Tip Thursday - Productivity

Sometimes when we are struggling with remaining productive it is because we are feeling less than motivated. However, trying to become motivates when we're not feeling it can prove challenging.

Instead, focus on your commitment instead. When you are working on something that is important to you, or that you are committed to getting done, your motivation is not an issue. next time that you feel your motivation is a little lacklustre, try focusing on your commitment instead.

Not only will it help you move through the task but you just might find some of your missing motivation along the way!

Tip Thursday - Motivation

Never measure from where you begin, measure from where you are.  Looking backward will serve to highlight how far you've come and give cause for celebration. Looking forward gives you a measure of how far there is to go. Your motivation will increase the closer you get to your target. Measuring from where you started will always seem like there is so much yet to achieve, whereas measuring from where you are demonstrates how much closer you are to achieving your desired outcome, and motivates you to continue the journey.  Always consider:  How much you've done versus how much there is left to do.

6 Top Ways Corporations Kill their Employee's Meaning

The internet is full of articles outlining suggestions on how to motivate your employees, in an effort to get more work (presumably good work) done.  I believe I've written a few myself. Managers tend to find these articles appealing because they typically offer actionable steps to be systematically followed, allowing them to feel 'in control' of the motivational issue.

What isn't addressed as often though is the importance and necessity of injecting meaning into the work that people do.  In their book The Progress Principle, authors Teresa Amable and Steven Kramer share that of all the actions you can take or implement to engage your workers, the single most important and effective is to give them more meaningful work.

But, I hear you say, there is a limit of meaningful work to be done within the company, much of the work is relatively repetitive and boring, though necessary.  The key point to remember is that ALL work, at ALL levels, is important to helping the organization achieve its desired level of success - making it all meaningful.  Your job is help make those connections for your people.

Viktor Frankl, Neurologist, Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, in his definitive book Man's Search for Meaning, wrote about how it was those individuals in the camp who held onto a sense of meaning and purpose for their lives that experienced the greatest survival rate within the concentration camps.

Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.  Viktor Frankl

Having an understanding of our 'why', giving our work meaning and purpose, is the biggest motivator of all.  No matter what work your people do, their job exists for a reason.  When you help them to understand that reason the work is more fulfilling. They feel more satisfied and their productivity levels increase.

In one study this concept was explored more fully. The researchers took a look at the fund-raising efforts of a University, in contacting their alumni.  The callers were divided into three groups.  The first group made their calls and went on their normal breaks.  The second group made their calls but on breaks they were given stories to read from previous callers, describing how rewarding they found the experience of helping raise funds for scholarship programs to have been.  The third group made their calls but on breaks they read stories from previous scholarship winners talking about how the scholarships changed their lives.

Most of you, I'm sure, expect that the second group was more successful than the first group in obtaining donations, and that the third group was even better.  All true.  However, what was astounding was 'how much' better the third group proved.  Reading about how much the funds raised impacted the lives of recipients, reading about all the 'good' they did with that investment, increased the success rate of callers by 250%!  Helping callers understand the true meaning and purpose of their calls drove the success by 250%.  This was huge and has equally large implications for you and your organization.  Imagine the impact on productivity if your people believed their day to day actions to have meaning and purpose.

However, simply helping your people to discover the meaning and value of their work is not enough, not if you engage in behaviours that negate or diminish their sense of value and worth.  You need to continue to demonstrate to people that their work has value if they are to cling to their sense of purpose.  Below are 6 of the biggest mistakes you may be making, in killing the sense of meaning and purpose in your employee's.

1.  Dismissing the importance or relevance of employee's work and input.  

Think of your behaviour in meetings.  Do you ever catch yourself rolling your eyes or sighing in exasperation?  These behaviours can leave employees feeling that their contributions do not have value.  When an employee hands you a report or assignment, do you toss it to the pile on the side of your desk without glancing at it?  Studies show that even taking the time to simply glance at it and respond with a 'thanks' or even a head nod, is sufficient to maintain their feelings of value and meaning.

