Blog Archives
The Destructive Nature of Can’t
Short and sweet, yet very powerful message. Are you a “Can” or a “Can’t?”
Source: The Destructive Nature of Can’t
I’m So Proud Of My Wife – Check This out!
My wife has been doing some very cool stuff for the past few weeks!
Check out this great post.
Inspiring, and incredibly motivating!
The Story Of “The Grinder”!
I heard the phrase “are you grinding it out” yesterday and it inspired this post!
The grinder was never a superstar at any sport as a kid, but what they lacked in talent, they more than made up for in heart and desire
The grinder had trouble maintaining their “A” and “B” grades from highschool in university, even failing one course!
The grinder, while firmly established in their career, was let go from a job
The grinder had several jobs over a few year period, struggling to find the right fit
The grinder was inspired one day, to pick up a pen and started to write
The grinder finally took a leap of faith after many months and started a blog
The grinder dove deep in to their profession and researched heavily in the internet marketing space
The grinder started to connect with incredible people online via social media one by one, day by day. They kept moving forward using the mantra “A Little Bit Every Day”
The grinder struggled with the demands of a day job, a busy family life and extra curricular activities; but still often made time to write and develop their network
The grinder like most people, has good days and bad days, but refuses to give up; keeps moving forward and constantly reminds themselves how close they are to their goals
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success” – Thomas Edison
The grinder is me, and I am proud to say that I refuse to give up or take steps backwards. Some days are better than others, but I constantly remind myself how badly I want it!
- Are you a grinder, or do you need to start grinding it out?
- Are you moving forward, or have you recently taken steps back further from your goals?
- Do you have a “don’t quit” mentality, or are you sabotaging your thoughts with “well I guess this is all I am meant to do in life”?
Keep fighting, keep connecting with incredible people, keep being inspired and having fun!
YOU ARE closer than you think 🙂
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The Five Star 5 – How Do You Relax?
We all get busy running around like crazy, and sometimes forget to kick back and do things that we love to do!
Remember, if an oxygen mask ever popped down on an airplane, you should put yours on first 🙂
You need to take care of yourself before even attempting to help others.
How do you relax and unwind?
For me, I love to:
- Workout and run
- Read books
- Search for rare music videos on YouTube
- Play recreational hockey
- Hang out with my family
“Better learn balance. Balance is key.” – Mr. Miyagi
If you need a little more “balance” in your life, why not start today?
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
My Favourite 5 Posts Of 2013 – #1 “Stop, Look and Listen”
Just before Christmas last year we found out that our wonderful dog Chase had terminal cancer and only had a few weeks to live. Although we were quite upset, he had come through major health issues the previous year so we were not surprised. My wife and I agreed to keep him as long as he was doing fine, and as soon as he showed signs of a drop off, we would put him down.
I tried to play the “he’s just a dog card”, but that did not work. It was a very difficult time when he took a turn for the worst. We scheduled an appointment at the vet the next day. The following afternoon, my whole family was out, so I had a chance to sit with him on our deck.
It was an abnormally mild January day for Northern Alberta, which allowed him one last chance to hang out in the yard that he loved so much. He was not able to chase the squirrels like had had done hundreds of times before, but he was able to lie there as I stayed close.
As I sat with him and shut off the world around me, I stopped everything that I was doing, looked around at the place that he had called home for so many years, and just listened to all the sounds around us. I had not been in that relaxed a state for what seemed like months, and was able to fully disengage from the hustle and bustle of life to be in the moment with him. I became so relaxed that I actually fell asleep with him on the deck for one of the last hours of his life!
I reflected upon this event a few weeks after he had passed, and thought fondly about our time together in the yard taking it all in. We get so wrapped up getting through the day that we don’t take enough time to stop, look and listen. I can’t remember the last time I just sat with Chase in the back yard and hung out. There were always other things happening that seemed more important than just being with him.
Perhaps you may want to:
- Cut back on your workload to spend more time with family, friends and even pets
- Reduce your outside commitments so you can have some “me time”
- Take up a hobby again that you have been unable to keep up with because life got in the way
- Connect with people that you have not corresponded with in a long time
and…
Stop, look and listen to everything around you. Take a breath and be thankful for everyone that you hold dear, and focus more on them. You never know how long they will be around for!
Are You Mentally Tough Enough?
Life can be tough..
Personal life, Business “life”. Things come out of nowhere that can knock you on your butt. But you gotta get back up. You just gotta! The more resilient you become early in your life, the more success will follow.
If you develop a tough mental mindset challenges can be overcome much easier.
