they don’t have many options and they have very little power. But I’ve found that people who are choosing what to do with their lives and time are often more successful and powerful.”
It’s worth exploring for yourself and those around you. Take notice of which word you gravitate to and how often you use it. Are you more in favor of the freedom that comes with choice or does a decision cause you to feel limited in some way?
The next time you have to figure something out, step back and see which word you automatically use.
How does it make you feel when you make a choice over a decision?
Test the theory and you might find that the only thing holding you back, literally cutting you off from the possibilities and power that are available to you is the word you use.
The next time you have the option; choose – don’t decide.