2. Switching people off of teams before projects are completed.

Closure matters.  Moving people off of a project before it is concluded can undermine their sense of truly being part of something that made a difference.  The 'finishing' stage is an important part of bringing value.  There may be times that you can't help moving someone onto something else but express your gratitude for all of their inputs on the existing project and ensure you give them work that they get to see through to completion before moving them again.

3.  Constantly shifting goals and focus.

This is similar to the point above in that constantly changing the goals and targets of the organization leaves employees feeling disconnected to the outcomes.  It is tantamount to a form of Corporate ADD. How can employees feel that the work they are doing has any meaning if tomorrow the focus shifts and discounts everything they were engaged in to that point?

4.  Taking credit for your employee's ideas.

This one should be obvious.  If you take credit for the hard work of someone else they are not going to feel inclined to continue to work that hard.  When you steal their ideas and input you steal their 'why'.

5.  Assuming a policing role.

When your leadership style's emphasis is on making sure your people aren't doing anything wrong you highlight your lack of belief in their capability of doing anything right.  This leads them to minimize risk-taking, make fewer decisions or to try to implement anything new.  It is far more difficult to find anything meaningful in this work environment because it is now focused on maintaining and not on growth.

6.  Failing to link employee's contributions to corporate success.

Your people need to clearly recognise the connection between the work that they do and the corporation's vision/mission.  It doesn't matter if they are a big cog or a little one, the wheels don't turn if a cog of any size is not in place.

Recognising any of the above behaviours as your own is the first step.  Eliminating them is the next! There is no change without awareness.  Corporations may be good at coming up with the vision of the company, or even in identifying what Jim Collins (of Built to Last fame) referred to as Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAG), but they tend to miss the mark on living to those goals in the day-to-day management of activities. Observe your behaviours in each moment and assume accountability for them. Many are simply habits that you can modify to project a more positive and deliberate message.

Ultimately, helping employees to find their meaning not only makes them feel more engaged, but you might just find that your work feels more meaningful as a result.

Motivating Others - No Magic Pill

Wanting something is not enough.  I may 'want' to lose 10 pounds, but without the motivation to take action on that desire I will not lose a pound, let alone the 10.  When you consider how much we struggle with motivating ourselves to take action is it any wonder that one of the biggest challenges that managers face is in motivating their people?

Unfortunately, everyone is looking for a quick fix answer, a single motivating methodology that will work equally well with everyone.  In many respects this is indicative of how leaders sought to motivate their people in the past, typically using either the 'Carrot' or the 'Stick' approach.

The Carrot

In essence, the carrot approach is based on a system of rewards, the provision of some extrinsic element that will serve to raise productivity and drive performance.  This may be seen through the use of formal bonus for performance programs or even with more informal 'gifting' of sports tickets, gift cards, paid time off, prime parking spaces etc.

Interestingly though, studies on the use of money as an incentive have found that it is effective only when reinforcing mechanical skills.  Here higher pay led to better performance.  However, when the task called for cognitive skills financial bonuses actually worked the opposite, with higher pay leading to poorer performance. Eventually, most managers ultimately tend to find that the benefits of carrots are short-lived requiring more frequent and 'bigger' carrots be provided, typically for reducing returns.

The Stick

Others have attempted to motivate more out of fear, using a negative form of reinforcement; fear of failure, fear of losing money, fear of losing their job.  As much as some may feel that 'the stick' creates immediate action and responses, it is rarely seen to deliver top performance and typically induces additional debilitating results (such as stress).

No One-Size-Fits-All Approach

As much as both the carrot and stick have been used frequently in the past, and continue to be used today, research supports the view that Motivation happens one person at a time.  There is no magical approach that works equally well with all, no one-size-fits-all approach.  Instead, you need to uncover the inner motivation of each member.  Understanding the personality style and preferences of individual contributors will tell you a lot about what motivates each.

• Some want the opportunity to contribute
• Others want the freedom to choose 'How' to contribute
• Some want the exposure and recognition that contributing may bring them
• Others want the respect of others for their contributions

Each perspective is valid and each represents something different that is valued. 

Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it.       Lou Holtz

Finding out what drives the behaviours of others, what their personality preferences are, allows you to tap into their personal motivators.  Those who are more Competitive will tend to like to win, while those who are more Cooperative will be more motivated by an opportunity to affect the 'Greater Good'.  Those who are more Innovative will love the opportunity to work on a new start up project or venture, while those who are more Conventional will be more motivated to work on a project that is in support of strengthening existing processes.

Motivation happens one person at a time

The better you are at creating an environment and working climate that taps into what already motivates people the more satisfied, happier and appreciative will be your team.  Given that we are more productive when we are feeling good, the benefit to the organization is an increase in productivity.  There may not be a Motivational Magic Pill, but you can create some magic none-the-less!

Do We Need to Love What We Do?

We are often told that the greatest success comes to those that are doing what they love.  The
implication being of course that not loving what you do is somehow less, that you are never going to achieve success if the 'love' of your work escapes you.  This leads some to become demoralized about their work and still others to launch a lifelong quest to find that elusive 'thing' that they must love working at.  However, since many of us don't seem to be working at jobs that we love, it begs the question...

Do we Need to love what we do?

Even if you are currently working at something that you do love doing, there have likely been many jobs in the past that you were far less enthusiastic about.  Think about the first part-time job that you had as a teenager.  It likely wasn't work that you loved, but you probably loved having a job, having your own money to save or spend as you willed.  For me... working as a dishwasher in a pizza parlour was not my desired or ideal work, but having a part time job was the opportunity I was after.  I was excited to go to work not because I loved the work itself, but I loved the opportunity to prove myself, to develop my skills and... to get paid!

The message for those who are currently working in jobs they don't love (and you know who you are!) consider the following...

You don't have to love it.  Instead, learn to love the opportunity.

• What new people are you getting the opportunity to meet.  One may become a friend for life. One may teach you something new.  Another may connect you to your next big opportunity. 
• What new skills are you learning that can set you up for your next opportunity?  Don't overlook the value of developing your skills.  Push yourself to take full advantage of everything your current opportunity has to offer, never knowing exactly where and when you will need it, but knowing it is yet another skill in your personal toolkit.  It's portable.
• What opportunities is this job providing for you outside of work?  Perhaps it's a means to an end.  This job is giving you the peace of mind and the income needed to enable you to pursue a hobby and passion that could perhaps represent your next opportunity.  Recognise and value your current job for what it provides.
• What are you learning about yourself that helps build your confidence and open you to future opportunities?  Sometimes we need to build the base before we can start the climb.
• What has this opportunity provided you and your family?  Not loving the job is not always necessary if you love its effect upon your life.  

Before you get discouraged, thinking that everyone but you is engaged in work that they love, remember that you just need to recognise and love the opportunity you have been given. Consider the following quote from the great Jim Rohn...

You might not like the stone you are on right now, but it's sure to be one of the stones that leads to great opportunities in the future.

It is not always finding work we love that leads us to success in life, but rather recognising the opportunities we have been given and taking full advantage of what we have.  Those open to learning from every opportunity are those that will grow, enjoying the journey as much as the destination.

Love the Work you Do

How we feel about virtually anything in our lives is a matter of perspective.  And our perspective is a matter of choice.  Therefore... I choose how I feel.

• Road Rage?  I chose it.
• Excitement?  I chose it.
• Frustration?  I chose it.
• Happiness?  I chose it.

So now... think about your job.  How do you feel about the work that you do?  If you find that you are frustrated and dreaming about doing something else, if the work that others do sounds infinitely more interesting, more exciting, consider that you are creating your own sense of frustration.  You are choosing to feel this way.

Seth Godin asks... "What if surfing was your job?  Where would you go for vacation?"

A professional surfer has days where they find themselves having to drag their board out into the surf.  It may be cold or overcast, their muscles may be hurting from the day before, they may just not feel like getting wet. But they get out there, because that's their job.  Everything looks glamorous from the outside but every job has elements to it that the doer dislikes.  EVERY job.