Remember the old 80’s song by Matthew Wilder:
“Ain’t nothin’ gonna to break my stride
Nobody’s gonna slow me down, oh-no
I got to keep on movin’
Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
I’m running and I won’t touch ground
Oh-no, I got to keep on movin'”
How ’bout some Chumbawamba:
“I get knocked down but I get up again You’re never going to keep me down”
- What songs motivate you to keep moving forward?
I will never proclaim that crushing defeats in sports are more challenging than those in personal or professional lives, but there are still lessons to be learned. In May of this year, the Toronto Maple Leafs professional hockey team blew a 3 goal lead in the third period of game 7 during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The eventually lost to the Boston Bruins in overtime.
This was one of the most catastrophic game 7 losses in professional sports history, and I hope all the players on that team are mentally tough enough to get through it, and excel at the highest level again. Having a short memory and “erasing” setbacks is crucial. Just keep looking forward.
Life can be tough. Everyone knows that. The 64,000 dollar question is can you be tougher?
I hope the answer is a resounding YES!
Career Quicksand – How Deep Are You Sinking?
I have been lucky enough to work out of a home office for 11 of the last 13 years. The two years that I had an office to report in to, I would get stuck in traffic daily. It gave me many opportunities to look at other people’s faces, as their days were off to very “slow” starts too.
Some looked sad; others looked angry or frustrated, some had blank stares or even looked dazed. On occasion, some were smiling, while others where actually singing! It blew my mind how many people looked unhappy though. Is it realistic to believe that all of them looked that way because they were unhappy going to work? Of course not. Some must have been dealing with other issues too (some were of course frustrated by the continual traffic jams).
Most studies report that 7 or 8 out of 10 people do not like their jobs! One study in the sales profession showed that more than 50% of people should not even be sales at all! Are you one of those people getting out of bed dreading the next 8 to 12 hours every day?
Internet marketer Gary Vaynerchuk changed his entire career path because he was only 99% happy in his situation at the time. To me, that was an incredibly powerful statement. As people become more and more unhappy with their jobs over the months, years or even decades, it is like they are sinking further and further into quicksand. The more unhappy they get, the deeper they sink. On the odd occasion that they try to change jobs, they try a little bit, then just stop trying all together.
People typically want to make the switch, but “life gets in the way”. A job search gets put on the back burner. Others lack confidence, and don’t feel that they are good enough to have a shot at “career satisfaction”. Too many people settle for the status quo, and don’t take action. Some stay in a career that they just don’t like, becoming a “work robot” completing the same repetitive tasks at nauseum, for what seems like an eternity.
The next thing they know, five, ten or 20+ years have passed, and then wake up one day saying, “What the heck am I still doing here?” I can tell you from experience that being comfortable in a role that “pays the bills” does not equal happiness. Not even close.
When you are in love with your career, you should rarely be counting down the minutes until the end of the day, week, or until holidays start. I had a manager tell me that you should be excited to go to work, from the moment your feet hit the floor each morning. So many people over the years have said that “every day should feel like a Saturday”, or “your work should not feel like a job”.
It can be a good practice to check in with yourself every now and then.
- How happy are you with your career?
- Is it heading in the direction you would like it to?
If you feel “sunk”, the good news is you can always change your path going forward.
Remember, “You don’t drown by falling in water. You only drown by staying there.” – Zig Ziglar
- What does your perfect job look like (yes, you can have the perfect job)?
- How does that list compare to the job you’re currently in?
- What one step can you take today to move towards loving your job?
Do You Need A “Super Happy Fun Day?”
I have enjoyed the work of Dean Jackson and John Reese from the internet marketing space for close to three years now. I needed a kick in the butt a couple of weeks ago, so I replayed one of my favourite audio interviews from John Reese and Tony Robbins.
Hang on… I am not going to go in to a long-winded technically explanation of internet marketing theory. Rather, I want to tell you about an incredible concept called “Super Happy Fun Days”.
John and Tony started to speak about this on the audio interview, and Tony wanted all the details. Dean Jackson created the concept, and John Reese would take part in these events when possible. They are good friends. The “rules” are as follows (to the best of my memory):
- The event was at least 9 hours long
- Two major activities had to be completed (ie a golf game and/or a movie were typically included)
- Two meals had to be consumed
- Other fun activities were completed (to fill in the extra time)
I can “hear the comments” now coming off the page as your read this. Everyone is busy, running like chicken’s with their head’s cut off. 9 hours of fun is impossible!
It is if you want it to be!
- How often could you pencil in “Super Happy Fun Days” throughout the year?
- If nine-hour blocks of time were not always possible, how much time could you commit to?
- When you look back on your life, will look fondly remember all the work that you did, or the fun, kinship and laughter that you had along the way?