However, regardless of the role or task, there is someone out there that enjoys that aspect.  The very piece of your job that has you screaming out in frustration, the task that you find laborious, is something that would truly delight and inspire someone else.  Why not you?  Up until now you have chosen to be frustrated by it, to dread it, to avoid it, to procrastinate until there was no way out.

Your drudgery is another person's delight.  It's only a job if you treat it that way."   Seth Godin

What if, instead, you chose to be delighted by the drudgery?  What if you chose to be so grateful for the work you do that the drudgery associated with it didn't detract from your enjoyment?   What if you determined to Love the work you do?

Our perspective is a matter of choice. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.  What we don't consider is that it's greener because they fertilize.  Start choosing to fertilize on your side of the fence rather than gazing wistfully at the other side and see how that shifts your perspective.

Your Personal Tipping Point

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the magical moment when an idea crosses
some invisible threshold and goes viral.  It's the point at which this very shift takes place that people want to come to know, understand and replicate.  In business, this is an important and key concept, a way to grow your business astronomically.

There is for each of us as individuals a Personal Tipping Point though too.  We each have a invisible moment in time where the Longing for the life you imagine becomes Regret for the life you've let slip by.  Often, it feels as though this moment occurred in our sleep where, upon waking, we experience the sense that our dreams have passed, that the life we have dreamed of living is not going to happen. For many, tipping over from longing to regret seems uncontrollable and perhaps even inevitable.

The tip into regret changes our perspective on our life.  When we now are regretting the life not lived, the actions not taken, many then presume that the time to 'try' is past, that they have missed their opportunity.  For a few though, the feeling of regret serves to spur them on.  They recognise that this is not a feeling they want to continue to experience and use it as the impetus to get back on course.  Reversing the Tip is always an option, but it often proves a difficult one for many to manage.  Easier by far, is to prevent the Tip from happening in the first place.

There is a trick to managing this Tipping Point, a trick that we can use to prevent the Tip from ever taking place, ensuring that we forestall (forever) the experience of regretting the life we've led.  That trick?  Taking Action! 

As it turns out, regret is typically built upon the actions we failed to take more than on those we did.  Even if the action we took failed to take us in our desired direction, it took us out of the state of inertia and into a state of momentum.  We will always make some wrong moves, but if we're moving we can course correct.  Additionally, many of those 'wrong' first moves enable us to build a stronger plan for moving forward, often reshaping a 'better' future vision for ourselves as a result.

Action is not only the strategy that prevents us from tipping into regret, but the same strategy used to overcome it.  Wallowing in the thought of what never will be creates inertia.  To break from this you need to DO something, take some action, that will shift you from feeling that you have missed the boat to putting you back at the helm.

In this instance, even baby steps count!  One small step forward can be enough to begin to Tip the Scales back in your favour!

A Pearl of a Book

On my most recent vacation, a driving trip along the East Coast of Canada, I had the opportunity to catch up on some of my reading.  Of particular note was the book A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found my Heart in the Middle of the Ocean, by Tori Murden McClure.

For those not familiar with Ms. McClure, she is not only the first woman to ski over land to the South Pole, but the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic ocean.  A Pearl in the Storm is her recount of her attempt and ultimate successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in her rowing boat, The Pearl.  Tori's first attempt to cross the Atlantic was in 1998, at age 35, in her 23 foot plywood boat.  1998 is still on record as the worst hurricane season ever experienced on the North Atlantic.  Multiple hurricanes, gales and storms caused her to abandon her crossing when a series of storms nearly tore apart her boat and killed her.

With no ultimate goal or thought to make another attempt, Tori was struck by the words of Muhammad Ali when he told her... "You don't want to go through life as the woman who almost rowed across the Atlantic".

In 1999, at the age of 36, Tori travelled 2,962 miles in 81 days, in a 23 foot long, 6 foot wide, 1,800 pound rowboat to be the first woman to successfully row solo across the Atlantic.  No, as it turns out, Tori was not content to live out her life under the description of  'almost'.

What 'almosts' are you currently living under?
What goals have you fallen short of achieving - for whatever reason?
Are you content with 'almost' having attained them?
What's stopping you from going after them now?
What actions could you take right now to start you back on your path?

Give it some thought.  Often 'life' gets in the way of our achieving something meaningful, pushing and pulling us off course much like the hurricanes and gales Tori experienced.  In calmer times and seas though, it is up to us to correct our course and renew our efforts.  If it is something that matters then it is something worth doing.

My 'Almost'?  going for my 3rd Degree Black belt in TaeKwondo.  Too busy, too old, too out of shape, too something!  The excuses are gone now though.  I am in training and am making the attempt.  Next Grading is in December.  Let's see if I can wipe out my 'almost'.

What's yours?

The Motivation of "More"

I was working with a client a couple of weeks ago, he must have been all of 35, and we were speaking
about what his thoughts were for his career in the future.  Pretty basic question and, although I don't expect everyone to have a clear defined roadmap of exactly what they want, I would typically expect someone his age to respond with some variation of...  more, different, or other as desired goals.  

I was taken aback then by his response...  'I'm done'!  

35 and... this is it?  

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't think that everyone needs to strive to be CEO, to own their own business or even want a management role.  That's not my point.  More, different or other don't require a move 'up' so much as they imply that you are open to a change at some point.  A change that perhaps tests out and develops a new skill, gives you the opportunity to try something different, expands your perspectives, lets you learn something new, upgrades your skills... SOMETHING!

But... 'I'm done'?????  A possible 30 more years of working and... you're done?

I consider myself a work in progress.  I reserve the right to be better at something tomorrow, than I was today, to know something tomorrow I did not today and to therefore make better decisions and choices for myself as a result.  I think back to what and who I was at 35 and have a hard time reconciling that with the person I am today, the growth I have experienced, the learning, the development, the career shifts...

Although we all have different levels of comfort with the concept of change, we need to leave ourselves open to even incremental changes occurring, to prevent stagnation.  We can't just simply 'stop' where we are because nothing else around us enters into the same holding pattern.  Life doesn't exist in a vacuum.  It moves, grows, shifts over time, as do the people in our lives.  We too need to move, grow and shift in order to, at the very least, accommodate the shifts and eddies of those around us, lest we be left behind.  

Leave yourself some wiggle room by keeping your options open.  Envisioning a future that is 'more' or 'different' from your current situation does not have any value associated with it as to how 'much' more different it is.  The size of the shift is up to you and whatever your comfort zone will accommodate, but not leaving that opening implies no change at all.  Nada.  This is the very essence of stagnation.  

Live your life with the one true aim of being 'more' each day.  Being more in some small way, each and every day, creates incremental but definitive growth.  This small step of possibility leaves the door open to other possibilities that you wouldn't be otherwise.  No one knows for certain what the future holds, but if you don't leave yourself open to potential and possibility, I can guarantee what your future won't hold.   

Leave a small crack in the door for opportunities and change.  Just the very acknowledgement of wanting 'more' of some kind can be a catalyst for change that you wouldn't have imagined otherwise.  

And... for those of you who dare to be bolder, join me in my preferred vision.  

When my time comes, sometime past the age of 100,  I expect to be dragged off to heaven by angels while wailing the whole way... 

But...  I'm not done yet!

Be the Change, Be Your Change

I recently watched the movie 'Machine Gun Preacher', about ex-drug-dealing biker Sam Childers and his ongoing support of 100's of homeless Sudanese children.  Then, this week I, like over 30 million others, watched the viral YouTube video Kony 2012, Invisible Children's efforts to dedicate the year 2012 to not only helping raise awareness of the atrocities and crimes committed by the LRA's leader Joseph Kony, but to create enough outcry that those with power are compelled to take action.