Always remember, if you don’t block off time to do these activities, they won’t get done. Treat them like a business meeting in your calendar. You wouldn’t skip those right 🙂
No Laughs This Week – Just Smiles And Reflection!
This is an older post that I pulled out of the archives today. Instead of laughing this time, I will be smiling and reflecting. My championship hockey team from 1985 lost a teammate way too young last week, and I want to dedicate this post to him and his family…
I love sales, and I love sports – especially hockey. It’s natural that I see similarities between professional athletes and sales reps, as well as between the roles of sales managers and sport coaches. One story sticks out in my mind, and it has motivated me for close to 30 years now.
Growing up, there were four different tiers of hockey leagues in my city, and I was very excited to be selected to play for the Tier 2 team when I was 11 years old. It was a great group of guys, and the coaches were awesome. We had a pretty good year, but started to slip in the standings towards the end of the season. Six out of ten teams made the playoffs, and we qualified by a narrow margin.
To be honest, I don’t remember the playoff rounds leading up to the finals, but what I remember is how the coaches got us to come together as a team. Players would be asked to play different roles depending on the scenarios that unfolded during the season. Some players were more skilled than others, and they would be counted on to score. Others were better at defence, and they would be counted on to prevent the other team’s best players from scoring.
We remarkably made it to the finals, and had to play the first place team. They were the top team for the entire season. It was a best of three series. They had one superstar player, who was a big reason that they had advanced to the finals. He was hands down the best player in the league. Our strategy going in to the finals was if we could neutralize that player, and keep him off the scoreboard as much as possible, we would win.
They won the first game. But our coaches were so good, they told us not to panic, and stick to our game plan. If we played better in game two, and continued to focus on the star player, we would still win. Game two was much better, and we kept the star off the score sheet as much as we could. All our players pretty much played the same amount, and we attacked our competitors as one unit. They would play their star player and his supporting cast most of the time. We won game two.
We advanced to game three, it was winner take all. I was so nervous that I thought that I was going to throw up! It was a very evenly matched game, and it went in to over time. I did not know how the families and coaches could bear to watch anymore. I do not remember exactly how long it took, but during the overtime period, the puck came to me by our bench. I skated up the ice with the puck, and one of my team mates had just hopped on to the ice. I sent a pass over to him and he scored the winning goal! We were champions even though nobody thought that we could do it.
What I really got out of that experience was the value of working as a team. A group of people with their own goals do not make a team. The other team relied too much on one player, and in the end that strategy did not work. Our coaches were instrumental in keeping us motivated, positive and continually instilled in us that we could do it! Their confidence in us never wavered for one moment. Losing was never an option.
This is very much like a sales team. Everyone has their own individual goals. But if team goals are important too, it will create a better work environment for everyone, and a much stronger company overall. There is no better feeling than succeeding when nobody expects you to! And success feels so much better when you have teammates to celebrate with.
- Have you ever been a part of a winning sports team, and if so, what factors contributed to its success?
- Do you have any memories of that team that will be with you for the rest of your life?
Stop, Look and Listen… The Follow Up!
I am still smiling from ear to ear after the great response I received last Thursday from the “Stop, Look and Listen” post! Thanks to everyone who took the time to read it, and a special shout out to those who took the time to comment. In case you missed it, here it is again:
I have been “practicing what I have been preaching” on a couple of items and wanted to give you an update:
I recently reached out to an old colleague that I have not spoken to in many years. Our relationship was a little choppy to say the least for a long time and we happily stayed “out of touch” as our careers continued with different organizations. They were happy to re-connect via social media, and vowed to stay in touch going forward.
I also had a face-to-face meeting with an old friend when he visited my city recently. We had not really hung out for the better part of ten years, and it was awesome to see each other again! We were the best of friends in university and stirred up the occasional bit of trouble, so it was nice to sit down and chat. We picked up right where we had left off which is what I expected to happen!
For the above situations, so much time had passed, I was not even sure why we “broke up” in the first place. It is all water under the bridge now. Time to move on.
A third story has been on my mind a lot since last Thursday. I became quite close with a customer of mine many years ago early in my career. We had a lot in common, and loved to talk about hockey every time I visited his store. If memory serves me correctly, we stayed in touch for a bit after I started a new role, but we finally drifted apart and never communicated again.
As my mind drifted during work last week, I finally decided that it was time to take action and reach out to him again after all these years. Within an hour of making that commitment to contact him, I received a very disturbing email. He had passed away suddenly the night before. I was in absolute shock.
– Is it time to reach out to somebody from your past?
– Is it time to leave the “past in the past” and move forward?
– Is the time to do that TODAY?
Things can change in an instant – unfortunately my third story proves that.
Hope I can motivate all of you to take action!
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 