Kony has been wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity for decades, and yet he continues to abduct children from their homes, forcing young girls to becomes sex slaves and young boys to become soldiers in his army.  To date it is estimated that he has taken more than 30,000 children.  Their voices have not been loud enough for resources to have been committed to the search and capture of Kony, but the Kony 2012 initiative is designed to lend our voices to theirs.

This is a campaign initiated by a few, who were also told that their voice was too small to make a difference, that were told they would not be able to create the change in the world they wanted to see.  However, they were unwilling to accept this answer and to accept that wrong could be allowed to persevere. Instead, they looked for a way to make it happen, to create the momentum for change.  They found their voice...





This is the big-scale picture of change.

My message to each of you today is not based on the need for each of you to get involved with this campaign,  this is not a blog focusing on political action or global change initiatives.  This is a blog focusing on personal change, personal growth and empowerment.  Instead, consider this a call to not only help change the world but to perhaps begin to make the personal changes you need to... for you, by beginning to embrace the message that the young people of Invisible Children did, that

We CAN make a difference,
We CAN be the voice of change.

And, in particular, that we can be the difference we want and need in OUR lives.  It is never too late to begin to live the life we want.  We just need two things to make it happen.  Clarity and Courage.

Clarity.  

• Clarity of Purpose (What do you want?)
• Clarity of Possession (What do you have?)
• Clarity of Person (What do you need?)

Courage.  To take the first step.

Invisible Children are working to ignite the world, envisioning change on a global scale.  They didn't back down when told they could not, they simply looked for new ways to fulfil their 'I Can'.  The biggest audience for their video are young women from 13-17 years and young men from 13-24.  Our children have learned 'I can'.  We have helped to shape a generation that can see how their one voice can make a difference, that it can, when added to the voices of others, change the world.

How can you then deny to yourself the power of your voice to envision, and create the change that you want and need in your life?  You have as much power as you need to make it happen.  You need only to create change for one, by influencing the actions of one.  Be your one.  Because, in the end...

You are the difference you want to see in your life, so begin by going out and doing something different.... today.

Improve your Health - To Increase your Success!

We all know - intellectually at least - the benefits of a balanced diet and exercise to our over-all health and well-being. They serve to: lower the incidence of heart disease, diabetes and strokes, reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and stress, boost the immune system and brain function.

Generally speaking though, this is a business blog. I share information, tips and techniques you can use to aid you in your career journey. What does your health have to do with your success? A great deal, as it turns out. Here are my Top 3 reasons why you should focus on Improving your Health to increase your Success:

1. I've written in this blog before about the benefits of focusing on increasing the energy you bring to your tasks in order to heighten your productivity, as opposed to focusing on strengthening your organizational skills to get more done. (see: Turning Energy into Time, March, 2010). Research is now conclusively demonstrating that the quality of the energy we put into our tasks and activities has a direct correlation to the quality of the output. Want to accomplish more in less time? Forget about managing your time better, manage your energy better! The healthier you are (through effective nutrition and exercise), the higher the quality of energy you bring to your tasks. Tasks don't drag out as long, you don't waste as much time trying to motivate yourself to get started (yep, procrastination has some foundations in energy as well!) and you're able to stick to tasks a little longer.

2. Guess what? You're smarter when you're healthier. No... your IQ doesn't increase, but your mental acuity, your clarity and focus of thought is heightened. In short... you make better decisions when you are rested, healthy and alert. Yes, I know this seems to make common sense, but we don't tend to openly acknowledge that what we put into our bodies, what we do to our bodies, has an impact on the quality of our thoughts and decisions, and we certainly don't hear about it as a strategy for improving our success. A resucent study showed a definitive correlation between good nutrition and cognitive performance finding; nutrient markers in the blood accounted for 17% of the variation in the tests of thinking and memory function, nutrition accounting for 37% of the variation in brain volume.  Ever had a hangover? Were you at your most productive, most decisive at that moment? Extreme example perhaps, but it does serve to illustrate what happens to our productivity when our brain is deprived of the nutrients it needs to function efficiently. Even a small deprivation every day can have a cumulative impact on your overall efficiency and effectiveness over the long term.

3. Statistics show that 'fit' people get promoted faster and further than 'fat' people. Now, the definition of each of the terms fit and fat are based simply in the perception of the observer, but those qualifications are made by us all of the time (whether we openly acknowledge it or not). Certainly we speak about this issue in my Executive and Leadership Presence seminars, because it matters. How you look makes a difference to how people perceive you. Studies show that the more overweight you are, the less people trust in your ability to get things done. (note that this is regardless of whether you actually get things done or not). Additionally, people are attracted to positive energy. People rarely are motivated to follow those that can't seem to muster up much enthusiasm for what they're doing. Instead, they seek to follow those who have energy to spare, those who seem like they can not only get the task at hand accomplished, but have the energy to keep going, to continue the drive forward. This helps earn you the 'leader' title and helps get you the promotion.

For those of you that may find your New Year's resolutions to 'lose weight' or to 'get fit' flagging at this point in the New Year - use the above to provide you with more incentive to stay the course and not abandon your efforts. There is more riding on your efforts than you may have first thought... your career just may depend on it!

Who are you rooting for?

I'm starting this blog post with a quote from the ever-quotable Seth Godin...

We say we want to root for the underdog, but actually, we want to be seen as rooting for whomever everyone else is rooting for

The need to belong, to feel that we are part of something, is a strong influencer over our behaviour.  Often, following the crowd is 'easier' then taking the time to think something through fully on our own.  We don't have the time (or perhaps the interest) and we therefore go along with everyone else.  It's almost a knee-jerk reaction. 

Perhaps going along with everyone else stems more out of a desire to:

• Avoid confrontation.  We know that others will push back if we don't agree and we just don't want the hassle!
• Be liked.  Let's face it, many of us like to be liked.  We care what others think.  As a result, we go along with the group in an effort to be seen as someone similar, someone that they will perhaps call a friend.
• Not rock the boat.  Taking a stand takes energy.  We have too much on our plate already, we don't particularly care about the issue at hand, or perhaps we just want to strategically curry favour.  In either event, going along with others maintains the status quo, which serves us in the moment.
• Not have to think.  Yep, sometimes it's just this simple... we let others do our thinking for us.

If we do any of the first three items above - deliberately and strategically - I don't take issue with it.  As long as you are consciously making a choice in those responses (that will hopefully net you positive results down the line) then I'm good. Note though, I still expect you to accept the consequences of those choices! 

However, if you are simply operating in default mode, going along with others because you don't want to think for yourself...  then we need to talk!  These are the folks that are less likely to accept any responsibility for their actions.  They will place blame on the others around them before they will ever accept that they too engaged in the same behaviour.   Letting others think for you will lead you to living someone else's life, supporting someone else's values and beliefs.

Rather, we need to ensure we are clear about what is important to us.  By understanding our values and beliefs more fully, we are then able to weigh our decisions and actions against them, choosing those options that work in alignment with our values.  Doing so might not always prove to be the easiest choice, or the most popular choice, but in the long run it will almost always prove to be the choice that allows us to feel best about ourselves. 

Saying no to you might mean that you don't like me much but... if by saying no to you I am living in alignment with my beliefs and values, what's important to me... then I like me just fine and for me, that's more than enough.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Time to Reflect...

This is the time of year when it is nice to take some time to sit down (in my case with a nice steamy hot cup of Chai Latte in hand) and reflect back on the past year and to then look to the one ahead.  All too often we fall into the trap of only doing one or the other. 

1. We always look backward.  For some... there is the strong tendency to always be looking into the past, at what they have achieved, at how they have lived so far.  This is a necessary part of the reflection process, for we need to take time to recognise and celebrate how far we've come, how much we've achieved, but don't make the mistake of getting so mired in the past though that you can't see how much further you can go.
2. We always look forward.  For others... the future holds the biggest allure and they are always looking for 'what's next'!  They are constantly pushing and driving toward achieving and doing 'more' with their lives.  We certainly want to use our look to the future to inspire us to continue to grow and learn, to discover more of the world and ourselves, but we also want to ensure that we acknowledge all that we have lived through, for our past helps to shape the person we've become.

Both of these elements needs to be considered.  First, to reflect back on the past year and to acknowledge and embrace all my achievements, everything that I have experienced and accomplished.  For me, this was a busy year, packed with lots of new opportunities and TONS of new learnings.  As I have looked to venturing into creating some training programs to offer my clients through the online learning platform, I have had to battle my own technological learning curve.  It's been work but it is coming together and I definitely feel good about stepping outside of my comfort zone and taking up the gauntlet of giving it a try.  Without trying there is no knowing. 

As much as there has been a serious amount of work this past year there have also been times to spend enjoying friends and family, from time spent at the cottage to time spent in Europe, to smaller moments catching up over lattes.  An essential part of any life well lived I believe; the balance of experiences, the richness of relationships.

Looking forward I am excited about the possibilities that this year will bring.  The new program launches in January and so we will see not only if all the work from the past year pays off, but what other possibilities it opens up moving forward.  I've built in a 90 day health challenge and am now consciously committing to my Third degree black belt in TaeKwondo.  Travelling, cottaging... all help to shape the way my year will unfold. 

Reward backward, motivate forward.      Cindy Dachuk

What about you?

How was this past year for you?  What did you accomplish and achieve?  What special moments did you capture in your heart?  Did you take time to fully celebrate each?  If not... take the time now to list everything that you accomplished and recognise and reward those achievements.  Reinforce the action you took, no matter how small it may seem to others, that helped shape who you are and that took you a step closer to who you will become.

What about this coming year?  What plans are you making for steps that move you forward?  What are you looking to learn, to experience, to try?  What relationships are you committed to starting, developing, growing?  What actions are you planning to take to create a fuller, richer, more meaningful life for yourself?  Open your mind and heart to your dreams and build a step or two toward them.  All journeys begin with a single step... what will yours be?

Remember... you are the difference you want to see in your life, so go out and make a difference... today!

Picture your Performance

We experience thousands of influence attempts a day, whether via sound (conversations with friends, family, coworkers; advertisements on radio, TV, Internet; sirens as we're driving; etc) or through visual means (television and TV, billboards and posters, magazines, friends, family, coworkers, etc.).  Regardless of the source, we are bombarded with messages and attempts to move and sway us in one direction versus another.  Why can't we then jump on the influence bandwagon and work to influence ourselves in a desired direction?

It sounds like a logical idea and yet, few people deliberately and strategically structure their environment to influence their thinking and behaviour in a specific direction.  If we look at your work environment in particular (but know that the same would apply for any space that you occupy with any regularity), you likely would be interested in increasing your productivity.  Research shows that surrounding yourself with pictures and memorabilia of people you admire and respect has a positive influence on your productivity and performance. 

In basic terms, the brain doesn't know the difference between the picture and reality.  Therefore, looking at pictures that are motivating, that represent a specific and positive message, influences who you are and what you do.  You need to be very clear about who and what inspires you though.  Consider... what will ALWAYS drive and push you forward.

Just as we know that certain colours work to soothe and comfort, while others increase our feeling of stress and anxiety, so too do we now know that pictures can create certain responses in us as well.  Bear in mind too that these images are highly personal.  What works for the guy sitting next to you may be and feel totally irrelevant to you.  The more open and honest you are with recognising what people and things inspire you, motivate you, drive you, the greater the influence of those images.

One caveat though.  There should be NO family pictures in your work space.  Nope... none!  Pictures of your family - especially your children - drive different behaviours that are often at odds with those that enhance your performance.  I know that I will likely get push back from many who feel that they 'do it all for their kids'...  but research shows us that looking at pictures of our kids may lead us to temper our performance drive rather than rev it up. 

It's up to you to decide what you're trying to accomplish, whether on the job or life in general!